I happen to be an ardent Modi supporter, and as luck would have it, I took delivery of my Crystal White Trumpy on the 16th of May, the day Modi was voted to power, by the largest democracy in the world. So, yes, it was indeed ' Ab acche din aayenge' come true
The prelude to this story begins with my initial biking days, with my first bike, a Honda Unicorn, which was a fantastic companion, for a long time to come, and I even ended up customising it to make it look more like a Honda CB250. The itch to own something faster, better soon got the better of me and I ended up buying an R15. The R15 was the bike that brought Super sport styling, handling to the masses and I couldn't agree more. The bike handled great, was very reliable and very easy to maintain. Soon, I was riding long distances, exploring places far and beyond on my trusty steed.
Unfortunately, something setup for the track would have it's draw backs on the touring front and so, the bug to get something more suited to touring got to me. With my new job, things looked good on the finance front, and I went ahead and made a booking for the upcoming CBR250R, without even taking a look it. The reviews were very positive, appreciating it's touring abilities and at a very affordable price. Very soon, the launch dates were finalised, and the dealer contacted me to make my payment, and gave me some tentative dates for delivery. Shortly, I was the proud owner of a Silver Sword CBR250R, the very first of it's kind on the roads. The bike looked great, had great mile-munching capabilities and a good handler. This certainly was the Quarter Litre
for the World. It was great to own something that was launched on a global level. This meant lots of after market accessories, from the world over, to make the bike unique, and customize it one's personal tastes.With the CBR250R, also came in the biking groups in Bangalore.
What used to be small group rides, with 3-5 people, was now a roaring group of 500+ bikers and the biking scene in India taking off in a grand way. The bike was extremely reliable, very frugal and hoot to ride. With some minor additions, the bike managed to turn heads, even after nearly 3 years. In the meanwhile, I got married, and the bike was a great tourer, even with 2-up riding. The engine was tuned for low-mid range torque, and was a great joy to ride, even with a pillion.
All this while, there were innumerable talks with all my biking buddies, about getting to own and ride a proper Sports bike/Super bike. My thirst for high speeds had been satiated by the CBR250R, but to own something that sounds great and goes like stink was ever present. It's a dream for every biker, I guess to experience the thrill of owning such a steed once in their lives. During one of the rides, I ran into a guy, who had bought a Ducati 796 and got to chatting with him. He confessed to me that though his first love was an inline triple, like the Triumph Street/ Speed, he had to settle for the Duc, as Triumph was nowhere in the scene at the time. This got me curious, as to how actually a Triple sounds, and all the videos conveyed only one thing "An Orchestra". Many of the CBR250R owners tried their best make the bike sound better, with an exhaust change. But no matter what they tried, it was still a single cylinder, and can never match the symphony of a multi cylinder engine.
As one of my friends put it "Doesn't matter if you're using Bose headphones, if you're using some cheap music player, the sound isn't going to get any better"My mind was made up, if I were to ever upgrade to a full blown sportsbike/sbk, it has to sound great, turn heads when you give it the beans.
At the 2012 Delhi Auto Show, Triumph showcased their entire line-up and announced that they were going to enter the Indian market, and the prices they had quoted were simply mouth-watering. And the wait began, to lay hands on one of them, or atleast hope to lay hands on one of them. Time passed by and the Triumph bikes and their pricing was the talk of the town. Thanks to the terrible performance of the rupee vs the dollar, the prices shot up and things were looking bleak. Plus the talks of owning a big bike in India, especially the Super Sports, had their due share of negatives: Aggressive riding posture, high engine heat, require high octane petrol and no regular availability of spares/ service. There were numerous talks of upgrading to a Ninja 650; the bike was true to it's touring capabilities, a good package, at a good affordable price, with company warranty and service backup. But the bike never tugged at the heart strings, a big negative being the exhaust note.
Triumph chose Bangalore as their maiden place to open a dealer ship, and I was able to get a first hand look at my dream bike. I took the day off from work and ended up at the showroom, and there she was, all gleaming in black, parked outside the showroom. I swung a leg over her, and everything just feel into place. The riding posture was very neutral, the bike was extremely light and everything about the bike screamed high quality. My mind was made up and quickly started working out the finances. The only pending thing was the approval from the home minister. I had already laid in the ground work and soon enough, everything was settled and I was on my way to make a booking for my dream bike. We went and had a test ride on the bike, to ascertain if the bike was pillion friendly and got the final approval from the home-minister. The test bike was now fitted with the Arrow exhaust and man, does it sound glorious!
I was lucky enough to find a buyer from Team-bhp for the CBR and right after, made a booking for the Striple!! Days rolled by and I kept tabs on the Triumph thread on Team-bhp on a daily basis. Met up with one of the owners, who had graduated from a Pulsar 150, and was glad to know the bike was very easy to handle and live with. Managed to collect some old magazines on the Street Triple, read every online review, watched every Youtube video ( English, French, Portuguese
), to keep me occupied.
Nearly 1.5 months later, I was on my way to take possession of the Crystal White beauty. Took the day off from work and reached the showroom well in advance. There she stood, all gleaming and ready to ride.
The chief technician explained the details of the bike and the running-in instructions. They had brought a cake to celebrate the occasion and the bike had a full tank of gas. With all the briefing done, we headed out into Bangalore evening traffic, on a Friday evening
The bike was a hoot to ride, and very comfortable for the rider and pillion. The huge traffic jams and intense heat put my biking skills to the test, and we were finally at the temple.
Got the puja done, reached home and awaited the morning sunrise, when we could take her out on the highway.Next morning, loaded up the saddle bags and set off on the maiden ride, with the Striple to Mysore.
The bike took to the highway like a fish to water, and man is the power addictive. With the running-in conditions, the bike could do around 80-90kmph, enough to keep up with the traffic. But the way it reaches those speeds is just mindblowing
At the same time, the engine is so flexible. From 40kmph to 90 kmph, in 6th gear, all very smoothly. Also, the tall first gear, revised from 2013 helps run around town in first gear, up to 40-50 kmph. In one word, the bike was simply 'Brilliant'
So, enough of text, I'll let the pics do the talking. Bottom line is that the bike is simply fabulous, and worth every rupee spent. It's no wonder the bike has remained at the top of the Street bike category, for the past 4-5 years.
The instrumentation is superb, with a plethora of information, including a Lap timer
Thanks to the revision in 2013, the exhaust was moved to the underside, thus helping shave off weight, lower the centre of gravity, and more importantly for me, make the pillion seat useable.
Grip from the Pirelli Corsas is great and the bike is very stable at highway speeds
Brilliant brakes from Nissin, with ABS, standard on the Indian bikes. Steel braided brake lines are standards, providing very good feel and braking power.
Excellent finish of all the components
4 way adjustable levers for the front brake and clutch lever provided
Neat space provided underseat, for the tool kit
Both lights ON, in low beam as well as high beam, provide excellent illumination
The entire process from booking to delivery was handled very well by Keerthi Motors. The technical aspects of the vehicle were very well explained and I've heard from other owners that they handle the servicing aspect very well too.
Other bikes in this category one can consider are the Ninja 650 and the Kawasaki Z800. Though the Ninja is a very capable tourer, the exhaust note and the higher weight made me look the other way. The Z800 is still not launched in Bangalore (officially) but did manage to check out one of the display bikes. For my build, the Z800 is on the heavier side and also the seat height is a bit too tall.
After praising my steed so much, I do have a couple of negatives to mention:
1. The mirrors are very bad, in terms of range and adjustability. It's almost impossible to get a good view, without having to peek into them
2. The engine sump and coolant reservoir are placed right at the bottom, which has a tendency to scrape tall speed breakers, especially when riding with a pillion.\
3. I'm told wind blast will be an issue, at highway speeds, but haven't found it to be a major issue so far
Some observations so far: I've nearly completed 800kms and is due for the first service soon. Have received an average fuel consumption of around 21km/lt. Engine is very smooth, with loads of low end torque. Makes overtaking very easy and swift.
Suspension is slightly on the stiff side, make some bumps and undulations more felt, but nothing disconcerting
Riding in peak traffic has it's woes, on rider and vehicle. Though engine heat is not substantial, it is felt in a short time. Tall first gear avoids too many shifts in low speed traffic.
Thanks for reading, will keep updating this thread with more pics from rides, additions to the bike etc.