Well i got my ride today on the Red Roadster demonstrator at our local dealers.
Brad was good enough to invite me to take it for a short ride.
After doing the necessary paperwork i swung my leg over...the key fob was in my pocket and i hit the on switch, waited a moment and pushed it again and she burst into life. My ears were pricked for the rumble which was not loud but 'expensive' sounding...a nice burble i guess.
After pulling out onto the street my immediate thoughts were 'this is so light!'...there is nothing in front of you like mine but mine has a flyscreen...this does too but it is way down the front. The handle bars were wide enuff but i was leaning forward maybe 3 inches too far for me.
When i cleared the traffic i gave it a twist while in 3rd and the power was instant!...no lag!..instant!
I liked this because the fuel tank fits your crutch and my knees were snug against the tank...not high...just right, its like riding a horse!...when you want to turn or simply go around a bump on the road you only need to squeeze you knee and the bike moves....very very flickable and light feeling.
At 100kph in 6th i was doing 2200 rpm...a twist and she went straight to 130kph no trouble...instantly!
Now this is interesting, before i left home on my 2016 Roadster, i put the front wheel up against a concrete post and stood a piece of timber on the concrete up against the back of the bike, i marked the concrete with a marker pen then put the timber against the rear wheel and did the same.
I took the new bike home and parked it over these marks. The result is the new Roadster is maybe 1/2 an inch shorter over the wheels and maybe 2 inches shorter overall....not much!
Plus...i'm running a Bridgestone exedra max...55 profile...theres the difference!
I am waiting for the Gt now cos i think it may fit me better...
I think Triumph have a great bike here...i was very impressed with the ride i had...would have liked to put it through some twisties but had to respect the dealers wishes in not putting many k's on it...afterall it was a favour to me....Thanx Brad at CMG Motorcycles, Christchurch.