Picked the Daytona up on Saturday, thought I’d post some pictures and give a little feedback on it, in case anyone is thinking of getting one.
As you can see, it’s a stunning looking bike – I always thought that the 06-07 Gixxer I had was a pretty bike; but the Daytona is far more pleasing on the eye than that, hell, it even rivals my old R1 for looks (pre crashing it
).
Now, I’ve sat astride these bikes before, and also test ridden one, so I knew what to expect – mine came with a Triumph gel seat, which the previous owner swore by (he did plenty of touring on this); but I ride wearing Forcefield armoured trousers, with armoured pads in the general arse-area (as I have no arse) – so I can’t really comment on the comfort of hte seat yet...
The seat didn’t seem to make the bike feel any higher than usual, which is good, as the 675 sits very high at the rear (compared to most bikes I’ve sat on), and I’m not overly blessed in the height department; at around 5,7”
But even though the initial feeling is “holy **** this is an extreme riding position”, it doesn’t feel bad when you’re moving – in fact, it feels very upright in a way; though I do find that I am very far forward (leading me onto my first gripe).
Gripe #1 – wind protection.... what wind protection? Seriously... this is how I remember the naked 500 from DAS feeling like, the screen seems to offer sod all protection, unless you are chin down on the tank
And being so thin, unless you clamp your legs into the tank, it’s easy to feel them being pulled at by the wind. The latter I can live with and the former will [hopefully] be eased by a double bubble.
As I’m on a gripe now, might as well go for
#2 – under seat storage.... big enough for a screw driver! Unless I have some storage under the riders seat (not checked there yet), then I will be doomed to always ride with a rucksack – though, I don’t mind that as I often use a small mountain bike one.
Onto the positives again – the dash, wow! Never seen so many functions before
Lap timer, average speed, top speed, average fuel consumption, instantaneous fuel consumption, trip, clock, gear indicator, temp, ODO, trip 1 and trip 2. Phew! Think that’s all!
The sound! Whoa, now I can see why so many people turned around to watch me as I was on that test ride, it sounds incredible, and with the Triumph can fitted (by the previous owner), has a really nice exhaust note too – but that Triple whine, I think it’s more addictive than the induction roar from my Gixxer
Lastly, but no means least, the engine: faultless, perfect, surprising even. I couldn’t get my head around the pull it had, it would honestly shame the R1! I’ve never had a bike in 6th gear, at 40mph, and still had an impressive pull from the throttle... until the 675 that was
It’s by no means slow either, considering it’s a little ‘600’ – it had performance in spades, and all usable on the road (within reason mind!). Riding around with a mate on his 999S the Daytona really wasn’t that far off the pace
Spent yesterday on a mixed ride out and fuel economy looks like it could be good – still need to run until reserve, but I filled up 14 litres from reserve and then did about 90 miles – filled back up and only put in 10 litres.
Sadly, it was back to 4 wheels for the commute back to Swindon today, but I’ll certainly be taking it to work and back (not sure about the M4 though), oh, and modifications to follow.
