My mate, whom I started biking with back in the 80's, has just bought another speed triple. He had one back in the day, which I serviced for him (BR Green), but this one is even tidier, and joins his growing bike collection. It's a lovely thing.
Speed Triple envy!
- Thread starter Morety
- Start date
I have fond memories of my Speed Triple, a twin headlamp model (955i), later than the one you have pictured. I bought mine brand new in 2003, trading my YZF600R Thundercat for it (the bike I absolutely should have kept). I think they're lovely looking and fantastic sounding bikes; I had Blueflame make a custom high-level exhaust for mine. Sadly it was not a happy relationship. Now, I am in no way a riding 'god', however, even I could tell that compared to my Thundercat, the handling was 'vague' from delivery, an issue narrowed down to headstock bearings having excessive play at 1st (600mile) service. The dealer (no longer a triumph agent) refused to rectify under warranty (!) claiming 'within tolerance' despite notable 'click' under braking. Dealt with eventually, under warranty, by an alternative dealer who serviced the bike for me thereafter rather than the supplying dealer. Bearings needed replacing again about 18months later, but by then it was always in my head that I had no confidence in the bike's handling - couldn't get over the mental block with it. Sold it at 3 years old for my first GS.
I still think a good one could be a fantastic bike... clearly your mate agrees!
I still think a good one could be a fantastic bike... clearly your mate agrees!
I've never heard of a BRG one ? BRG in Trident form but not SP3 form
Fireball Orange, Diablo Black or Racing Yellow were the three colours of the First Gen Speed Triple
I very nearly bought the original Speed Triple (in Black). I could never understand, and still don't, why they dropped a cog from the donor bike engine and made it a 5 speed.
Because 6th was like an overdrive
What was the harm in leaving it there? Probably cost Triumph more money to take it off and have two versions of the drivetrain
They also had more than one version of 3 cylinder crankcases
Yep, it may have been a one off but it was the same as my (then) Trident 750, which was also a cracker of a bike. At least these early ones were over engineered and pretty reliable, unlike the scratchy period which followed, and to some extent still seems to be evident with some models. I personally preferred the much smoother 750 triples...they didn't lose out in the performance stakes as they were quite rev happy at the top end, but I enjoyed my spins on the speed triple.
First gen speed triple = British Jota
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