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

[growse]

One of these.

Will report back later on.

 

[growse]

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.

 

[growse]

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.

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.

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.

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.