Mk1 Speed Triple 750

Hey Mutley - welcome! A man after my own heart ... the Mk. 1 Speed Triple is one of those bikes that attracts more than just attention and a cult following! There's an almost hyperbolic cachet attached to the name alone and the lack of genuine, definitive, verifiable data about things like production and build numbers does nothing to help clear the mysterious fog around these models. They remain, though, truly wonderful machines and I'd be the first to express in an interest in buying yours ..... if it's the right bike at the right price.

Whilst these bikes are 'rare' they are not that uncommon, if you see what I mean. They are out there in numbers - granted, the 900 is FAR more common than the 750, but I've seen 2 of the 750s for sale in the last year or so - neither of which interested me because of their condition! If you want to talk about rarity and small production numbers look at the very early (91 - 93) Daytonas and the 750 version of those is reputed to have a production volume of fewer than 200 - various estimates exsist but it seems to be generally accepted that 200 is the absolute maximum. This is less than a quarter of the quoted production number for the Daytona Super III which is considered as rare as it is esoteric!

You need to consider, also, that rarity of any particular model can/may have a negative effect on its saleability if not its pricing. Parts - particularly genuine, original parts - are increasingly difficult to find and that can be off-putting for anyone considering the prospect of long term use and ownership.

So, in general, I'd say that putting a definitive price and/or value on your machine is going to be a difficult task. It's age; condition; mileage; history and, perhaps above all, its originality will have as big if not a bigger influence on what you might ask and/or receive for it.

I would be very interested to see more detail and pictures of the bike. .... it would definitely complement my personal, little T300 collection!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do with it. Let's see some pics., please.

 

Nice. How much are you thinking of asking? If you don't mind me asking?

 

PM sent.

 

Hi Mutley, what Adie says is spot on, the difficulty with what are commonly described as "rare" so are genuine parts, without being pedantic some people say oh it's all original, often pattern parts are put on a machine due to OEM parts no longer being available, for the purists it would therefore not be original, personally this would make no difference to me as I modded all sorts of bikes back in the day, back to your question of value, I have very recently seen the same model in mint condition and all factory original sold by a dealer for £3000, top dollar I know, but a low mileage bike all original, 1 owner and a full documented history. One of the issues for potential owners is the sprag clutch, if it needs replacing to do it properly it's an engine out job and strip down, although those capable of doing the job will not let that put them off. there is an active MK1 Speed Triple Owners Club, they have regular ride outs and plenty of machines and riders attend, the engines were not unique to the 750 Speed Triple, they where used in other models. I would say looking at the pictures, and conditionally that mechanically it is sound then around the £2750 mark, currently another dealer has one for sale with original exhausts, albeit with higher mileage (35,000) it's up for £2650) with warranty. The main difficulty is with any "limited edition" is just that, it's limited and so are parts if and when needed, especially the plastics. Hope this helps.

 

It is a beautiful bike....but my wife just won't put in the overtime to allow me to be any more interested

 

Looks very clean @Mutley a quality example of the triple. You will find lovers of this T3

 

Nice bike Mutley and looks in tip top condition, I love the twin stock carbon wrap cans which seem to be a bit more rare to survive these days. If it was a 900 (I had a Sprint900 from new back in the day) you'd have received a PM from me by now.
To you and others more knowledgeable (@Adie P) than me, am I right in thinking some of the earlier ones had 5 speed boxes?

 

Been offline for a few days - Arwena took out our phone line and internet connection. Bitch.

Yep, early Speeds had 5 speed boxes.

@Col_C I wouldn't let it being a 750 put you off completely if you are at all interested (I remain so but that's a whole 'nuther story!). The 750 is a fine machine, though with, IMHO, far less of the undefinable "character" of the 900.

It is "revvier" - the obverse of which is that it spins up more quickly - but not in a buzzy kind of way. The triple grunt is still there just not, of course, to the same extent. I've got an early (K reg.) 750 Daytona ....



this one ...

and it has, essentially, the same motor as the 750 Speed. It's definitely less quick and noticeably less torquey than its later 900 siblings, but it goes well and is a delight to ride being a tad lighter than the 900.

The only real-world "drawback" - beyond those already mentioned - of the 750 Speed Triple versus the 900 is that some have the wheels that are of the same type as the Trident (6 'spoke' rather than 3 'spoke') and (I THINK) the rear has a narrower profile tyre capability. No big deal in itself but I think the wheels make it look like, and often make people think, that the bike is actually a Trident in Speed clothes.

Longer term, the 750 SHOULD have even more rarity value than the 900 if only because of the production numbers. Translating that into real world values might be a different matter.

 

Thanks for the info Adie, hope you didn't suffer too much from the storm. We was off-line a month or so back due to a rotten pole falling over (fortunately not on anyone) and taking the fibre cable with it, took Openreach a full week to get us back up and running.
Mutley's bike is proving a real tease as the photos suggest it's probably the best condition I've seen, however I know myself, after the honeymoon period I'd be wishing it was a 900 6speed (and SWMBO won't be fooled twice ).
Back in '94 I was living in Nottingham, having ridden a CBR600 for a few years, took an offer from Pidcocks to test ride a Sprint900, expensive mistake, ordered one on the spot, remember the impression that torquey engine left as if it was yesterday.

 

Ah - now I understand! Yep, the T300s do have a tendency to leave their mark on the soul, and the imprint is definitely much heavier from a 900!

We've had more than a few outages around here with trees falling on lines but this was just the phone line coming in from the nearby pole so a relatively simple task, though it took two 'cherry picker' vans and 4 engineers to sort it because it crossed two roads! All done now, though. The only thing I haven't done is check the solar panels - the rattling from the roof suggests that they're not very solidly mounted in their brackets and our bedroom is built into the eaves so it sounded like a skeleton doing something unspeakable in a biscuit tin on Friday night! We slept in a much quieter bedroom.