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/127824
FIRST RIDE By Alan Cathcart Photos by Gold & Goose he sophisticated and striking-looking Triumph T595 Daytona - complete with tubular-alloy chassis and EFI - which was launched at the IFMA Cologne Show la t October and now entering production, is a bold throw of the dice by Triumph owner John Bloor and his team. After bringing back Britain's most famous motorcycle marque from the dead she years ago, Bloor had two options. Either he could progressively update the modular design concept, a worthy but unadventurous engineering philosophy that ha provided the foundations for Triumph's steady growth since then (up to its current 15,()()()"unit annual production), or he could raise the stakes by building a heads-up hyperbike that told the world that Triumph was to be taken seriously - even if that meant going head-ta-head with the Japanese companies that have stayed largely out of Triumph's sights until now. Launching the new T595 Daytona as a specific competitor to the chart-topping Honda CBR900RR and World Superbike Champion Ducati 916, tells us what he decided: Compete and be damned! It's a risky strategy. [f the new Daytona were to succeed it would move Triumph at a stroke into the first rank of world marques, transforming the company's somewhat staid image as purveyors of solid, reliable, but conserv!'ltively engineered motorcycles. But if it were to fail in its chosen objectives, a Daytona debacle would prove that Triumph doesn't have what it takes to compete at the highest level on the world stage. Don't underestimate how big of a roll of the dice this bike represents for a company just six years old in terms of volume production, and a relative minnow even by the standards of Ducati in a bad year. It's a bit much to even think of taking on Japan Inc. and Bella Italia with the T595 - but John Bloor didn't become a self-made tycoon, rich enough to finance every penny of Triumph's corporate comeback out of his own pocket, withou t being prepared to take risks with a product he had confidence in. Well, there's no doubt the gamble has paid off. A weekend of thra bing some of the first T595 Daytonas off the Hinckley production line around some of Southern Spain's demanding Cartagena race track, followed by a long, hard ride into the Murcian hills in perfect weather, delivered a verdict that will worry Triumph's rivals and please potential riders - including the 1300 customers in Britain, for example, who paid up front for their Daytonas without ever riding or, in some cases, seeing one. The last bike (still!) to have this effect was the Ducati 916 - good company to be in? Yes, indeed. Even trying to be still more hyper-objective than usual - to stop that Union Jack on the side of my helmet from flapping too hard - there is no doubt at all that the T595 Daytona is a very good bike indeed in comparison with anything else on the market today. And at $10,695 vs. $9899 for a carbureted Honda CBR900 (and a whopping $15,900 for even the single-injector Ducati 916, let alone the much. costlier twin-injector 916SP), it's also something of a bargain. For what will by definition be a relatively limited-production prestige model (Bloor has gone on record that he plans to top out Triumph's annual production at 25,000, even after the company's new factory comes on line in a few years), the T595 is a lot of motorcycle for the money. Practically a bargain. The Daytona's one of those bikes you instantly feel at home on. It has a ratianal riding position that places the footpegs and well-padded, comfy seat in the right position relative to the bars, to deliver a sporting stance that puts just enough of your body weight onto the quite wide-spread handlebars to load up the front wheel - without being tiring. Whether tucked down flat on the tank on the race track or freeway (where the windscreen gives pretty good protection), or sitting upright for real-world riding, the T595 feels good - though it would have been nice to have deeper cutouts in the rear of the fuel tank to let you ·tuck your knees in better. Now it pu ts them splayed out, similar to the CBR900 rather than tucked in like a 916. The footpegs in particular are really well positioned, and it's only when you're right on the edge of the rear 190/50 Bridgestone that you'll end up scraping any boot leather. Ground clearance is exceptional at the angles of lean that such wide, grippy tires as the BT56