After a lot of thought, I've decided to part with my Street Triple RS. I haven't ridden it this year apart from the obligatory trip to the MOT station back in March. It's not all bad news though, It's staying in the family as it were, my son is adopting it. I say adopting, money will change hands, but it will be a bank of Dad transaction, until he sells his Tuono, I've offered to lend him it, so at least it will get used and not be sat in my garage when it deserves to be ridden. I've got a hankering for a Speed Twin, I loved my 900 Thruxton, but it lacked a bit of oomph IMO. I don't think I'll be buying any more bikes this year. So that makes me Triumphless for now. I hope to be back in the fold come 2025.
If you loved your 900 Thruxton but thought it lacked some oomph then you should definitely test ride a 1200r
None of the Classic range can be described as high performance machines IMO. They're great bikes to ride but in the ultimate performance stakes they can't be expected to compete against machines with an extra 100+ bhp on tap. I'm currently deliberating wether to MOT and retax my ZZR which hasn't turned a wheel since last November. It's now 12 years old and I've had it from new. I did less then 500m on it last year but I'm so attached to it I just can't bring myself to sell it even though I have another new Classic Triumph in the garage which is my machine off choice ATM.
Without trying to sound arrogant, I've got performance machinery in the form of my Tuono V4 and the NS400. What I meant about the Thruxton 900 was IMO it could've done with another 20 odd bhp, which is what the Speed twin has. I've found this year my go to bikes have been my Guzzi, the Tuono and my 2 stroke NS400 screamer. The STRS is a wonderful bike, its just I find the Tuono does everything that bit better. You could argue the Triumph is more nimble through the turns, but I'd say its marginal and that phrase ' the older I get the faster I was' springs to mind. My son has decided to sell his Tuono (which is identical to mine) and he's ridden my STRS on several occasions so it makes sense to let him have it. I don't need to sell it, but I'd prefer to see it getting used.
