Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125994
r--. .- One of the Trident's joys, straightening turns. Rear disc hides behind mufflers. All the goodies are under the seat. Right side of engine displays two starting methods. Reserve tap, choke lever and small carbs. Sleeting hom and oily tach drive . bumps, and even high expansion strips, but you'll also fee l th e ro ad th e way y ou want to feel it - knowledgeably. Sem i-ape han ger handleb ars were disliked at first , but proved to be accep tab le a ft er getting used to them. Still , we 'd list new bars as o ne of the first things we'd change if we wer e to purch ase a Triden t. 28 Th e chain oiler wh ich we men tioned in the initial par agr ap h of th is test is a clever ite m. It may be left on all th e tim e, but the recommended pro cedure is to turn it o n at intervals and then shut it off - o r shut it off and reso rt to cha in sp ray . The on-off mech anism is reach ed by unscrewing the oil tank filler cap , wh ich is locat ed under the seat , and . us ing th e dipstick - screw in or out a small screw located at the to p of th e fille r neck. T o answer another omnipresent question that seems to surface wh en British bi kes are discussed - no, th e elec t rical system didn't, as p eopl e in th e motorcycl e industry say , "Lucas. " All Lucas electrical equipment wo r ked, period. (Do n't know if the neutral light 's flakiness was a "Lucas" or not. ) Triu mp h claims a d ry weigh t of 493 pounds, an d when pushin g th e bi ke into a garag e or wha tever - it fee ls as if it weighs th at much if no t more. On ce underway, though, the Triden t be lies th e qu ar ter o f a ton figure . Handling has one quickly thinkin g "small bike." Flip it - flop it , it han dle s - p eriod . While the seat was judged as being too harsh , th e suspension was mentioned in the same terms , but praised rather th an crit icized. Th ere might be better in terstate to ure rs suspension wise - but they are only pe rhaps equals, not superiors, in suspension when it co mes to playing road racer on one's favorite twisty two lane country road. Sure, you'll feel the Every one who ro de the bike disliked th e seat. For sho rt cafe racer type runs it was fine, bu t o n a lon g h aul - we ll, buy so me Prep arat ion H. Our second major co mplain t is a real maj or . Price . The Tri umph T1 60 Trident carries a list p rice of 52 ,895. At that price it costs morc - a lot morc: th an almost all of its co mpet it io n . And o nly 5 I 00 less than Hon da's ne w I ,OOOcc Gold Wing. An early '74 Tride n t retaile d at 52, 195, with th at price rising to 52 ,495 on lat e ' 74 . While there hav e been man y improve me nts made to the ne w model, the most ex pensive bei ng th e elect ric sta rt ing sy ste m, $2,89 5 is too steep a price fo r the b ike. Several dealers voiced the op inio n th at at 52, 195 th e Triden t was a fan tastic ba rgain. And at 52,495 a mach ine t ha t o ne would have to weig h th e plus and minus features aga inst those of o the r ma chines before purch asing . But at the current price , a machine th at would be pass ed up in mos t cases - by most consume rs. In addition to t he pri ce probl em, dealers als o face th e tas k of spending more than th e normal am ount of time in sett ing up a Tride nt fo r delivery to a cust o mer. One Triump h de aler told us, "With ' p ro per assembly the Trident is a grea t bike. But as th ings stand, I have to spend five hours o n a set-up . I cha rge the cu sto me r 5 100 for th at work ; he should have received t ha t serv ice di rect from the fac to ry - free ." An yon e eve n rem o tely inter est ed in th e British marque has read about or heard o f th e recent sha keup in personnel a t Tri u mph . On e o f those wh o switch ed fro m Yam aha told us, "We kn ow we have a lo t of hard wo rk ahead of us if Triump h is to improve and grow. The re are many proce dures . that mu st be instituted, imp ro ved or rect ified . But the n I wo uld n 't have made th e switch un less I believed in Triu mph." Believed in Triumph pe rh aps th at's the key to the future of the firm. Triu mph sits second only to Harley-Davidson in custo mer an d de aler loyalty. Repeat sales are co mmonplace. One doesn't sell a Triumph - o ne merely . in mo st cases, writes up the sales agreemen t after a cu sto mer walks into a dealer sh ip and says " Go t a new With the Bonneville Bonneville ?" curren tly unavailab le, Tri u mp h is hop ing th at the question will n ow end with " .. . Trident?" • Specifications List price (east I Engine ty pe $2 .895 3 cyl. -4 stroke Displacement 740cc Bore & Str o ke Compression rat io Carburetion Cluteh Ignit ion Horsepower Transmission 67 x 70mm 9 .5 : 1 3-27mm Amal Dry plate 7" diaphragm Battery & Coil 58 @ 7.250 rpm 5 speed 8ra ke• . . . . . . . . . 10" Lockheed disc (r & rl Fuel ca paeit y 4 \1, or 5\1, (optional) gallons Wheelbase 58 inches Length 88 inches Seat height Ground clearance '" 31 \I, inches 6 % inches Dry weight . . . . . 493 lbs, cla imed /actual 515