Hi,
I've just read this review of the brilliant Triumph Sprint ST and was surprised that the author cant do basic math.
What's 1050 minus 955 150?? no...its 95cc and even that 8 % increase in capacity has shown up a measly 5% increase in torque and 3% upping of the power, which is eaten up to some extent by the 3kg weight increase of the 1050 model . The mirrors are unfortunately similar looking to the moped mirror, which detract from the bikes spirited performance. The underseat storage has gone...I mean totally removed and the seat cant even be used to hold helmets hanging each side with a decent seat lock and under seat metal hooks. The seat uses allen keys instead of a seat lock.. try getting your wets out in a hurry even if it did have underseat storage. The battery is so difficult to manouver out, you are left wondering if you are doing something wrong in replacing a defective or worn battery. The headlights are put in the triple format..nice.. but their reflectors are so mall, that they are a poor performance item on the highway. it does not come in Green... A british Bike !!!.
Dont get me wrong..its a great bike...but it has gone backwards in many areas ..that made me chose the predecessor which can fit my wets and bikelock and led torch and tyre repair/inflate kit, with space for a bit more..
The 955i has larger headlights, generous underseat storage and a seat lock. It can be augmented with metal hooks (helmet clips)under the seat near the strap across the seat between the rider and pillion(idea taken from R1 Yamaha).
The ecu is updated to be faster.. but it makes the bike more twitchy at slow speeds in btw traffic.
Anyway.. I am always skeptical when I read a review that sings the praises of a bike with almost none of the negatives..for example.. the mirrors arent as steady as the predecessor 955i and the headlights tended to blind oncoming traffic through either being poorly adjusted or just plain loose. This bike is surely a great sports tourer..the motor sees to that, but there are some basic conveniences that were lost for the sake of an underseat pipe, which heats the seat, not good in summer, so extra insulation is put where an underseat storage compartment should be.
Triumph have more work to do if this newer model is to be as good as its predecessor in all areas.
I've upraded my headlights to Xenon like 90/130 watt bulbs and put a seat heater in, that I can switch off. I'm 163cm which is 5'5.5'' in height.. that's short. I had to get the seat reappolstered to lower it a bit, and put a seat heater pad in at the same time.
I've also setup my pass/high beam switch to open/close my Garage door which is handy for maintaining control when comming up the driveway.
The rear lights were easy to uprate to LED bulbs and my headlight switch now uses the 3 positions for (off, left headlight, Both headlights), which conserves power during daylight as the led parkers are always on and allows both low beams for extra dark roads at night if in the country. During the city traffic you only need one light and this puts less drain on the charging system and the battery due to slow speeds, allowing me to run higher wattage gloves which, with the larger reflectors make for very bright lighting when needed.
Conclusion... dont believe reviews that are all the good points.. all bikes have faults, mine has a nasty fuel guage rather than a digital range reading...triumph got that right on the 1050.
Regards to all
Rod.
Posted: 18/04/2009 at 15:46
