[AnkurS]

I've got a confession to make - there is no back story, no longing, no heartaches. None of the experiences I've read from so many fellow T-BHPians here. I just went and bought a superbike. For no apparent reason at all.

My wife was missing from town and I was at home getting bored. This was 28th December. While flicking through the TV channels, I stopped at an Auto related one. I love cars. Have done so since I first learnt to change gears. So, thought that there would be a car show I could watch; instead, the show was featuring motorbikes, ahem, superbikes. It looked interesting and I spent an hour watching how these bikes are made, the power they generate, the handling, the latest technology and such. I was suitably intrigued and a thought arrived - what if?

Now I had not ridden a motorcycle since 2006, when I bought my first car, a Honda City, home. I had had a couple of accidents on the first bike my dad bought me - a KB125. Since my last fall on that bike, I sold it and then upgraded to a Pulsar 150 (the first version, with the round headlight). A couple of years later, I bought a car (a Honda City) and have since then remained a loyal fan of air-conditioning and protection from rain.

I still love the City. But it was showing its age, so we bought a Yeti last year. That is a beautifully made car. It's amazing to drive, has all (or most) creature comforts and just begs to be driven. So I do.

But, back to the topic at hand. So, after the show, I thought I'll find out the kind of bikes that are available in India. Boy, I was surprised to see that we were almost spoilt for choice. I knew there was Harley, Triumph, KTM, Kawasaki in India already, but had never explored the kind of bikes they sold here. A little quickly done research and I was on my way to KTM to test ride. Being a Sunday, they were closed. I thought that was a good sign - I hadn't been on a bike for almost 8.5 years and wasn't sure I would be able to handle it.

Next day, I finished work and was on my way home when I saw the Triumph showroom and decided to take a quick look. I went in, and took a test ride of the Street Triple. I had no clue what I was doing, but went on a short ride anyway. To be honest, I fumbled. Stalled the demo bike a bunch of times, never got past 2nd gear and had trouble generally speaking. But, surprise, I never felt uneasy in traffic. Went back home pondering.

On the 31st December 2014, at 6.45pm, I went and booked the bike. Wifey evaluated the pillion seat and remarked that it was manageable before I put the money down. It was a snap decision (I am prone to make these), without rationale and reason. Did I need a bike - NO; did I know how to use a superbike - NO; was a superbike going to be used for grocery runs or commute to the office - NO. So there was no way to justify my decision at all. But it was made anyway. In favour of the Striple. I never went back to KTM, never TD'ed the Ninja, didn't read up on the HDs. Striple it was. Despite the recent power related brouhaha, despite the fact that it was an expensive bike, despite all other rationale. Waiting period of upto 3 months, I was told. That's fine, I was happy to wait.

I went to the dealership on the 6th January to discuss the price increase and to my surprise, they had my bike already. Hmmm. I wasn't planning on having this so soon. Ok then, I can get it ahead of plans, no worries. So put the loan process on fast forward. After all the paperwork, the headaches with the insurance company etc., I took delivery of the bike on Wednesday, 14th December. Rode it home in traffic, and I was a little scared. This wasn't a demo bike and the last thing I wanted to do was to drop the bike on its maiden journey home. But it handled beautifully. And surprise, surprise - not a single stall on the ride! I was impressed. I still am after two shortish rides and 240kms covered in three days. It is a welcoming machine.

Did click some pictures, uploading these for my and your viewing pleasure. Looks are subjective and the headlights didn't really appeal to me when I first saw them. But like the Yeti, they have started to grow on me. I like the naked look, aggressive stance and the lovely whirr of the engine. I am fascinated by the mad acceleration, the fancy instrument cluster, the upright riding position and the reassuring size of the rear tyre (180). Here goes..

Side Profile



Front View



Instrument Consol


Love the tank and the detailing



Some more pics



The Accessories
Fork Protectors


Frame Sliders (Skipped the engine protectors)


Rear wheel spools


Rear Brake Fluid Reservoir


Alarm kit


LED Tail light


Oh, and also got the Paint Protection installed - visible on the tank. Have ordered some more accessories which are on the way:
- TPMS
- Comfort seat (not sure if it'll help the pillion, but hoping so)
- LED indicators front and rear and relay
- Quickshifter

Other than OEM parts, have ordered a Radiator protection guard (Evotech) and a Dart Manta Flyscreen.

Looking forward to many many happy miles on the bike. The first 240kms have been blissful! Well done Triumph.

PS: A big Thank You to Clayton and his colleagues at Keerthi. This guy is now a buddy! Had all the answers, went out of his way to make sure I was comfortable and is an all round great bloke. Made my entire experience of buying a bike a wonderful one!

End of Week 1

So, here is a quick update of my riding experience after two shortish rides and about 450kms on the Odo.

The things that validate my decision to buy the bike:

1. Handling, handling, handling! What a super responsive motorcycle the Streetie is. I have not yet had a worry moment whether on the highway or the traffic in the city. In fact, I'm probably going to use the bike a lot more in the city than I had planned - it's just so easy to ride, I forget that I'm riding a slightly heavier bike than my previous bikes. Full marks to Triumph from me.

2. Throttle response is amazing. Neither of my earlier motorcycles (KB125 and Pulsar 150 1st Gen) could ever have prepared me for the experience of the Streetie. I used the Super Shell for the first refill and that seems to have improved the response even more. I'm staying within the run-in limits on all gears so far, in case anyone is wondering.

3. The bike is different in appearance from the most other bikes of course, but has the ability to blend in. What I really love is the fact that there have not been too many stares, etc., even at traffic signals. The naked look, upright seating, and lack of bulk go a long way in camouflaging the Streetie on the road. Much as I appreciate the headlights, they are a dead giveaway that it is a 'different' bike.

4. The brakes are REALLY good! I have tested them to get used to the bite and grip, and they work very well for me. The general lack of good sense on our roads by auto's and buses doesn't bother me so much now. I wonder how things will change if I ever get down to upgrading the brake pads from stock.

5. Seat comfort is very high. Rode the bike for 2-1/2 hours non-stop on Wed night, covered about 190 kms and came back without any pain anywhere. I like the seat. Look for an update at the bottom of the post though.

6. Headlights are good and powerful and light up a large swathe of road ahead. This is a key requirement for me and I'm happy with the electricals here. Not so sure if the high beams are pointing in the right direction at the moment, will do some long night riding to confirm and if required, adjust.

The small niggles

1. On both my rides, I've had to stop by the side of the road about an hour into the ride to straighten my right knee. I know this is not a bike issue, but my knee acting up. I get searing pain in the knee, stop and straighten the leg - it takes about 10 seconds for the pain to disappear and I'm back on the saddle munching miles again. Wish I could do something about that..

2. Still getting used to the fact that the footpegs are set slightly behind and have managed to hit the left footpeg with the inside of my leg causing some temporary discomfort. However, this is not going to be a long term problem.

3. Shifting into 1st gear at traffic lights is sometimes difficult. The gear refuses to shift until I release the clutch, increase the revs slightly and then try again. The service folks have asked me to ride until the 1st service to see if the problem persists and I'm hoping it won't. Any other Striple owners faced this at all?

4. Speaking of gears - I need to roll on the throttle to move or the bike stalls. Could have / should have, had better torque delivery at lower revs (looking at you Z800), but I'll survive this.

5. Horn is adequate, just about. I would have preferred a slightly louder horn to ride around town to be honest.

6. I will probably end up replacing the clutch lever for a shorter one. I personally don't find the clutch hard, but it's too far from the grip for my liking. Will welcome suggestions to improve this.

In other news, I have added the Aspida Ares gauntlets to my gear. The Dainese Gujia's are a good pair, but two things are a problem - they do get cold in early mornings and the palm protection padding rub against the grips causing my little finger to rub against the tips. They seem to getting better as they break in, but wanted a leather set for the weather anyway. The Ares seem to be nice - let's hope they treat me well!

I also swapped out my stock seat for the Comfort seat from Triumph. The new seat felt more comfortable during my short ride back home today, but will wait for a longer ride this weekend to confirm. The new seat comes with double stitching and dimpled covers and looks awesome on the bike!

Getting a little irritated with the alarm - can't use it with the gloves (as I can't push it back in the pocket after use) and the passive alarm activates in 45 seconds. Got to find a way to delay this. Will need to relook at the manual.
Will probably fork out some dough for the handlebar risers soon - I think it's a good idea, welcome feedback.

Received my RC Card yesterday too, and all is correctly captured. Yippee!

Have attached a couple of pics I took at Nandi Hills. Will come back soon with more pictures and updates.





Weekend 2 with the Streetie

The last two weekends have been a blast! While I went to Nandi Hills and did a solo run to the Kolar CCD during Week 1, this weekend started with another run to the CCD, this time with Sammyboy and then a solo ride today morning to Galibore on NH209.

The bike has yet to show me a weak side. The stall without throttle roll on 1st gear is the only issue that I've had, and having read about it on the interwebs, it appears to be a common experience with the Striple. I will speak to Prasanna about that this week to see if that can be sorted. Talking about issues, the other problem I was facing of not being able to engage 1st gear from neutral at traffic lights seems to have disappeared today. Maybe its something to do with the engine temperature as it's only ever occurred in prolonged rides through the city traffic. BTW - gearshifts (up and down) between 1-6 have been seamless and reassuring.

The ride today was fantastic in a couple of ways. The Streetie is not shy of showing off on open stretches of road and Nice Road gave it a quick opportunity to flex some of its muscles today morning. Even at moderately high speeds, the bike continued to feel planted, manoeuvrable and capable of much more. Throttle response above 3000 RPM is instant, but the real thrust comes in around the 8000 mark. Given that I'm still in the run-in, I refrained from going above 8000 for more than a couple of seconds. Can't wait to complete the run-in to experience the bike abilities.

In the slightly narrow twisties that I occasioned at Kanakapura Road, the Streetie was extremely steady and prepared for corners. The suspension is hard sprung, and this helps in feeling connected to the road. I personally also like the suspension setup and feel quite comfortable without the stiff feeling. I do make sure to slow down to tackle speed breakers and do my best to avoid potholes. The ground clearance feels very good as well and I haven't touched / scraped any part of the bike over the massive speed breakers we have in Bangalore. There's one right outside my house.

Braking on the bike is very good. Maybe it's the ignorance is bliss factor, but the brakes have a lot of bite and seem very capable of handling difficult situations. I had to test the brakes quite a bit today with manic bus drivers on the two lane highway and did not experience a single hair raising moment. I use a 80:20 ration of front rear braking in a prepared slow down and front brakes when in a pinch. The Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsas (that's a handful for a name!) do a wonderful job at keeping the bike upright on the roads. I'm a touch worried about the life expectancy of these vis-a-vis the cost, but I think I'll stick with them when the time to change comes.

My Odo reads at 770kms at the moment, and I've used up 36.62 lts of fuel thus far, leading to an overall FE of 20.95 per ltr. Not sure if this is a good number during run-in, but hoping to see an improvement after completion of the 1st service (which is not far away now, yipee!). I refilled with Shell Super for the first two fills and wanted to switch to Speed 97 today, but couldn't. Actually, funnily enough, the fuel low warning light had come on soon after I started my return journey and I carefully nursed the bike back to Bangalore not wanting to fill up on the way and more importantly wanting to switch to 97 Octane at the Residency Road BPCL. The distance to empty was at 0 at Shankar Matt (JP Nagar) and I figured I'll push the bike if need be. After catching all red lights on the way and wondering at what point the bike will stall, I finally reached the fuel bunk only for me to be sent my way as they had run out of stock!! Went straight to Shell on VM Road and filled up with Super again. Which brings me to a puzzling question - the fuel capacity is stated as 17.5lts., but on the side stand, I was only able to get in 14.8lts. Any thoughts? What am I doing wrong?

The plan for this week is to book a service appointment with Keerthi and get her back spanking new! Look forward to more rides with the T-BHPians over the coming weekends and learning more about the Streetie. Please enjoy the attached pics.

[justwheels]

Well Well Well..Let me be the first one to congratulate you. An impulsive decision gets you a sports bike or a super bike so to say. Just Wow!

The Bike looks stunning and I am sure the air conditioning won't take you back to Yeti for some time. A stunner of looks and naked bikes do have an appeal of their own. Have a nice time munching miles. Keep us updated with an ownership report.

[HyperRetard]

I see that you've already done 239.5 KMs.
Getting addicted, eh?

Anyways, do enjoy your bike. She's a stunner.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

I had such an impulsive decision and went and bought a Harley last week. Sadly though, it comes in a box with 1:24 written or it, and even that was expensive for my current purchasing power.

Congrats on the bike. More than anything- I guess you were lucky to get wife to support your impulsive decision. STripple looks good in white.

Did you get any offers from Triumph like the existing owners received after the detuning fiasco?

[AnkurS]

Originally Posted by justwheels

Well Well Well..Let me be the first one to congratulate you.

Keep us updated with an ownership report.

Thank you justwheels for your kind words. I will do my best to keep this thread alive . Wish me luck!

Originally Posted by HyperRetard

I see that you've already done 239.5 KMs.
Getting addicted, eh?

Anyways, do enjoy your bike. She's a stunner.

HyperRetard - yeah, I'm hooked! She is such a sweet ride that I can't but help take her for a spin now and then. And gorgeous enough that I keep coming back

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I had such an impulsive decision and went and bought a Harley last week. Sadly though, it comes in a box with 1:24 written or it, and even that was expensive for my current purchasing power.

Congrats on the bike. More than anything- I guess you were lucky to get wife to support your impulsive decision. STripple looks good in white.

Did you get any offers from Triumph like the existing owners received after the detuning fiasco?

LOL on the Harley comment! Seriously though, I hope you get to ride your dream bike soon.
The Striple will probably get a little makeover ala the Street Triple R (with some red to go with the white). But I do agree, white is a good colour on her.
No offers mate, and to be honest, I didn't expect any. By the time I went for the TD, this fiasco had already happened, and they weren't exactly in a mood to dent their pockets any further. BTW, with the roll back of excise duties last week, their prices have gone up further.

[stanjohn123]

Congrats on your new acquisition Ankur. I'm a car loyalist too but suddenly I feel an itch to own a Sports Bike even without having ridden a single bike my whole life. Blame it all on the sudden influx of these bikes into our market.

[Adil Thacker]

Congrats Ankur , your bike looks amazing !! safe riding and keep us posted on the updates to the beauty !!!

[srinath.s]

Well well, that escalated quickly! From research to booking in 3 days and from booking to delivery in less than a fortnight

Hope you have loads of fun with her! Ride safe.

[arulpeem]

Originally Posted by AnkurS

I just went and bought a superbike. For no apparent reason at all.

Congratulations on your new ride Ankur. It is probably the fastest acquirement process for a high capacity bike anywhere. I wish you and your wife a very happy and safe riding for many thousands of miles. I presume that you have already planned to get a set of decent riding gear to go with your ride.

[adrian]

Hi AnkurS, Congratulations and may you have a hassle free ownership of your Triumph.

Can anybody enlighten me on the rear wheel spool ?

regards adrian

[batterylow]

Originally Posted by adrian

Can anybody enlighten me on the rear wheel spool ?

regards adrian

I think it is to lift the bike on a paddock stand.

The spools are the lifting points.

[Haroon]

Congrats Ankur on your lovely purchase.
Wish you many many enjoyable miles of riding.

So inspite of the new Harley showroom being 10 mins walk from home, you preferred the Triumph showroom....10 mins walk from office

Ride safe

[djay99]

Many Congratulations Ankur. ST is a great bike and i am sure you will enjoy munching miles on it. Let's meet up some time for a ride. Ride safe.

[Fullrevs]

Congratulations Ankur! Love the reasoning i.e the impulsive purchase. Ride safe and wish you many happy km's.

[Jaggu]

Congratulations! Really enjoyed reading through your report, it was very similar reasoning rather lack of it, which was justified later on lol

Striple is a fun bike to ride in city and pretty easy to live with as a bike in general also. Looking forward to many more updates from you. Go easy on the right wrist till the bike runs in