05 triumph sprint

I'm thinking of selling or trading in my XJR1200, so I have been looking at
the new Triumph Sprint ST, has anyone got any opinions on this bike.

Thanks Godfrey...

 

Yes.

They're great!

Have had ours for about two months now. Works brilliantly. The new
engine's great - makes the gearbox kinda redundant, since it's just got
power everywhere. Nice and smooth and sharp - the fuel injection is
just spot on.

A fortnight ago we took it away for the weekend from Bris to
Mooloolaba, via the "back way" - through Samford, Dayboro, over Mt Mee
(and nearly collected an FJR coming the other way, who was three wide
around a blind, mountain-edged right-hander, and three foot inside our
lane - interesting!), Woodford, Peachester, Beerwah, and into
Caloundra. Took us about four hours to Caloundra, and another hour and
a half to Mooloolaba (there was a hot-rod show half way, y'see...). No
soreness, no fatigue, nothing - just perfectly enjoyable riding. We
were taking it pretty easy, new bike and all, but it really amazed me
how well it all "worked" together, for such a big, comfy bike.

Pillion comfort is right up there, according to Jessie-girl. After
test-riding the Sprint one Saturday, I was told in no uncertain terms
"we are buying that bike, and I'm not riding this one any more until we
do!". The seat's great, and gives you a good bit of room to move around
on, without getting lost on it. Pillion seat-to-footrest is good too,
but the downside is that the pillion does sit reasonably high. Which is
good for visibility, but does make getting on and off a bit more
annoying. Looking at it, with the panniers and a top box on, it would
be downright hard to get on the back, I'd think.

The weight is probably the only thing that I'm still getting used to.
It's a fair bit heavier than the 'Storm was, and you can really notice
it at real slow speed - walking pace, car parks, etc. It has a very
fine centre balance point, and when tipped either way, has a tendency
to fall that way pretty quickly. In this regard it's very similar to
the Daytona 900, which seems to exhibit the same little quirk. It can
be a little disconcerting at first, until you get used to it, but it
only really happens at very slow speeds.

Once you're moving, it's a fantastic handeling bike, turns in well and
reasonably fast, and holds a line really well. The front suspension is
adjustable for only preload (I think), but seems to work really well
straight out of the box. We dialled in a bit more preload onto the rear
(which also gets rebound adjustment, I think?), and it's pretty spot
on. Nice and comfy still, but gives really good feedback. Maybe the
forks on the 'Storm were just shafted...

While I think of it, one downside though is that you do tend to get a
bit of a vibe through the throttle-grip at about 110kph in top. It's
mildly annoying, but can be made to go away by just relaxing your grip
on the bars. Oddly, it doesn't affect the left-hand side. I imagine
that a slightly heavier bar-end weight or something might make it go
away for good.

Fuel economy seems to be good, but then we're used to stopping ever
180kms, so anything longer than that is a bonus. Don't trust the fancy
electronic fuel gauge, it's just strange. Oddly, the Distance To Empty
indicator is great, but I wouldn't assume that it's amazingly accurate
either. the one thing I miss on the fancy trip computer display is a
"proper" temperature guage. It has a little 5-segment cold to hot bar,
but a proper thermometer guage would be nicer. That, and the fact that
the clock doesn't display with the key off are minor annoyances. On
elast niggle - the steering lock states that you need to push the key
in, and rotate around to lock it. After three weeks of fighting with
it, I discovered that it'll work every time if you DON'T push the key
in. Maybe we just got a broken one.

We've no luggage for it, so I can't comment on any of that. We were
going to get a rack, but decided that they look far too ugly on (the
back of the bike is very high, making the rack sit right up in the
air). The factory panniers look good, but there's heaps of negative
discussion about them on the US RAT website. I assume we'd get the same
model here. Seems that they're hard to operate, not waterproof, and
just not up to scratch. That, and they're expensive... We priced up the
Triumph soft throw-overs earlier this week, at $500, they might be
staying in the store for a little while longer too...

Coming from the 'Storm, we knew we basically wanted a reasonably
relaxed sports-tourer. The Sprint, Blackbird, VFR, Hirebus and ZX12
were all on our list, but the Sprint was certainly the pick from the
start. The current deals on the Blackbirds were almost too hard to pass
up though, but I'm glad that we did. They're a nice, capable bike, but
a little too far on the "sports" side of the equation for what we were
after. Plus, the ST's something a bit different.

If I had to sum it up in one word, I'd choose "Fast". It's effortlessly
fast, and just a joy to ride. Doesn't fatigue you like I'm used to, and
two-up riding for hours at a time is easy. Once I get a bit more
comfortable with the low-speed handelling of the bike in odd
circumstances (u-turn in a car park on a slope, for instance), I'll be
a lot happier, but it's certainly not a big worry at the moment.

If you want one, be prepared to wait though. When we bought ours in
July, we were told that the September shipment had been delayed till
December/Jan-ish, and was all but sold out. No promises on when the
next shipment was coming. Legend has it that there's a waiting list for
them in England even, so they may be a bit scarse for a little while.
We picked up the dealer's demo bike, since they were sick of having
people ask about it, and then get upset when told they couldn't
actually have one for 8 months. We were going to wait for one of the
red 06 ABS models, but decided we could be waiting 12 months, and we
wanted a bike NOW, dammit!

That help any?

Matto
05 Sprint ST

 

Yeh, a little

Johno

good write up mate

Beer?

 

Read a very favourable review in Australian Road Rider (have to check
edition date).

In short, same league as best of breed (Ductai ST2, VFR800) and "probably
the best".

I have a copy of the article if you cannot find it.

alx

 

Thanks for all your comments about this bike, I have had look at the article
in Road Rider and they say that the ABS model only comes in red but I have
asked around and I went to the bike expo in Melb and asked there and they
say that you can get the ABS and non ABS models in all three colours.

So as soon as I get my daughters wedding out of the way I'll be off to order
my new red Sprint.

Godfrey...

 

Thanks mate!

Have been meaning to do up a ride report on it since picking it up, but
wanted to actually get in a couple of decent rides to really shake it
down first. Unfortunatly, the trip to Mooloolaba is the longest chance
we've had to get away thus far. Which is not good - the natural habitat
for a Sprint should NOT be the garage.

Thanks!
Matto
05 Sprint ST - which just missed out on BOTY by _that_ much! Rats!

 

I have heard that the service cost on the ST is steep?? - be
interested to know just how steep when you get it done.

Johno

 

Steep compared with a Ducati???

Or a VFR800 ???

3 cylinders, overhead camshaft, EFI ...

 

Did anyone notice that the weekend marked the death of the originator of that
classic line "missed ... by -><- *that* much", Agent 86, "Maxwell Smart", the
actor Don Adams? I wasn't aware that he also did the voice in the "Inspector
Gadget" cartoons (although when my kids were watching these, the voice was
eerily familiar).

"Get Smart" was one of the highlights of my childhood; I remember those
cheesy sets and classic lines like "sorry about that", "I asked you not to
tell me that", "would you believe...", the shoe phone, the Cone of Silence,
Hymie the robot, sexy 99, mysterious 13, like it was yesterday... but it was
40 years ago. How time flies; he was 82. RIP Max.

Gary (Good thinking, 99)

 

Yeps, that show was definately a classic![1]


Johno

Beer?

[1] not to be confused with the classic bike

 

No idea at the moment - as a demo it had had it's first service done by
the time we picked it up. It's got a fair ways to go before it's due
again, but I'll make a note of it when it happens, and let you know.
Can't imagine that it would be too involved, but I Am Not A Triumph
Service Dude.

Took it out and stretched it's legs to Toowoomba and back yesterday.
Beautiful day for it! Got down to the trip computer reckoning 40kms to
empty before I chickened out and pulled in to a servo. My reward was
paying $1.33/L at Blacksoil, instead of the $1.18 that I swore I wasn't
paying as I cruised past the Gatton BP 60ks earlier...

Matto
05 Sprint ST - 320kms from a tank is a bit further than the 'Storm used
to get!

 

doesnt matter how much if you dont ride it

beer ?

 

The ST that un-reliable? ;p

kenoath mate

 

maybe

did 4100 kays on the 400 last week,
syd to bundy and back again via many twisty roads including
numerous laps of the oxley

must be just about due for a valve check again

 

I *really* hate you J5!

johno <awaiting from J5 that on the 400, no cams were removed in the
adjustment of the valves>

/Johno keeps the beer~