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Re: Which Bike??



Hi John,
Welcome to the list. I am the extremely proud owner of a Red '99 Sprint ST. I
couldn't be happier with my choice. At the California Rat Riot I had the
opportunity to ride a couple of other Triumphs, a Speed Triple and (I believe)
and Adventurer. I believe the TBS may be a bit sportier than the Adventurer.
But, my impression was that the 'retro' Trumpets did a very good job of
replicating the look and feel of the earlier, upright riding position bikes. It
had more power than my Yamaha XS650 (a Japanese version of the old British
design), but felt much the same in terms of riding position. Having ridden the
Sprint for a few months, my overall impression when comparing the two was that
it didn't stop, and it didn't go. And I didn't feel like I could carve canyons
with the same spirit. Of course, this was a demo ride, and Triumph wasn't
letting anyone explore the envelope. The Speed Triple was loads more fun, it
stopped, and it went, even better than the ST. But it had a board for a seat,
and no fairing. My nutshell impression, like an uncomfortable Sprint ST.

SO I am spoiled, truly spoiled, by what is for me the perfect vehicle. So easy
to ride easily, and so much fun to ride hard. Sure, there are other bikes out
there that do these things too, and many of them. Trouble is, it takes at least
two of them to make up a similar package. (So how am I going to get two bikes to
do the same thing?) With the Sprint I get to ride a great touring bike to the
twisties on the super slabs, and once there, I get to transform this great
touring bike into the canyon carver I love. What do I do to achieve this
transformation? Why, I read Keith Code's book, and I just twist my right wrist
:-)

Of course I still try and do a few other things that make this even more fun
(read the book, the second one anyway), like weight the outside peg, stay as
loose as I can on the handlebars, really concentrate on smooth! The grin usually
makes my jaws ache after 30 minutes or so. My Arai helmet cheek pads push
against my cheeks without smiling, the extra effort takes its toll. What an
absolute gas!!

Actually, I'm slightly surprised that you even asked. For many people on the
list, one ride was all it took. For me, just twisting the throttle in second
gear convinced me I needn't look any further. I did about 38 miles on the demo
ride and came back, wasn't even interested in doing the comparison ride I had
planned to do on a BMW 1100RS. Just plonked down my deposit and started figuring
out how I was going to afford this thing, and secondly, and perhaps more
importantly, convincing my wife that this was a good thing to do. But that is
all history.

I am having so much fun on the twisties that I would love to give the TT600 a
ride, but I cannot imagine replacing the ST with one. That would have to be a
second bike, and that is not in the cards, at least not in the anywhere near
future.

I just read Bruce's response, and pretty much agree with most things he said. We
rode Mines Road together with a couple of other Sprints in the late summer. What
a blast! We both managed to scrape out belly pans on that ride. I am trying to
increase my skills so that this is less of a possibility in the future (read -
trying to hang off a bit). Track day school sometime in 2000. Yeah!

I have recently shod the bike with Dunlop 207s, and have yet to get back to
Mines Road for the ultimate comparison ride. And I just changes the suspension
settings to what Sport Rider magazine did for the shoot-out with the Honda VFR,
Ducati ST4, & BMW R1100S. I went for a putt today to see how it felt. Fantastic!
I hooked up with a guy on a Turbo'd '90 Suzuki GSX750R. He said he was running
about 7 psi boost and was told the thing made about 130HP. We went for a quick
blast up a fairly untravelled yet wide open sweeping turns kind of road. He
could keep up on the straight bits, but didn't feel comfortable charging the
corners. Quite fun! So stiffening up the suspension helps my riding style, but
it felt reasonably good before.

So, after all this, don't pay the slightest bit of attention to what anyone else
says. Go with your gut and your heart. Everybody has their own set of unique
requirements, and there is no such thing as a perfect bike. But there is a
perfect bike for you. It may just be the Sprint, as it definitely is for me.
Best of luck in sorting this all out. I expect you'll be a full-time member of
this list shortly :-)  You'll find the members of this list share a wonderful
passion and camaraderie, and Triumph just managed to put the machine beneath
them that evokes this kind of passion.



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