Tag Archives: sprint

Triumph Sprint 1050 GT

At last.

New job notwithstanding – I’ve finally managed to get a decent ride on the GT.

As I’m riding a Bandit at the moment and was to lead the Bulldog RAT ride-out to Newlands Corner, Box-Hill and Loomies today, I borrowed the GT for the day…

What a bike!

145 mile test ride:

Good bits:

  • Felt instantly at home (see my review of K1300S for similar comment)
  • Very comfy
  • No wind buffeting
  • Feels faster than the ST (?)
  • Like the black bars and yoke (makes a change from alloy)

“Maybe” bits:

  • Needs a can – you can hear the engine whistling but not the exhaust
  • Speedo is a bit small and difficult to read at a glance
  • Seat a bit suspect after 145 miles

If I had £9k would I buy one?

Yes.

White Van Man 1 : Triumph Sprint 0 (Updated 13-Aug-2010)

I guess that 35 years without a bike accident had to end at some time…

(not counting dropping it on my drive last year…)

15:20 Wednesday 21st July) I had just finished a hot and exhausting day’s work moving my son from Greenwich to a new flat in Nunhead. Back on the bike and an appointment in Tunbridge Wells so heading for the A2/M25.

In Lewisham and New Cross, bikes are allowed in the bus lanes, so there I was skipping past the heavy traffic down the bus lane. At the lights was a white van (why was he in the bus lane?). I pulled up behind him (as you do), only to see his reversing lights come on

3 seconds is not enough time to haul a Sprint 6 feet backwards…

With an almighty crunch, the front of my bike disappeared beneath his rear bumper, far enough such that the headlight fairing was jammed up against his rear doors.

I jumped off and had a good curse.

First inspection would indicate bent forks, smashed plastics, possibly bent wheel.

The front wheel was so far beneath the back of his van that the nose fairing was jammed up against the rear doors (also suspect bent upper fairing frame…)

When he pulled away, the bike (which was jammed upright), fell over to the left and scratched the mirror, crash bung, top box and bent the gear lever. Note that my new l/h fairing panel was undamaged!

R&Gs took the pain for the left hand fairing panel.

Gear lever is well bent

And it landed on the Givi box.
Recovered home by Carole Nash (great service)

Question:
If he denies it, who would you believe?
“He reversed into me”
“He was going too fast and rode into the back of me” ?
There were no witnesses – by the time I’d jumped off and cursed, the lights had changed and they’d all buggered off.

I had been home barely long enough to explain the SWMBO, when I received a call from his insurers (Aviva):
“Our insured has admitted liability and we’d like to clear this up as soon as possible. Can you get your bike collected asap and we’ll sent our assessor round to discuss the quote. You don’t have to involve your insurance company. It is quicker and cheaper for us to deal direct”

Update 22-July-10

Things are moving fast: bike collected by Bulldog Triumph and carted off to their workshop for an “initial assessment”:

“Looks like a write-off Steve…”

Update 23-July-10

Suzuki Bandit 1250 arrives in the morning. It was that or £15 per day for loss of use.

Went round to Bulldog: “Looks like a write-off Steve…”

Update 25-July-10

Bandit was late due to delivery driver calling in sick on Saturday morning (can’t get the staff can you?)

Here it is:

First impressions:

  • Dull
  • Quiet
  • Digital speedo
  • Dull
  • Quite torquey
  • Needs a gear indicator (I kept losing count…)
  • Dull

Reminds me of a Bandit 600 that I rode years ago – it may be more modern and have a bigger engine but still about as exciting as watching the F1 from Hochenheim this afternoon.

Update 11-Aug-10

Still got the Bandit.

Insurance company have written off my Sprint and so I’m on the lookout for a replacement.

Update 13-Aug-10

No cheque yet but have already received the demand for the V5C etc…

Still got the Bandit.

Spotted a Stealth Black Sprint.    Hmmm…

Here’s the nail…

The photo in my previous post showed only the head of the nail. Unfortunately, this nail was a bit of an iceberg with about 2.5″ of it actually inside the tyre.

You can see that the nail has damaged the inside of the sidewall of the tyre, so sadly that’s an ex-BT021 as it is not repairable…

Here is the dead tyre with the nail head exposed.

I will be steering clear of those “unswept” areas of the road surface from now on…

B*****ks… Nail in Tyre! (Updated 21-Jun-10)

One week’s commuting into central Reading and all that queue skipping and riding down the hatched sections has given me this:

At least the pressure in the tyre hasn’t changed.

We’ll see what the tyre guru has to say.

… later…

Update 21-Jun-10

The photo above shows only the head of the nail. Unfortunately, this nail was a bit of an iceberg with about 2.5″ of it actually inside the tyre.

You can see that the nail has damaged the inside of the sidewall of the tyre, so sadly that’s an ex-BT021 as it is not repairable…

Here is the dead tyre with the nail head exposed.

I will be steering clear of those “unswept” areas of the road surface from now on…

R&G Crash Bungs Fitted at Last.

This has taken a while, but there was no way that I could undo the two engine mounting bolts to fit the crash protectors. The obvious answer was to ask my dealer to do it whilst the bike was being serviced. With the fairings off and an experienced tech, it was the work of a few minutes.

Now I feel that I have finally laid my little driveway “incident” to rest.

Silver Wheels now fitted with Black Tyres (!)

I have blogged about the “gold” wheels on my Triumph Sprint ST. I have now reached the stage where I have fitted a BT020 front tyre as I prefer the older compound to the softer BT021. The rear came fitted with a BT021. Both wheels have been checked out and balanced (and cleaned…)

Next I have to swap the front disks from my current bike and fit the wheels…

Silver Wheels (Sprint ST) – Updated 12th April 2010

The “So What Should I Do With These Wheels?” project continues apace. Well, as “apace” as can be expected when you have very little spare cash and are holding out for a bargain.

The front wheel came up first and I secured it for £30 – bargain!

The rear wheel was £90 but came with a part-worn Bridgestone 021; again a bargain in my view when they are £400-odd new and £200+ from most breakers.

A call to my mate Gary Beresford who has agreed to run them up on his machine to check integrity, bearings and rebalance. He will also fit a part-worn Bridgestone 021 front that I picked up from a mate (swapped for a bedside cabinet!)

Fitting pictures coming soon.

Update 12th April 2010

Here they are fitted:

Fender Extender (Front)

Further to my recent blog about “Who Needs a Fender Extender?“, I have been on the lookout for a front extender. You see them sometimes on eBay where the seller is selling a “Front Fender” but the photo shows the Triumph extender fitted.

As this is a £20 part, I’m happy to bid on these even if I don’t need the whole piece.

I’ve also blogged about motorcycle_recycle (eBay seller) before, as they supplied the 955i engine for my Sprint. Last week, one of these came up on their shop and I got it for the only bid of £7.99

Now I have to remove the four plastic pop rivets, find some replacements and fit to my Sprint.