what have you done to your "bike" today

[tony.mon]

Today I had a cct failure, so have ordered a manual replacement.

Luckily it's on the little cbf600 commuter, so it's still useable but a bit rattly.

[bigtwinthing]

so today I've done 120 miles on the VFR 1200. Poppers you are right, probably! the best depreciating bike there is, but wow what a bloody bike for under 5K with 2400 miles on it and absolutely mint except for a 2" scratch on a plastic panel. It goes so well, has plenty of torque and the brakes are superb in the real world, yes maybe there are better but the build quality of this bike is wonderful. I am blown away by it so far.

Panniers are off, cleaned and stored for now, ive totally cleaned the bike, and it looks amazing. The seat is so slippy I will have to sort that. It turns in a treat and hold a line great. preload adjuster was fine and ive tweaked the forks a tad. Extremely happy and hoping to do 300 miles tomorrow. MPG feck knows and I don't care, but it hold 18 litres.so good until I need to pee. oh and the noise from the standard can at 6000 and above is wonderful

[grumpyfrog]

Glad the first wee ride was good.
What's she like in the twists?

[fabiostar]

boring stuff with the blue one.. oil and filter change then noticed the front wheel bearings are far from great

[bigtwinthing]

Glad the first wee ride was good.
What's she like in the twists?

well ive done another 200 miles today, and I can honestly say, ive gelled with this bike, it isn't uncomfy at all but I do have long arms. Handling probably better than anything I have ever had and that Includes the WP and Forks done on the storm, probably as its heavy and does hold a line a treat. Maybe not so "Flicky" but once you have looked ahead and no where your going it just does it!

I am ,massively impressed, torque is flat and very long, fuelling seems bang on and the brakes ( for me, mind you the Thunderbirds were a tad wooden) seems unbelievably good. With confidence today I did 95 into an emergency stop after a few lower speed practices and it was perfect.
I loved the Diaval but this is so smooth and something else. I really do wish I had bought one years ago.

Yep maybe small fuel tank range and a costly service next at 16K but I consider this well worth the feeling I get from riding it.
Iam meeting my mate on his bike next Tuesday for a blast ( 2014 Beemer XE Thingy) to see how it compares.
I will let you know.

[sirch345]

Glad the first wee ride was good.
What's she like in the twists?

well ive done another 200 miles today, and I can honestly say, ive gelled with this bike, it isn't uncomfy at all but I do have long arms. Handling probably better than anything I have ever had and that Includes the WP and Forks done on the storm, probably as its heavy and does hold a line a treat. Maybe not so "Flicky" but once you have looked ahead and no where your going it just does it!

I am ,massively impressed, torque is flat and very long, fuelling seems bang on and the brakes ( for me, mind you the Thunderbirds were a tad wooden) seems unbelievably good. With confidence today I did 95 into an emergency stop after a few lower speed practices and it was perfect.
I loved the Diaval but this is so smooth and something else. I really do wish I had bought one years ago.

Yep maybe small fuel tank range and a costly service next at 16K but I consider this well worth the feeling I get from riding it.
Iam meeting my mate on his bike next Tuesday for a blast ( 2014 Beemer XE Thingy) to see how it compares.
I will let you know.

It sounds like you are gelling very well with your new bike Paul


Chris.

[MacV2]

Rode it back from Devon...

Nuff said...

Need new tyres for NI now though...

[StormyRob]

Handy having Fabio 4 miles down the road from me as he called round this morning to change the flywheel in my blue one for a lightened version. Been meaning to get round to it for a long time and finally done.

Just need to get her into a rideable shape now.

[AMCQ46]

mine is sat on the workbench with the bodywork off, exhausts off, clutch out, clutch slave & master in bits, rear shock out, front forks out ... so it looks very sorry for its self
New Clutch friction plates and HD springs ready to go in,
Service kit for clutch master and slave to fit
new braided clutch hose to fit
Nitron shock removed and Ohlins fitted, but coming back out to back off the preload setting
Front forks off for a service and re-spring [Aprilia have the same issue as Honda with to soft front spring!]

will be back up and running before the NI trip though

[podman]

Looked at chopping it in..

Had a demo ride on an MT10 , still not a massive fan of some areas of the bike but I do love the overall aggressive look of the thing, suits its character and who cares when your riding it, was a riot, demo bike was decatted and sounded epic even with the std can.

Only real area I thought might be better was the brakes, didnt have much in the way of initial bite I thought(even over the Storm...)

Out of balance and curiosity, ive a S1000 R test ride booked in on Friday, ive discounted the Triumph on price and poke but IMHO its the best looking of the super nakeds, ridden my friends GSX1000-S which is also a stonking bike but doesnt have the fun factor of the MT that's for sure.

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Finally managed to take a S1000 R Sport out today for an hour-ish.

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I was pretty much convinced I was going for the Yamaha but after today I think the "better" bike is *maybe* the BMW.

Was a few weeks ago I rode the MT but by chance, the BMW dealer had a secondhand MT in stock to make a comparison with.

The S1000 felt lighter, handled better(lighter steering and a quicker turn in, felt more a sportsbike ) and had way better initial bite and feel from the brakes.

The engine felt buzzy and vibey at 80-90ish but super smooth elsewhere, the throttle wasnt as snatchy as the MT and it felt quite a bit faster, maybe it just has more of revvy, top end feel and doesnt really make any more HP(MT 160 claimed Vs the BMWs 165) but it seemed more vivid acceleration wise.

Looks are subjective, some areas of the BMW look better than the MT and Vs versa, ill call that a draw.

I thought the BMW Sport was better value(£12,000) when you look at the electrical wizardry it has compared to the base MT10 and equaling ( I think?) the SP at what, £13,500-£14,000? I was also offered a stonking deal on the BMW and the local Yamaha dealer is, well, a bit of a miserable b'std to be honest.

Character is a hard thing to define and I can see why some people criticise the BMW over the MT for that as its "another IL4" but is a snatchy throttle Vs a smooth one annoying or "character"?

Apart from the awesome noise and instant wheelies of the MT, it has no advantage, the BMW offers no lack of fun, it drives hard from very low RPM in any gear and with both the up/down quickshifter, made some great noises whilst working...

The MT is slighly more upright with a little more leg room but the BMW certainly wasnt uncomfortable.

Mmmm....in a bit of a dilema now aint I........! The other curve ball is a like my luggage nowadays and the Sport doesnt seem to cater so well for the traveler, MT10 touring could be more suitable for my needs! Aggghhhhh!

An interesting read that, good to hear your opinion on the two bikes.

Good luck in making a decision, it looks like you're going to need it

Chris.

Thought I owed the Triumph Speed triple a test ride and comparison to the MT10 and S1000R, so I took one out for an hour or so this morning.

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IMHO its the best looking and finished of the super nakeds and I would have loved to have bought British, unfortunately, for my tastes, it has the worse dash, fiddly switch gear and by far and away the worse gear box.

No quick shifter on the base model either.(£375 plus fitting costs extra).

It has a slight top heavy feel and the has, compared to the other two and previous bikes ive owned, a sensation when cornering at low/medium speeds that the back takes a fraction or two to follow the front on line, im sure its something you would get used to but its defintley more road bike than the other two. It has enough wallop in the motor but it offers less bottom end than the MT , nor the vivid top end of the BMW.

Not particularly overwhelming or inspirational...nor as much of a fun bike.

The real kicker is, the base model offers less kit than an MT10 for around the same price and a shed load less than the BMW for £700 less....and Triumphs daft PCP finance rates meants it costs £40-50 a month more for less bike..

You'd have to be really committed to the brand or not test rode any of the other 2 to buy one in my opinion.

[AMCQ46]

thats a kicker for the Speed triple ... and like you, I think they are the best looking of all the super nakeds, but with less fun and less toys for your money it cant win

[KermitLeFrog]

I had a fairly long go on a 675 Street Triple the other day. A MY16 model. What a fantastic bike. Bits of it are a bit cheap but the engine is a stonker. Far better than the 1050 triple. They are cheap. Just spend the money on some upgrades.

[KermitLeFrog]

Or was it a Speed Triple. Confused.....

[AMCQ46]

Or was it a Speed Triple. Confused.....

the little one is teh street, the big one is the speed

[sirch345]

Podman, good to hear your opinion on the Triumph with the other two

Chris.