Today, I'll mostly be riding....

growse

growse

growse

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
7,139
Location
Ironing
One of these.

146110102z2011triumphsp.jpg


Will report back later on. :)
 
Hmm, not sure on that one, the headlights look like bug eyes. It looks like it's missing front fairings, rather than designed with out them.

Still, bet it's fun :p.
 
Right. Back.

It's *amazing*. There's many things I don't like about it, but as a package to do what it's supposed to do, it's pretty much flawless.

Good things:

  • The engine's a wonderful, wonderful thing. I think it's got about 130ish bhp, which is plenty enough to get yourself off to prison in the blink of an eye. Makes a decent noise too, even with the stock exhaust. It just pulls all the way from idle up to 10k. No flat spots, just wallops of torque.
  • The brakes are epic - I spent the first 10 minutes stopping a good 5m short of where I actually wanted to, mostly on the back brake. I'm testing it mostly because it now has an ABS option, which qualifies it onto the "bikes I might buy" list.
  • I love how it looks. The older version is a classic, but while the bug-eye headlights are always going to be contentious, I can't get over the fact that there's not a lot to it. It starts at the front wheel and stops at the back - it's quite obvious when you're riding it that there's not much more to it than that.
  • Pretty comfortable. Wouldn't want to be a pillion though.
  • 17.5 litre tank. I was expecting a lot less on a naked bike, so this gives a reasonable range.
  • Gearbox is fairly solid. You've got to move the lever what feels like a mile compared to my BMW, but no false neutrals, and it's the opposite of 'flimsy'.
  • Decent number of buttons/toys on the dash

Bad things (or, things I didn't like):
  • Throttle was a bit floppy. As in you needed to pick up about half an inch's worth of slack in the cable from rest. You get used to this.
  • The clutch lever almost broke my wrist. It's too stiff, and too far away. That said, all of these things are adjustable.
  • Oddly, I wasn't much a fan of the digital speedo. In a world where you have to constantly have one eye on the dash to check your speed, I much prefer something analog than having to translate a number into something that answers the question 'how fast?'
  • Part of the whole thing about the S3 is that it does one thing, and one thing well. It's not exactly adaptable - you can't just sling some luggage on it if you decide to go around Scotland for a bit. That might end up being slightly restrictive.
  • Side stand is a pain in the arse.
  • No grab rail at the back, so maneuvering it off the bike is a bit of an adventure.
  • Don't think there's a heated grips factory option. There's aftermarket for this though.

So, all the big things are great, and I just had some annoying niggles or things that might mean it's not for me. Might ride a Sprint to see if that's a more viable option.

If I were in the market to own 2 bikes, one of them would absolutely be this, it's just too much fun to not own. Given that I'm only allowed 1 bike, I worry it might be a bit too restrictive.
 
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Part of the whole thing about the S3 is that it does one thing, and one thing well. It's not exactly adaptable - you can't just sling some luggage on it if you decide to go around Scotland for a bit. That might end up being slightly restrictive.
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Yes, yes you can.
I owned a '07 1050 for two years and had no trouble slapping some luggage on it for some touring/longer rides.
 
growse said:
[*]Oddly, I wasn't much a fan of the digital speedo. In a world where you have to constantly have one eye on the dash to check your speed, I much prefer something analog than having to translate a number into something that answers the question 'how fast?'
Click to expand...

Not odd at all, I really don't like digital speedo's either...

To be fair I haven't kept up with the bike arena since I stopped riding about 10 years ago so I don't know how common the digital speedo's are.
 
Reppyboyo said:
Yes, yes you can.
I owned a '07 1050 for two years and had no trouble slapping some luggage on it for some touring/longer rides.
Click to expand...

ORLY?

Goes off to look at triumph's website

I was under the impression that because the back of the bike's really really minimalistic, there'd be nowhere to hang panniers etc. This may change things somewhat.

Vampyre said:
Not odd at all, I really don't like digital speedo's either...

To be fair I haven't kept up with the bike arena since I stopped riding about 10 years ago so I don't know how common the digital speedo's are.
Click to expand...

They seem to be getting quite common. Thing is, I don't care exactly how fast I'm going, I care roughly how fast I'm going. It's far easier to see that on an analog speedo. Ho hum.
 
I was like that with my first digital speedo too on the ?2001 Speed Triple - It was slow, one minute it said 30 and all of a sudden it shoots up to 60.

I got my own on the 636 ninja and it was completely different - the speed upated almost in real-time, so it depends on who made the sensors and how often it samples and updates the display.

BMW is digital driven with an analogue clock - Best of both worlds.
 
You barsteward... bank said no to me last week... was going for an orange one though :P

Ah well... I'm happy with the Daytona 955i I'm picking up tomorrow :)
 
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