Dale's Motorcycle Blog

The initial first rides of the new Triumph Trophy, which is the replacement for the Sprint ST, are starting to come in. Both Cycle World and Ultimate Motorcycling have published their first ride reviews this weekend. In both cases the reviewers liked the bike, and both felt very happy with the handling.

As always with a big bike, and Triumph’s claimed 662 lbs make it a big bike, one always worries about handling capability, especially when the road gets twisty. But, Triumph takes a certain amount of pride in making bikes that handle well, and they seem to have lavished the Trophy with some attention in that area.

Ultimate Motorcycling declares:

Get into tighter turns and the Trophy SE defies its size. Much more agile than you’d expect from a 662 pound bike (claimed wet, but no panniers), it handles direction changes controllably and predictably, even when the road surprises the rider.

Similarly, Cycle World’s tester says:

But by the time you’ve ridden the bike a few blocks and snapped it around a couple of simple corners, that perception starts to change. You quickly forget about the shape of the plastic in front of you and marvel at how light and agile the big Triumph feels when it’s moving…The overall effect is that you feel as though you are riding a bike that is at least a hundred pounds lighter than what its manufacturer claims.

Will it give you the rocket-like acceleration of, the Concors14 or K1600GT? Probably not. But it seems pretty good, and at 135HP with 89 torques, it’s probably not boring:

The bike isn’t exceptionally fast by today’s performance standards, but that strong, linear torque output allows it to accelerate crisply and steadily in any gear, at any rpm and at any speed. Just give the throttle a twist and the Trophy moves forward, never pinning your eyeballs to the back of your skull but always rushing the bike down the road with enough authority to be satisfying.

It should be hitting the shores of North America by the end of the year. But, I wouldn’t expect getting a test ride will be easy.

The long-lived staple for Triumph’s touring motorcycle was the Sprint ST. It’s dead now. In it’s place is the new Triumph Trophy, and it looks like a motorcycle aimed squarely at the BMW R1200RT.

The new Trophy has…well…everything, because here in North America, we’ll only be getting the top-of-the-line SE model, which comes fully loaded.

This all-new Triumph rides on an aluminum frame fitted with a single-sided swingarm and shaft final drive, and it is powered by a retuned version of the same 1215cc, dohc, 12-valve three-cylinder engine found in the Tiger Explorer adventure bike. It offers amenities comparable to or even exceeding those of some other big-rig tourers: linked ABS braking; traction control; cruise control; a ride-by-wire throttle system; a large (6.9-gallon) gas tank; a windshield electrically adjustable over a 6½-inch range; 31-liter detachable saddlebags with an optional 55-liter top trunk that includes a 12-volt power port; heated seats and grips; an adjustable-height rider seat; provisions for mounting an optional GPS receiver; a centerstand; and electronically adjustable headlights.

Needless to say, that makes for a bit of a complicated cockpit, but certainly no more so than the RT has. It even looks quite a bit like the RT, though the its triple powerplant puts out 135HP and 89 torques. That’s 25HP more than the R1200RT, but, it also weighs about 70 pounds more.

No one has gotten one for testing yet, and I have to admit, I’d love to be able to test it, because I’m very curious to see how it stacks up to the RT in comfort and handling. Whatever else you may say about the RT, the handling is unmatched. It’s practically telepathic. It’s the best touring bike I’ve ever ridden in terms of how ridiculously easily it corners. I’d love to see how close Triumph came to nailing that.

I’m also interested in the price, which we won’t know for another month. The thing about the RT has always been that, at around $20,000, that sharp handling and comfort comes at a steep price. And the thing about Triumph has been their ability to price their bikes at a price significantly below the competition.

If they can nail the handling, and still come a couple of K under the price of the RT, they may have a winner with this one.

I’d love a chance to spend the day on one, to see how well dialed-in Triumph’s first stab at an RT-killer is.