1999 Triumph Speed Triple 955i Ride Review
tomo...@erols.com
Triumph sport carbon fiber slip-on exhaust, Dunlop D208 GP compound
tires, K&N GP Touring handlebars, Napolean Baren bar-end mirrors.
The back story: Bought this bike used back in 2003, selling my 1997
T509 in order to get the bigger, more powerful 955 engine. The T509
was essentially identical except that it had 20 less hp from its 885cc
engine. Kept it until I got my Monster S4Rs, then sold it to my race
partner, George. He was planning to sell it, so I made him an offer
he couldn't refuse. Wanted a bike that my son Justin could use to go
on rides with me when I'm on the S4Rs.
George replaced the worn-out oem chain, replaced a leaking fork seal,
retrofitted the oem, ugly, bug-eye headlamps (I had done a single
headlight conversion) and bent the brake lever in a garage tip-over.
The tires and battery are .... tired.
George dropped the bike off on Friday evening, and Saturday I took it
out for a brief (and highly illegal by the standards of the Old
Dominion) ride.
First impression was that I had never ridden a Speed Triple before.
The bike felt heavy, wide, and unresponsive. It sure sounded great,
though! Pure sex; that gravelly, diesel pick-up truck idle, followed
by the deep, throaty mid-range, quickly giving way to the velvet
shriek of a high performance multi at the top of the tach.
The brakes which I remembered with such fondness felt wooden and
ineffective after the radial master cylinder/radial mounted calipers
of the S4Rs. Maybe they're right, and you can't go home again.
The riding position, though... oh, that was heaven! Sitting up, wide
bars, gentle forward lean, arms slightly bent, feet underneath me,
lots of leverage, unlimited visibility, and those classic bar-end
mirrors let me see everythng behind me with zero vibration. That's
what I've been working to find on my Monster since day one. Just for
comparison's sake, when I got back to the house, I sat on the Monster
with its newly installed +16mm bar risers and MV Agusta Brutale
handlebar, and lo and behold, I have EXACTLY duplicated the Speed
Triple's ergonomics, with the minor exception that the Brutale bar is
about two inches narrower than the K&N unit on the S3.
So, I rode the bike a little longer, letting it warm up, remembering
that I need to keep the tachometer above 4,500 rpm to make any real
power, squeezing the brakes a little harder, running it up through
second-third-fourth gears a couple of times on the Fairfax County
Parkway. It all started coming back to me. The wonderful song that
only a triple can make, the clear, legible, traditional analog
tachometer front and center on the classicly styled yet simple dash.
The uniqueness of the triple in a sea of twins and I4's. As my sped
went up, the weight fell away. The suspension was taut and
responsive. The brakes were still the second best street bike brakes
I've ever experienced.
I think new tires and new brake pads are in order. We need to
straighten or replace the brake lever, get a new toe rubber for the
shift lever, and give the bike a thorough cleaning and detailing. Re-
title the bike, re-license it and re-insure it.
Then all I have to do is finish reassembling the Monster (the CF parts
are coming back from my Ducati painter this week) and Justin and I can
head for the mountains.
Alternatively, Roger Lyle is putting on a track day at Summit Point on
April 17th......
H'mmmmm....
Andrew
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We have a heartbeat!
The group is still alive!
--
Andrew
00 Daytona
00 Speed Triple
71 Kawi H1
05 Kiddo