I run a website for an artist friend who has painted pictures of bikes and bikers for many years.
Here’s his take on my first Sprint
And here’s the original photo:
And here’s a Photoshop manipulation:
And a motivational poster!
I don’t suppose for a minute it was my Tweet to Ross Noble that resulted in his visit to Bulldog Triumph in Winnersh on Wednesday evening. He was riding the VIN 500k Triump Speed Triple from Hertfordshire to Bournemouth. @realrossnoble
He looks a bit tired – not surprised with the riding and having to read 400+ Tweets that day (and only 5pm).
Good photo oportunity for the shop though!
Left to Right:
Chris, Steve, Andy, Ross, Ian, Mike
It is generally accepted that one of the best things about Triumph motorcycle engines is the “triple ripple burble ‘n’ pop” that you get on the overrun.
Some of us have decided to make our own t-shirt.
This is the Sprint 955 version (I wanted Tornado Red to match my bikes)
This is now known as my “321_Dib” t-shirt in honour of the designer and manufacturer.
My wife wanted to know what a “Ripple Nipple” was, and then suggested that she should try on my new t-shirt.
Coincidence?
The “Ripple Nipple” line points to the exact spot tha…..
[this text + photo has been censored]
🙂
Further to my recent tyre posting I dropped in to Bulldog Triumph this afternoon to ask the guys to order me a set of Michelin Pilot Road 2 tyres. These come highly recommended in sports touring circles so I thought I’d give Bridgestone a miss this time and try something different.
They had them in stock so I headed off on one of the shop bikes to kill a little time…
Boy is this different!
I’ve never ridden a cruiser before and this one was quite interesting. First of all, there’s a choke! (a what?). Then there’s the footpegs; they’re located where you’d normally find the radiator. The bars are w-i-d-e and pulled back.
Overall, not uncomfortable and does inspire a certain “Easy Rider”-type riding style. The bike only had 200 miles on the clock (and only 60bhp in total) so doesn’t encourage spirited riding. No doubt that you could: after 20 miles or so I started to lean it into roundabouts and started having fun.
Here’s the pilot’s view:
The most disappointing part of the entire package is the exhaust note. Those slash-cut silencers look the business but sound dreadful. My lasting impression was that it sounded like a Superdream (remember them?). It went about as well as a Superdream too.
Overall, a bit like the Bonnie that I tried a while back. Nice to cruise around on in the sunshine, but I wouldn’t want to ride one to Scotland.
Bit of a surprise this afternoon when I was cleaning my bike (first time since Christmas). I knew that my rear tyre was down to the wear marks and had been asking around for prices on a set of Michelin Pilot Road 2s as I’ve heard good things about them. I’ve had BT020, BT021 and BT023 up to now.
Fancy a change.
Soon.
This is what they call "Part Worn" on eBay...
Is that canvas? Do they have canvas nowadays?
At last! A dry day and a couple of hours to spare! Out on the Bulldog demonstrator…
My first impressions were as to what a big bike this is. The 1050 that I rode a while back was the only bike I’ve ever ridden on which I couldn’t get both feet flat on the ground. This wasn’t that tall – but nearly.
A very imposing riding position compared to my Sprint, immensely confidence-inspiring handling and the ability to ride to an actual standstill without putting the feet down.
The standard can is a bit quiet – in fact I could hear Vincent’s 1050 (with can) behind me most of the time, over the engine whine of the 800. Plenty of power and the noise did get better higher up the rev range.
I wear an Arai. It’s not the quietest helmet in the world. The Tiger screen didn’t suit my height, riding position (or choice of helmet). At any speed over 50, the wind buffeting was quite severe. Funnily enough, it was no worse at 80!
All in all, a great bike and one that I’m sure will be very successful. Many of the people who’ve ridden both the XC and the road version say that they prefer the XC. I’ll just have to try won’t I?
Now, what was that about a 1200 Adventure??
I know that these are über corny but it was a present from my daughter:
Seeing as this space (where I’m standing) is normally taken by my wife’s car, I thought of adding a bit on the bottom:
“All other bikes will be crushed – by reversing Merc!”
Heh, heh…
This is the view in the workshop at Bulldog:
Landed this morning at Bulldog Triumph
Tiger 800 in the Workshop
Looks very nice. Can’t wait to try it.
OK, I know the weather forecast was dreadful and that the actual weather was wet and windy, but this is the first time in 3 years that absolutely no Bulldog RATs have shown up for an organised rideout.
so·lus
[saw-loo
s; Eng. soh-luhs]
–adjective Latin
(referring to a man) alone; by oneself
I hope that you are all ashamed of yourselves…
So, quickly back home to catch up on the Japanese MotoGP on the Red Button and/or iPlayer (plus coffee and a warm dry house of course)
… and a revisit of the latest Speed Triple 1050
On what was possibly the last sunny day of 2010 (felt like it anyway), I decided to celebrate the successful submission of both my company accounts and my personal tax return (don’t you just love the online service – no more traipsing down to the Post Office for Registered Mail and waiting for an acknowledgment).
An Earl Grey tea (they were out of my normal espresso-strength coffee) and I decided on the spur of the moment to take out the latest Speed Triple and the Street Triple for a back-to-back run.
First the Speedy:
This one was Tornado Red with a White stripe (very nice…)
More-or-less as I remember it from April this year but note that the Brembo caliper is now highlighted in red.
Sounds lovely and went as well as I remember. I was a little disappointed with the harshness of the front forks – maybe my old Sprint is just a little soft. It was quite uncomfortable on some of our pockmarked roads.
I tried a 90mph blast along the M4 and must admit that the natty little fly screen/deflector thingy seems to work well. No buffeting at all – the arm-stretch is still there though and I wouldn’t want to go any faster for long.
The clocks are nice – I like the white on black digits.
So, back at the dealer, another Earl Grey (still no coffee) and a go on the Street:
First impressions (100 yards up the road): WOW!
This is brilliant! Smaller, lighter, (cheaper), lovely feeling from the front forks. Very flickable.
The brakes are not as good as the Speedy – maybe I need to try the Street Triple R.
There’s also no burble and pop on the overrun. Maybe an aftermarket can would fix that.
There’s a very useful gear indicator (showing “n” for neutral – I initially thought that it had a dead LCD element). Also a silly line of blue lamps (LEDs?) that come on at 8k revs – presumably a “change gear now” indicator)
I had a ball on this bike.
Better than the Speed Triple?
Miles!