Sprint Gt Vs St

955I the best triple ever for comfort the ST if you are flexible RS.

 

Maroon 2010 ST ABS, 10k miles on the clock, ready to take away from my place, comes with a complimentary red 1999 ST, 32k on the clock. All reasonable offers considered

 

A black pudding supper

 

Gt has longer wheel base and slightly heavier Eats miles, 7 hour days, no problem, seat is the best (ever), slighty softer gearing. Great handling 1050 engine so sorted great brakes ( I find the ABS intrusive, what can you do).
From what Ive read the ST is sportier, not by much.
If these are were you are at then go for the GT, comfort and handling.

 

The GT is more set up for touring. The GT SE comes with all you need to tour with yet makes a good day to day bike as well
Performance wise stills remains quite nippy with good acceleration and top end. You do need to set up the front and rear shocks to suit you.
Both are adjustable with the front it’s preload but the rear is reload, damping and rebound.
When I had mine the only thing I added was a scotoiler.

 

And its the beautiful one

 

If the price is right

 

You certainly seem to have an unusual modus operandi down there Rich.

 

Depends on your priorities, if you want comfort and plenty of luggage space then go for the GT, if you want something a bit more Sport then go for the ST. There were a number of minor improvements to the ST around 07/08 so go for one later than that (easy to tell as the tank went from plastic to steel), they also had higher bars, taller screen and I believe the gearbox was tweaked for a smoother change.
I had an '08 ABS (ABS was an option back then) from new and kept it for 5 years, had a 955 ST previously and the 1050 was much better in every respect (other than pannier capacity) - finish, engine, gearbox and handling were all significantly improved. I prefer the ST for its more sportier character and looks (I don't like the low exhaust of the GT), most of the time I rode solo (wife rides her own bike in the UK) and left the panniers and top box off which made it look and feel relatively sporty. But the factory panniers and top box went on for touring Europe with wife as pillion every year, so it's certainly capable of that too. In 5 years I covered about 40,000mls about 15k of that was 2-up touring, and never missed a beat.
I fitted the TOR exhaust and de-cat link pipe which improves the sound and with the right map gives a smoother throttle response from closed.

Seized rear hub eccentric for chain adjustment, and seized rear suspension linkage are the most common problems to look out for, if buying from a dealer insist these are lubricated before you buy.
Unfortunately my personal experience of dealer servicing is not good.

 

I beleive the ST exhaust can, can heat, the pillion can.

 

I have borrowed both the ST and GT versions while my bike was being serviced, admittedly quite a while back. I loved the ST - cracking bike. But, when I returned the GT to the dealer I started negotiating to buy one. It was that good (for me anyway). Sadly I had to put the purchase on hold for a few more months during which time I became ill and had to give up the idea. I'd buy a GT tomorrow if I had the money/health/space for it.

 

The underseat cans on the ST ( can’t remember which year ) were well known for cooking pillions

 

Yes linkages need attention.
Re hub. On the ST the caliper carrier is anodised but on the GT it is painted, but where it fits onto the hub is bare ally. This corrodes and seizes it to the hub stopping chain adjustment. It needs stripping and going around with a file to make it slightly bigger and plenty of grease when rebuilt.
Any SSSA needs plenty of preventative maintaince.