I've had a soft spot for black and gold since the Ducati 900 SS from the early 80s.
What a day though! I chose the dealer I went to because they had several examples to choose from, so thought it'd be more likely I'd find one that was right. They also had a Daytona that had been converted to naked from Street Triple parts, which intrigued me - more power! The salesman told me it had been assembled at the Triumph factory using only genuine parts. But in the end, I thought it would be hard to sell if I wanted to try something else later, and the price was too high.
Went down the M6 to Manchester, planning M60, then across the Peaks. Hit Manchester and ended up stuck in traffic for nearly 2 hours due to an overturned tanker lorry. Tried to cut through Manc itself, but hit roadworks and diversions everywhere - must've seen every street in the city centre. Then got stuck behind every slow vehicle trying to head east (strangely, they weren't all blue). Ended up driving the Cat and Fiddle road among others.
Finally got there, and while I was grabbing my bike kit from the car, locked the keys in it
In the end they found someone from a car repair shop next door to break in to it, but before that, I found I'd taken two left hand gloves with me
so had to buy a cheap pair there, which I'll probably never use again
Loved the bike on the test ride. Punchy, torquey power delivery, light and nimble, poised and balanced. I think it will be much better suited for some of the roads up here. The riding position got my weight a little over the front nicely, which gave a confident feel. Front brake (radial calipers on the R model) had plenty of bite and feel. Got complimented on it's looks at a petrol station I stopped at. Which brings me to...yep, no fuel gauge, got told by the salesman that the trip meter is tricky to operate (?!), but oh well. Didn't have time to check that.
They had some other nice stuff to drool over in the showroom, including a Spondon ZX10R, Super Duke 1290, RD250LC, an RD500LC that hasn't been started from new
, and David Jeffries proddy TT-winning R1.
Coupla pics:
