3 Things I Loved & 3 Things I Hated - Triumph Speed Triple 1050s

Agree with you there isn't a lot to dislike about the Speed Triple, I didn't realize they now come with cruise control, does that come standard on them nowadays?

 

I agree, the new Speed is a pretty awesome machine. I initially thought the weight was going to be a negative, as I came from a Street, but it wasn’t. It’s nearly as quick to turn in and more stable when in a corner and on the highway. Also, I really love the torque from the new engine, it’s probably what I enjoy most about the bike. And yes the cruise is awesome. I use it all the time, it really gives the wrist a break. I find the mirrors to be very good. Yes there is a little vibration at times, but overall works well. I recently test rode a S1000R and the stock mirrors were terrible. At 5’9” I don’t find the height an issue at all as I can flat foot with slightly bent knees. And tires are just tires, change to whatever you like. With over 4000 km’s on the supercorsa’s I have to say they have been very good indeed. Would I put them on again, no, but no complaints unless you want to ride in the rain frequently. Thanks for sharing your initial thoughts on the bike, and great job by the way,

 

Even more torque

 

I picked up my Speedy RS a little over a week ago and I might as well just mail my DL back to the MVD. One thing you didn't mention was the Shift Assist which has me over the moon, no clutch up and down shifting is incredible. And the slipper clutch makes grabbing 2 or 3 gears lower a cinch.

I bought my first S3 in 2009 and thoroughly loved the bike... until I laid eyes on the 2014 Ducati Monster 1200S. I quickly sold the Triumph and bought the Duc. What got me interested in selling the Monster was the IMUs that many new bikes have, I can always use a hand when I run out of talent.

Unfortunately, our Ducati dealership had recently changed hands and I'm not really sold on the new owners so I visited the Triumph dealer and scoured the net for anything I could find on the Speed Triple. On paper the Ducati and Triumph seem almost identical when considering HP, torque and weight so I worried that I'd be just throwing $6-7K on a new bike very similar to the one I already owned.

Damn, I was super wrong on that. This S3's newly found ability to rev quickly in most any gear is amazing, I never thought it would match, much less beat, my Ducati on that front but I was wrong. Mind you, I bought the bike without ever riding one because there were almost none available but out of the blue Triumph Albuquerque said Triumph had located one in white (my choice because I really don't like matte black) so I wrote them a down payment and waited a week for it to arrive.

This was one of my better decisions, the bike is stupid fast and handles even better than my Monster, which surprises me considering how high the rider position is. Hippo is right about the ride height, even with the optional low seat I'm still on tip-toes in parking lots and I look the fool when trying to back into or out of a space. Once rolling though everything gets better, and yeah, cruise control is pretty awesome. I can now relax my right hand on long rides just as easily as I can my left.

Looks are awesome as long as you don't spend much time looking at the headlights and wind screen. Those new wheels are just beautiful and the Crystal White paint really jumps out in the sunlight. And there is carbon fiber everywhere.

I put an Arrows exhaust on my first S3 and promptly removed the dB killers to make the bike both lighter and a bit louder. My new RS came with Arrows and to remove the dB killers is kind of a hassle, you have to remove the cans, drill out the rivets holding the carbon fiber finishers in place and then grind about 2-3mm off the outlet welds to separate the baffle from the can. Fortunately, the bike sounds so good as is that I may never get around to uncorking the Arrows.

All in, the motor, the sound and that quick shifter made this decision well worth the cash. Banging upshifts at close to redline makes this triple sound like a V-12 with a dual-clutch transmission and has already sparked the interest of one LEO heading in the opposite direction. When I saw his brake lights in the mirror I quickly set the cruise at the speed limit and just putted away. All in all, a tremendous effort on Triumph's part.

 

I'm not sure if the S has it. It might be part of the RS package only, as are the IMU, Ohlins suspension, keyless ignition and Track mode (which is positively manic).

 

You can disable the keyless function but I actually prefer a real key because I used to have my garage door remote on the same ring. I could ride up and into my waiting garage.

 

When I removed the baffle on mine, I didn’t take the end cap off. I just used a dremel to cut the weld off. To ensure I didn’t cut into the carbon, I slide a piece of tin in between the baffle and carbon end cap and moved it along as I was cutting. Did you drill out the restrictive disc at the other end? If you haven’t, you should. Doesn’t change the sound but gave me a noticeable increase in performance. As for the colour, they are both nice. I chose the black because I think it looks more muscular in that colour, and because my Street Triple was white and I wanted a change. Enjoy that awesome bike.