Buyer Guide: Triumph Daytona 675

2006 Original model launched: After the somewhat flawed TT600 and better but far from perfect 600 and 650 Daytonas, Triumph ditches the four cylinder engines and puts a tuned triple into a cutting edge chassis. It’s the only bike to challenge the Japanese other than Ducati’s 748/749/848 since the 600cc class was born in the mid 80s. Some say it’s the class leader too. Well done Triumph and hooray for England. There was a very minor update for 2008 which was just improved headlights, a gold anodised top nut and new decals on the side fairings. SE model in 2008 had black bodywork with gold wheels and decals.

Click to read: Triumph Daytona 675 owners reviews, Triumph Daytona 675 specs and to see the Triumph Daytona 675 image gallery.

Taking on the Japanese in the ultra-competitive 600 sports class is a near impossible task. But Triumph did it and succeeded with the 675 Daytona. Okay, it’s not really a 600 but who cares if it’s got a few extra ccs. The point is in a class of samey, sanitised in-line fours the three cylinder Triumph’s got a distinctive and unique feature – that oversized engine. It’s packs much more torque than its rivals, sounds fit and snorty and it’s incredibly involving and satisfying to use.

On the road the 675cc triple makes a much better power plant than the revvy fours. If that sounds like we’re about to say it’s not so good on track – that’s simply not the case. The firm chassis is a bit over the top on rough roads but on smooth race tracks, it’s divine. The slim engine aids ground clearance, the front-end’s incredibly precise but not too flighty and it’s a bike which loves to corner hard.

Ultimately it’s slightly compromised on the road by the firmness of the suspension but that’s to be expected of a race rep and it’s an exciting, competitive, distinctive British success story. It even spawned the sales success story of 2008, the Street Triple – basically a stripped down budget spec Daytona with higher bars (read a review here or review the Street Triple yourself).

When the bike was new one magazine destroyed an engine and there were rumours of further similar problems. As it turns out (to the extent of this survey at least) the engine is mostly reliable albeit with one notable exception.

A handful of owners had problems with a rough misfiring engine. But even that hasn’t put them off. There’s an underlying theme throughout all the reader reports suggesting this is a bike that gets deep enough under a rider’s skin for it to be forgiven any little niggles. And that says a lot about Triumphs and the 675 in particular.

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