31 March, 2011
Here’s my 2010 Triumph Street Triple with her new flyscreen and Pazzo Racing levers added (due to a slow speed tip-over that mashed the brake lever.) Tail pack on, as well in this one.
Gold adjusters mesh well with the gold forks and the orange flash on the tach.
26 March, 2011
I went to the unveiling of the new Ducati Diavel at my local motorcycle dealer last night, and had a great time. After an hour of schmoozing, they pulled the tarp off the beast and these are my first impressions:
It is, in a word, ugly. It’s quite possibly one of the ugliest motorcycles I’ve seen. I thought the B-King was pretty ugly, but this is put a bag over it’s head, turn out the lights ugly. Turn people to stone ugly. You have to look at it in a picture or a mirror to escape with your life ugly. Even the Devil — which it’s named after — is saying “I look better than that!”
From the wee hardcover book they gave us for the launch:
It’s even worse from behind. There’s a small tail that goes with the massive tank. Nothing’s proportioned quite right. Don’t get me started on the stupid over the wheel license plate holder.
There’s a lot of col technical bits to the bike. The LCD color screen that allows you to access the suspension control (there’s a sport, touring, and urban settings), it’s got a very nice mill (the Testatretta from the 1198) punching out 162hp on a 441lb machine, Brembo brakes, LED lighting for the turn signals, license plate holder, etc. The wheels are very nice. the carbon fiber bodywork is very slick. I like the Ducati badge on the front fender.
I can see why the dealer was telling me no one was queueing up to drop deposits on this beast. It’s odd-looking in the magazines; it’s worse in person. Most of the curious parties want to see the thing in the flesh, first. So if you want to drop $20 k on a butt-ugly but fast bike that will most likely be unique in your town, the Diavel is your bet.
20 March, 2011
Two BSAs and a Norton at Cafe at Dawn on N14 in Cedar Crest, NM. I didn’t get a shot of the 1968 Triumph bobber than some guy had, nor the all-chrome 500 single Triumph his buddy was riding.
10 March, 2011
Here she is with her flyscreen and zip-on tail bag:
Sandia Crest, NM in the background.
22 February, 2011
I suspect I’ve got a pinched nerve in my neck that’s been causing discomfort through the shoulder and arm, and making my index and middle fingers go numb from time to time. I noticed I always feel the latter sensation when heading on my motorcycle. I lasts only for a few minutes, but made me think that the weight of my Scorpion Exo-1000 helmet might be exacerbating the problem.
I like the Scorpion. It’s a solid helmet and I like the internal drop-sunshade. But it’s noisy. And very heavy. So I hit the local motorcycle gear shop (MotoAuthority) to see if there were any lighter lids for me. I had thought about the Akuma Phantom II — a carbon fiber helmet with various doo-dads, but they had me try on a few of the Shoeis and Arais in the shop.
The Shoeis I found to be far to tight back to front. I don’t like having my nose touching the front of the helmet…my first accident I hit the ground straight on the chinbar and busted my nose on the inside of the helmet. I figure the cheek padding should help soak the energy and keep my nose from plowing a divot in the plastic under the windscreen.
The Arais’ fit better, and the latest bowl he had in the shop was the RX-Q, the “street” version of their Corsair racing helmet. It’s very light — according to the various websites, it’s a different of a half pound or so, but it felt about a third to half the weight of the Exo-1000. (I also wear a different size between the Arai and the Scorpion — medium as opposed to large, so that will account for a bit more weight reduction.) After buying the helmet, I hit the road for a few hours of riding to measure the differences between the two.
One: It’s light enough I barely noticed the helmet at all. Two: the visibility on the RX-Q is like nothing I’ve worn before. I’d swear I could see my ears. Supposedly, the windscreen has an extra 5mm side to side, and it definitely shows. I barely had to turn my head to check the blind spots. Three: it’s relatively quiet…there’s wind noise, but I noticed I could even tell if the wind had shifted around the helmet by the noise. That was good because it meant the slipstream noise over the helmet was low enough to differentiate my wind noise from that blowing off the mountain to my left; it was bad because psychologically, I could tell I was in windy conditions (20mph with 30mph gusts is pretty much de rigeur in New Mexico.)
I got on I-40 heading east through the canyon — always a wind zone — to see how it would handle buffeting. I absolutely did not speed (cough cough)…but if I had been going 90ish, the helmet would still perform as follows: the wind noise is present but better than pretty much any other helmet I’ve had. The RX-Q also does not buffet at all. In fact, there was little change in wind noise when looking from side to side, either. The helmet does not pick up at speed, jostle, nor shift if you are looking into a turn.
What it does do is let a lot of air in under the chin. This helmet will be fantastic in the summer — without the vents open at all, the RX-Q is comfortable with a light breeze across the head. However, in cold wind, it’s going to be a bit too breezy; a balaclava will be necessary. I had mine on and it was in the 40s today while I was riding — it wasn’t cold, but it was a wee bit chilly. There is a retractable chin guard on the RX-Q. It works great up to about 55mph, then seems to aid the air in coming up through the helmet. I put it back up on the highway and got less wind into the helmet, but below about 55mph, it’s the opposite. Don’t ask me…I don’t know.
MSRP is in the low $500s for the frost black that I got, and about $50 higher if you want the swank graphics (the UK flag caught my eye, but extra dough quickly soured me on it.) I got mine for a lot less than that. Before this, I’ve never spent more than $250 on a helmet, but I think the extra money is worth it for the RX-Q — it’s light and stable, and has great visibility.
21 February, 2011
Looks like the boys from Hinckley have toyed with the popular Thunderbird cruiser for the new model year. The Storm version is black-only, with much of the chrome anodized black for a more aggressive look. They also swapped the tradition single headlight for the dual headlights of the Rocket III, Street and (old) Speed Triple, and drag bars. Result: a tough-looking machine that even a non-cruiser guy like me finds alluring.
More at motorcycle-usa.com, including some video of the beast moving about.
I got a chance to see this beast in person a few days ago, and it’s definitely better looking than the usual Thunderbird. The gloss gray headlight buckets look fantastic and would look very appropriate on my Street Triple.
23 December, 2010
A few weeks ago, I bought a motorcycle I’ve been lusting after since it debuted: the Triumph Street Triple. I’d bought a Speed Triple a few months before they announced the wee Trip, and after my first ride on one, I knew that eventually I would be trading down from the 1050cc motor. Initially, I was aiming toward buying the R version with the “improved” suspension and brakes, etc., but got lucky enough to find a killer deal on a Striple at the local shop (PJ’s Triumph Ducati Husquevarna in Albuquerque — best motorcycle shop in town!) and got a great trade in for Dionysus, my old Roulette Green Speed Triple.
The specs on the Street Triple compared to it’s bigger brother don’t tell the whole story. The 675cc triple motor is well-made, powerful and torquey, but the big difference is the weight: the Speed Triple weighs in at about 470 lbs. fully fueled, etc. The Street Triple tips the 400 lbs range fully loaded. (With my Two Brothers carbon fibre exhaust, I’m under the 400 mark.) You lose about 25hp (105hp for the Street compared to 130hp for the Speed) and 28 ft/lbs of torque (50 ft/lbs vs. the Speed’s 77.8 ft/lbs.), but this is offset by the svelte Street Triple frame.
The Street Triple is also lower by an inch, and the weight is lower in general in the bike — this makes the little Triple much more maneuverable with dramatically less effort, than the big brother. Off the mark, there’s little difference in the acceleration, and at highway speeds, the Street Triple is only a bit less capable for a quick passing maneuver than the Speed Triple. (I could dust off cars with a slight flick of the throttle in sixth gear with the Speed…the Street will do it, as well, it just takes a second or two more.) The Street Triple, however, does feel the wind a big more than the 1050; side gusts it takes in stride like the Speed, but head up into the wind, you can feel the Street Triple straining a bit at highway or faster speeds.
The instrument cluster is a bit more complex than the Speed Triple, but is quite handy. Your odometer only displays for a few seconds at start-up. Since you only normally use the odometer to gauge when the next service is (or at least, I do), this isn’t a real problem. The instruments default to your triptych (Trip 1 — there is a Trip 2, as well.) You can cycle through miles traveled — handy for keeping track of your fuel — the average gas mileage, the current gas mileage, and the time riding. There’s a clock in the upper corner of the display that can be set to 12 or 24-hour time. Speed is here, as is your gear indicator (handy!) and temperature gauge. As with the Speed Triple, this bike uses a series of graphic bars to tell you the temperature. I hate this particular feature, as I don’t want to try and count bars while moving. The tachometer has a subtle backlight to the face, and a lit arm that looks great at night. There is also a programmable set of 6 LED bright blue lights to aid in shifting at the top of the cluster. A lot of riders just shut that off, but I have it programmed to give me an estimate of how fast I’m going without have to look at the speedometer. Set to 7000rpm, one light is legal highway speeds in town (65mph), three in highway outside of town (75mph here.) The lights start flashing at 7000+ rpm, about 85+ on the bike (or “get a ticket” speeds.)
Overall, the bit of raw power you lose stepping down to the 675cc motor is more than compensated for by the lighter, lower frame and high flickability, as well as the ability to flat foot the bike at a stop light. You get the same great, stripped-down look, as well as that Triple whine harmonizing with the exhaust note: lovely music. You gain about 5-10mpg on fuel usage, depending on the fuel map, and the 4.6 gallon tank is same size as the Speed Triple — you will get 200 miles or so out of a tank of gas. (The reserve light cuts in at three gallons — usually around 145-155 miles on the trip meter.) All things considered, I prefer the Street to the Speed Triple.
Here’s Hecate, my new bike. The Two Brothers exhaust and mapping for it give her about a 6hp and 8 ft/lb. boost to her performance, while losing 10 lbs. to the overall weight.
2 December, 2010
Here’s Hecate, my new 2010 Triumph Street Triple 675cc — Two Brothers V.A.L.E. carbon fibre exhaust, Triumph bar end mirrors, Triumph tail pack that zip on & off…heated handgrips on the horizon. It was off the showroom floor 3 months and had 221 miles on it when I bought her:
$7100 w/ TTL…
Traded my 2007 Speed Triple 1050cc for her (got $5k for the S3.) The horsepower’s about 107 — 23hp less, torque about 58 ft/lbs. — about 20 less. The pipes knock off eight lbs. from the Street Triple’s weight.
10 September, 2010
After three and a half years with no issues of any kind, my 2007 Triumph Speed Triple has been in the shop three times in two weeks. The electrical system has been burning out in slow motion — first the battery went as was replaced… then the rectifier blew out a few days later, but the stator was testing okay. Three days later, it was back in the shop with the stator dead. The total butcher’s bill is going to be in the $800-900 range.
I’m finding I’m not so trusting of the Triple now — my mechanic has been seeing this with the new 1050 motors, which are just getting old enough to show a planned obsolescence of three or so years. It’s been my daily commuter, and I just can’t have a bike I don’t know will be working. I’m going to give it a few months after this repair. If it craps out, I’m getting rid of it.
But now I’m starting to think about selling it anyway, and leaning towards something a bit more retro and laid-back, like a Triumph Bonneville or the Moto-Guzzi V7 Cafe
26 May, 2010
The Guardian notes that Triumph has managed to beat Honda in the UK, becoming the most popular motorcycle line in the United Kingdom. Not bad for having come out of receivership almost two decades ago. They are now setting their sights on the American market, hoping to best Harley-Davidson.
As a Triumph owner, I’d love to see it. Their machines are wonderfully engineered and stylish in a way that H-D isn’t. They build everything, from sportbikes to cruisers, to monsters like the Rocket III. The only thing not in their line-up is a starter bike. (Hey, Triumph — 500cc single or twin!)
My wife has a Buell Blast — the wee 500cc single that H-D made for a decade. It’s often the butt of jokes and looks a derision from the sportbike community, but it’s bullet-proof: low maintenance and cost, solid transportation, an excellent commuter machine, and didn’t look half bad. It’s hard to argue with 60mph+ in the city, dirtbike-like handling (with the right tires), and a 330 lb. weight. I had one for two years and loved it. But beyond the Buell line, Harley Davidson never really appealed to me.
The whole leather-clad old guy look is just a bit too cosplay or gay for me.
The Black Campbell 