[Author Index] [Date Index] [Thread Index]
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]

five years of triumph



            where to begin ?  i'm starting to have my doubt's about being a
"proud" owner of a triumph motorcycle. in july 95 i purchased a1995
thunderbird, my first new triumph. in the past i had owned mostly japanese
bikes, starting with a 73 yamaha 360. iv'e always been a bit of an
anglophile including beer, music, football " go gunners" and my second car
which was a 77 mgb. unreliable, but owning one and a haynes manual taught me
how to fix cars. i always liked old triumphs but after the mg i was a little
leery thanks to our good friend john lucas. when i first heard about bloor
starting a new triumph i thought this might be the time. alas, no triumph in
the states. i went out and purchased a yamaha seca 2. a few years later they
were coming to the states. i saw a picture of the t-bird and knew i had to
have one. i loved that bike it was a tough looking bike a modern bike with
that classic " british cool  " look. great motor and excellent handling for
a standard/ cruiser type bike. so what is my problem?
      three months after i purchased my bike triumph started giving away a
thousand dollars worth of accessories with the purchase of a t-bird. three
months after that it was the accessories plus lowering the price by a grand.
within six months another $500 dollars was knocked off the price. i paid $
9995.00, a year later the same bike was $ 8495.00 plus $750.00 in free
triumph merchandise. obviously the value of my bike took a big hit. blue
book had my bike at $6495.00 a year later.  a pretty steep decline i'd say.
i wrote two letters to triumph america and talked to one of the higher ups
about maybe getting a voucher for some merchandise to no avail. a year later
i received a pin proclaiming me a "pioneer member" of the new triumph. gee
thanks triumph.
      i will say i was happy with the bike my only problems being a
clearcoat problem on the tank which was fixed under warranty and going
through four seat locks. it took three design changes to get it right and
waiting for parts was a bear. this year i decided to part with the t-bird
and buy an rs sprint. my dealer knew i was waiting for that model since i
had seen a photo of it in "ride". he called me the day after getting his
demo. the next day i took it for a 117 mile test ride. i should mention here
that i have always been satisfied with my dealer detroit triumph. paul has
been free about letting me take long test rides on his bikes and has been
very timely with my service needs. he is also quick about ordering anything
without the hassle of waiting for a minimum order. anyway after the test
ride i decided to buy one. on april 19th i picked up my bike. now i could
not really get going on my demo ride because the demo bike was not broken
in. after the break in on my bike i figured i could wind it up. i am nothing
but disappointed.
     first off i believe triumph has somehow detuned this motor from the st.
i have the race can and performance tune and this made no noticeable
difference in power. i have now ridden four different st's and three
different rs's. all in stock form. the st has a noticeable increase in low
end torque, which based on the sprocket size and supposably the same motor
should have been the rs. the dyno's iv'e seen have all shown the rs with
about ten less horse at the wheel. why is this?  how about poor fit and
finish. riding at night you see the edges of the lights through the fairing
due to a poor fit. the tach is illegible under city lights. and my right
hand is going numb on a regular basis. when the the bike gets hot there is a
noticeable loss of high end power. no helmet locks and a piss poor clutch
lever. i have saved my biggest gripe for last. the suspension on this bike
absolutely blows. i have adjusted the front and back every way possible
which admittedly is not much due to the lack of adjustment possibilities.
the forks are at least bearable but that rear shock is both mushy and yet
will kick out at bumps most bikes would glide over this happens in the soft
,medium and firm settings. i thought maybe something was wrong with mine so
i rode a few other rs's and they were the same. i have been looking at
racetech, fox and ohlins to improve this but i'm looking at a grand to
fifteen hundred dollars to do this. i know triumph can put a decent
suspension on a bike as the tt600 attests. so why does the rs get the
bargain basement one? and finally the last straw. i see some dealers are now
selling these for $8000.00 when i paid $9499.00 . yep two bikes and two huge
price drops right after i bought one. i'm also starting to believe that
character is the most overused and misunderstood word in the motorcycle
community. i am starting to think that we use the word character as a way to
explain shortcomings in design, engineering and assembly. i think this just
might be my last triumph and i will probably sell it in the offseason. sorry
about the length of this but i'm frustrated. any thoughts would be
appreciated.

james

2000 RS yellow ( for now)


     *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *
      The ST/RS Mailing list is sponsored by Jack Lilley Ltd.
          http://www.TriumphNet.com/st/lilley for more info
   http://www.TriumphNet.com/st for ST, RS and Mailing List info

------------------------------

End of st-digest V2000 #445
***************************


 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

                      End of Triumph ST/RS Digest
            ST/RS Digest is sponsored by Jack Lilley Ltd.
          http://www.TriumphNet.com/st/lilley for more info
   http://www.TriumphNet.com/st for ST, RS and Mailing List info

          This digest Copyright 1999-2000 TriumphNet.com