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BHPian Join Date: Aug 2021 Location: Bangalore
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| Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? I took a test ride of the Trident 660 in Bangalore (Street Twin wasn't available) and am contemplating buying a pre-owned Street Twin 2019 model but am worried about a few things: 1. Refinement: How refined is the ST? Gear shifts on the Trident felt a bit clunky and I believe the ST may also have similar problem. I believe engine refinement will be top class but gear shifts may not be at the same level of Honda. 2. Reliability: I have read a few blogs and posts and it seems that Street twin has its fair share of problems. I am not sure if this is applicable to the 2019 model. Moreover, the Triumph showroom in Bangalore has had very bad reviews and I read about recurring issues because the technician did not make the right choice and the owners had to pay for a lot of things that they should not have. Is this valid in 2021 as well? 3. Maintenance cost: I have never owned a big bike and maintenance of such bikes are definitely going to be costly. I am trying to calculate the cost for maintenance for regular part upgrades like chain sprocket, tyres, brake pads, etc considering one completes 15000km in a year. Do you have any numbers for me? I have a lot of experience with variety of smaller bikes ranging from Pulsar 150/220, Thunderbird 350, Gixxer 250 but have never tried my hands at bigger bikes. I feel I am ready to make a move for a bigger bike but am not sure which one satisfy all my requirements. My requirements today are refinement, reliability, comfort and decent maintenance costs. Bike would mostly be used without a pillion but my wife might want to join me for few rides hence pillion comfort is also something that I want to consider. I think only 2 bikes fit the bill for me: TS and Highness. Some other options that I considered was: 1 Ninja/Z 650: I did not like the vibrations during 4-5k rpm. It might not be comfortable for pillion. 2. CB650R: Seems very expensive. 3. Dominar 400/ Duke 390: I did not think it was refined enough for my liking. 4. VStrom 650: I am only 5'6" and I think the seat height will be too high for me. 5. Interceptor 650: I hated the reliability issues when I owned the TB350. Do not want to take the risk again. I am trying to evaluate my options and seems ST is an amazing choice that I can keep for years. I have my doubts and wanted to know what existing owners think about this. Coming from a middle class background, I probably have to be sure before spending a lot on ST. All comments are welcome. Hope I have provided enough information. |
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BHPian ![]() | Re: Review: My Triumph Street Twin Gold Line Edition Quote:
Refinement- I test rode Street twin during my Street triple purchase last year. It is an amazingly refined machine. Gearshift was smooth and definitely not a deal breaker. Regarding Honda gearshift experience, which big Honda have you test driven? Reliability- Street twin is the bread butter model from Triumph and selling since almost half a decade. I doubt there will be any serious reliability issue. However, problems coming due to mishandling of dealership can be a completely different issue. Maintenance cost : I am quite new to super bike space. So, can’t comment much here. However, what seems to be the case is normal maintenance might be frugal for Honda. But if it comes to chain/sprocket, disc, etc replacement, it shall be pretty much same for all big bikes. Highness will be good choice but it’s definitely a segment lower. However, didn’t understood the other model you mentioned ‘TS’ and ‘ST’. Is it Street Twin? In my opinion if not street twin, you should look for a preowned CBR650F/R. | |
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| Re: Review: My Triumph Street Twin Gold Line Edition Quote:
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And I have to mention this, 15,000 kilometers a year is a LOT of riding to be doing on a big bike. So expect to change a set of tires every 12 to 18 months. Add that to your expected annual costs of service and insurance. Dont expect owning a big bike to be cheap with that sort of running. Quote:
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Team-BHP Support ![]() ![]() | Re: Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? dkar228, moving your post out to a new thread. @ BHPians, if you should spot any discussion in an existing thread that deserves its own new thread, please report the post and we'll move it out for greater visibility. Thank you! |
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| Re: Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? Since this is your first big bike purchase, suggest you to go through this (15 things to consider before buying a big motorcycle) thread This will give you a realistic picture of situation when you purchase a big bike like street twin. If you go to any used market sites(OLX, quickr etc), you can see many bikes which has run 10-15 k kms with number of ownerships = 2, 3. This means, many people would have purchased new bike or 1st owner used bike would change their mind and sell the bike within 2-3 years. So, there is some unpublished factor which will influence them to think they cannot use their bikes any further. And each time the bike is sold, the owner incurs a loss of minimum 1-2 lakhs. Since you said you are coming from middle class family, each rupee earned is important. Why I am saying this is, if in case you get into same state after purchase of used Triumph bike, then you will have to be ready to lose 2-3 lakhs. All the best for your new purchase. In fact my BIL owns used street twin and keeping it since 4 years. When he purchased it had 12xxx kms on its odometer and after 4 years, now it is 13xxx kms(not even used 1000 kms). The drawbacks according to him(and what I have seen) is 1. Low ground clearance makes it usable only for rider. With pillion, big humps are bound to hit bike and as a result, 4-5 times he has welded /replaced side stand. 2. Small pillion seat. His wife (my cousin ) never sits on the bike. So, essentially, it is only he who rides the bike. Last edited by gkveda : 28th August 2021 at 09:33. |
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| Re: Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? You haven't posted details about how you intend to use the motorcycle. If you intend to use it for a little bit of everything (street + short rides) then the Street Twin is a lovely motorcycle. However if you need a touring bike, you should get a middleweight ADV. You can tour comfortably on the Street Twin but good Adventure bikes will take it to the next level. So do decide what kind of a motorcycle you would like to buy. I've seen a lot of classic bike owners upgrade to ADVs within two years, once they understand their usage pattern. That list includes me (Triumph Bonneville to V-Strom 650) Do not worry about seat heights and your own overall height. It's all about your inseam length and all bikes fit differently so you won't know unless you try them all out. Do add the CB 500x to your list as I think that's an underrated motorcycle. Definitely overpriced but it just hits that sweet spot in terms of reliability, weight and power. Set aside Rs 10,000 on average for maintenance every year. This does not include tyres and parts. It definitely does not include accessories ![]() |
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BHPian ![]() | Re: Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? You have several interesting choices in your post. Would you consider the Benelli 600i since you are looking at 2nd hand bikes. The inline 4 engine is relatively easier to work with and parts are cheaper. Quite a few clean examples on the used bike sites. And the i-4 engine can be serviced at any decent bike shop. |
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| Re: Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? Thank you for the warm welcome and for sharing your thoughts. Let me add some more details that I have missed out: Quote:
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For starters, intended usage is going to be 20km round trip to office on weekdays and at least one 400 to 600 km ride once a month. I would also like to explore South, North and North east India by bike. Some more information about my riding history: I have covered a lot of places on the western coast of India from 2009 to 2014(Goa, most of beaches in Maharashtra, Daman Diu, Rann of Kutch, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer). I got married in 2014 and due to work I did not get a chance for any long rides. Now I am again ready to get back on the road and visit a lot of places. I want to start slow and have a nice long trip(3-4k km) once every 4 months. I am worried about small things like cleaning the chain every 300-600km especially when I am doing long distance touring. Quote:
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![]() I do not want to buy a bike and not use it for at least 10k km a year. I would be very unhappy if I did that. It would be worse if my wife will not be able to join me for some small trips. Frequent trips will lead to different issues at home. ![]() Quote:
ADV bikes seem perfect but it would require some sort of modification for my height. Quote:
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I am starting to lean towards Highness, use it for a year or so to see if I really have the time and family's approval for going out on frequent rides. If everything falls in place, I can sell it for a small loss and buy a pre owned superbike bike or any other new bike that may be introduced in India. On the other hand, I am almost 40 now and have a kid. I also think if I don't buy a superbike now, then I may never be able to do it. ![]() I don't know if anyone can relate to my situation but I am really confused. Your suggestions and thoughts are super helpful to me. Thank you again. | |||||||||||
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| Re: Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? I understand your interest in getting CBR650R. It is more towards sporty riding than touring. Where as CBR650F is a proper sports tourer and more comfortable compared to 650R. I think you may get CBR650F more easily compared to the R version. By the way, I heard that the BS6 version of CB300 is coming. This can be a good option. I also heard that the build quality of CB350 highness is not that great. Better to check in person. Last edited by shan_ned : 29th August 2021 at 18:35. |
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| Re: Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? Shan_ned, you have mentioned some very good points. Quote:
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Build quality seemed average to me, I feel being a new bike, it will have some issues with part quality but Honda should be able to fix it with better quality parts soon. Moreover, cost for replacing faulty parts is very less compared to the big bikes I have considered. I can wait for BS6 CB300R but I doubt they would change much. May be if they use local parts then it will definitely be cheaper than the BS4 variant but it may also have build quality problem. Last week, VFM Honda dealer in Indiranagar said that they have sold all the CB350 bikes Honda provided them. As others have mentioned, it belongs to a different class altogether and I am evaluating bigger bikes to see if I can opt for anything that satisfies my requirements. | ||
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| Re: Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? Hi, I just sold my ST and picked up a Harley Davidson Low Rider S. my views on the ST: - Extremely refined smooth and capable machine for both highway and city - Isn't as intimidating as other big bikes out there - Regular service is about 12k at an interval of 16k KM - Most common issue is the wiring harness that's part of the global recall and can be easily avoided if you split open the outer cover of the harness to make it a little loose - Over all the options you mentioned I would highly recommend the ST ; followed by the interceptor purely because its too brilliant value for money Issues I faced : - Seat : got the bench seat and then moved back to stock the bench seat is good but shinny leather means you would be sliding down more often if you are on the shorter side stick to the stock maybe get an air seat - Headlight: no good, led conversion might help a bit. Get aux lights - Triumph service center and showroom attitude is shitty (Gurgaon, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Blore) service and all wont be a problem fast moving spares are available too but the experience is poor |
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| Re: Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? Quote:
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Did you do long trips of 3-4k km on your ST? Can you please also share your experience about it. I have started reading the threads about buying and maintaining superbikes, I feel a lot of people have expressed very similar concerns. It is a great read and makes a lot of sense. | ||
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| Re: Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? Quote:
You need to make sure you like the bike, take few long test rides. Some points I can tell you from the owner point of view: 1. The bike is definitely fun to ride and fairly reliable but some issues pertaining to the wiring harness were there they have been sorted out but definitely not completely sorted. 2. Being modern classic style the wind blast at highways speeds are quite evident. If you intend to ride with superbikes it will be difficult for you to maintain the speed with them. 3. Older 2 pot brake systems felt inadequate and upgrading the braking system with 4 pot will be in tune of 70-80k. 4. Triumph maintenance is not easy but not super expensive in terms of the big bikes category (10-15k) 5. Plenty of aftermarket and Triumph customisation options. 6. Suspension upgrades will surely be required from the stock ones and again can be done with Interceptor rear shocks and front Springs (cheaper) or Fox Rear and from Tec springs (expensive about 70-80 k) 7. Headlight upgrade will also be required and the stock one is not adequate for highway use. 8. Gels well in a herd of Royal Enfield Bulls and thus not attention seeker, look elsewhere if that is what you seek. 9. Attention to details by Triumph is fantastic and you will enjoy that. Quality accessories and parts. | |
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| Re: Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? Hey dkar, Let me help you with my understanding/experience in superbike space - ST is refined - both Engine vibrations and gearshifts are sorted. But then one should not compare this with inline 4s A parallel twin runs on relatively low compression ratio and are hence lesser prone to damage due to bad fuel. Also, parallel twins are known for their longevity, lower maintenance and abuse friendly. This one too is no exception. - thats true from what I know from my friends who have been owning Triumph for few years now it is high, if you compare with the Japs Quote:
Basis that, you need to consider few more aspects - soft suspension, wind noise, riding posture etc All these factors are important once you are over the new bike thrill, accessory/gear buying spree ![]() my personal views on the bikes you considered 1 Ninja/Z 650: Best bang for the buck! Consider Versys 650 also if you plan to hit highways too often - you get decent suspension, upright seating and decent wind protection. 2. CB650R: Expensive to purchase but MOST AFFORDABLE superbike to maintain. Inline4!!! Semi committed seating, decent hardware 3. Dominar 400/ Duke 390: Not in this league! Still since you have asked - Dominar400 for pillion and D390 for single usage. I have been owning Dominar for 4+ yeas now. Best kitted bike for 2L one can buy. Unrefined though 4. VStrom 650: amazing machine, but yes height can be a concern. Also, I believe this is discontinued at the moment. 5. Interceptor 650: Closest to ST experience with 1/2 of its price (used ST). Yes, it is refined, reliable and cost effective in its league. Let me sum it up from budget perspective(IMHO) - 2-3L: Dominar400 3-5L: RE Interceptor 5-7L: Used CBR650F, Versys/Z/Ninja650, ST in that order. Height can be issue in case of Versys as well 7L+: better to stretch the budget and get a brand new one of your choice. Last edited by Zinda : 30th August 2021 at 12:59. | |
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| Re: Buying a pre-owned Triumph Street Twin? Quote:
If you want a do it all big bike, the CB500X seems to fit the bill perfectly. Its expensive yes, but its better suited to your use case than all / almost all the other big bikes that you have considered. That is not taking costs into consideration. Honestly, if I were you, I would pick an A2 level (47 HP) bike for now and then wait a few years to pick up a sparingly used or new CB500X. For now, look at the Duke / Adv 390, the Interceptor 650 etc and enjoy thrills both daily and on weekends. | |
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