Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

race track with the aid of a must-have steering damper, a special rear shock and a ProFlex fork kit that stiffened everything up a whole lot over stock. Even then, making the Triple go where you wanted it to took a lot of physical effort, underlining the inevita ble cornpromises of a modular design strategy that saw essentially the same cycle parts equip a dirt bike and a tourer, 'as well as this wannabee racer. Lots of fun, though! But now here comes the T509 - and believe me, Speed Triple challengers, this is a very different piece of hardware. Fitted with exactly the same Bridgestone BT56 tires as raced last year, the new ST2 feels like it was made for the race track - straight off the streets, or out of the box. It's that good. After setting the suspension the same as on the Daytona - Triumph admits there's only a four-pound weight difference between the two models (the T509 weighs in at 431.2 pounds, 28.6 pounds less than the old bike) in spite of the lack of a fairing on the Speed Triple - and dropping the pressures on the Bridgestones substantially compared to Triumph's recommendations just as we'd done on the T595, the result has to be the best-handling naked bike built anywhere in the world. Sorry, Duca ti - scusi, Bimota: your Monster Mantras just got outmanaged. Bandit country? The T509 is the law of the handling jungle - tough, Suzuki. Here's why. The fact that the new Speed Triple comes without a steering damper says it all - you can ride this bike like a Supermono in turns, using the fantastic grip from that front Bridgestone to carry unlikely extremes of corner speed into the corner, without fear it'll start shaking its head and flapping the bars in a fit of the sulks at being asked to work so hard, like the old bike's Kayabas would do. Hit a bump in the apex while leaned way over and the quite softly sprung Showas eat it up - the only time the bars start moving in'your hands is when the lack of a fairing shoves air at your shoulders and you overcorrect on the steering. Out on the streets that evening I came across a really bumpy piece of museumquality carretera (most Spanish roads are actually pretty good now, thanks to all the Euro-money being pumped into rebuilding them), and discovered that the ride quality of the bike in real-world use is excellent. It takes a pretty bad bump to make the forks bottom out on the stock settings I was using, but it can happen - same as under very heavy braking. Though the rear shock also is definitely undersprung for the race track, out on the streets it's a nice compromise - although you'd want to stiffen it up quite considerably when it came time to carry a passenger, and adjusting that will take more than a moment's work. Though Triumph says the riding position; even down to the handlebar angle, is identical on both bikes, it doesn't seem so. The absence of a screen and proper fairing make it seem as if you're further forward on the T509 than you are, and with clip-ons steeper than they actually are, as well. But it's a comfortable position for riding around town or an evening blast along the coast road, and there's a surprising amount of wind protection from the vestigial deflector which looks like a fashion accessory from Darth Vader's "Star Wars" helmet. Presumably Triumph doesn't include this as a standard feature because it is so, er, distinctive and gives the bike a personality that some potential customers may find displeasing. Triumph T509 Speed Triple Specifications Li.t price .$9995 Engin• .... Liquid·cooled. in·llne. 12·valve, three-cylinder four·stroke Bore x atrok• ................................. 76 x 65mm Dlap nt , 885cc Output _ :.108 hp at 10,200 rpm eom ion ratio 11.0;1 Fuel Sagem electronic fuel injection ignition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Digital inductive sy...... . Tran.mlealon ; _ Six-speed constant mesh Clutch _ , Multi-plate wet Cha..l. . _ Oval·tube, twin·spar aluminum alloy Rake/trall. . .. . . .. . . . . . .. .. . . . . ... . . . ... . . . . .24°/86mm Suspension Front . .45mm Showa telescopic forks. adjustable for compression and rebound damping and spring preload, 4.7 inches travel Rear .. Single-sided sWingarm, mO(loshock with adjustable preload, compression and rebound damping, 5.5 inches travel Brakes Front Rear. .Dual 320mm floating discs with four-piston calipers .Single 220mm disc with twin-piston caliper W....I./tlres Front . ... ................. 120170ZR 17 Bridgestone BT56 on 3.50-inch-wide alloy three-spoke wheel .......... 190/50 ZR 17 Bridgestone BT56 on 6.00·inch-wide alloy three-spoke wheel Seat height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31.5 in. Fuel capacity .. _ , • . . . . . . . . .. . .. .4.5 gallons Weight _. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .431.2 pounds (dry) Manufacturer '",' . _ Triumph. Hinckley. England Rear ..... (Above) The dual headlights and tiny windscreen set the Speed Triple apart, giving it a definite cafe racer look. (Right) The cockpit is simple and plain, yet features all the functions needed. Those same people may prefer to have their next-millennium cafe racer time-warped back to the· mid-'70s with the provision of a single-headlight conversion, also available as an option, together with the non-standard carbon tank pad fitted to the test bike, a seat cowl covering the passenger seat, a front fender extension and the carbon-wrap exhaust fitted to the T595 track bikes (louder, sweeter-sounding, a little more powerful, but also illegal for street use in most countries). Though not as dramatic an improvement as the chassis, the new T509 motor helps significantly in transforming the bike into something really special. Fuelinjected like the T595, but with a completely different map from the hyperbike, the Spe.ed Triple also uses the all-new basic engine design of the Daytona, but in detuned, smaHer-capacity guise. The cylinder dimensions are the same as on the older model, at 76 x 65mm, resulting in a smaller combustion chamber than the 3mm bigger-bore Daytona, though Lotus Engineering did assist in developing the cylinder head on the T509. Valve sizes are therefore reduced from the 32.5mm inlet/28mm exhaust dimensions of the 955cc Daytona, to 30mm inlet/26rnm exhaust on the 885cc Speed Triple which - combined with the same cam profiles - delivers identical valve timing as the older model, and a slightly lower 11:1 compression ratio (vs. 11.2:1 on the T595). The package puts out 108 bhp at 9100 rpm, measured at the countershaft sprocket - a gain of 10 bhp over the old Speed Triple of similar capacity. However, it's the way that power is delivered to the street that really impresses. Unlike the more overtly sporting Daytona, where nothing much happens below 6300 rpm and there's a notable flat spot at around 5000 revs (caused by the need to keep the noise Gestapo happy) the T509 d~vers what feels like more grunt, more smooth!y. It pulls cleanly off idle, will take full throttle at under 3000 rpm in top gear without a hiccup, and runs to 10,000 rpm before the power starts to tail off noticeably. It's packed with midrange torque, making the bike easy to ride.' You just point and squirt along a twisty road in third or fourth gear, without even thinking of downshifting, even when you need to zap a truck or car. Yet the torque figure is curiously lower than the Daytona's - 62.7 ftAbs. at 7500 rpm vs. the T595'·s 73.8 £tAbs. at 1000 revs higher. That's strange, because it feels just the opposite. But the Speed Triple builds revs quickly and eagerly, with just a hint of footpeg tingle from the three-cytinder motor, in spite of the single gear-driven balance-shaft carried over from the last model. This only adds to the experience and doesn't distract from it. And it's all accompanied by that glorious, only slightly muted howl from the best-sounding kind of motorcycle engine, a tuned triple. It was the exhaust note that made me do it, Mr. Bloor, sir: I couldn't help myself - just cracked it wide open with the. tach on the power threshold, fanned the clutch lever and felt the front wheel reach lazily for the sky. Fun, fun, fun - but, of course, frightfully irresponsible, not to be condoned, bad public image for motorcycling. We know all that, but - hey, this is the bike that was made to ride on the back wheel, right? Though Triumph has incorporated most of the same weight-saving measures in the T509 version of its new motor as it has in the T595 Daytona's (magnesium covers, aluminum liners, redesigned crank and balancer, substantially lighter crankcases, etc.), it hasn't included the Daytona's new six-speed gearbox, with individual ratios 30 percent narrower and correspondi.ngly lighter than before. The gear cluster fitted to the T509 is the new design, but with thicker, heavier gears presumably aimed at a more robust package. This is the one area that still badly needs improvement on both bikes - tlle clutch action is okay, though a little stiff, but the gear change is still far too notchy, stiff and mechanical in a way that quickly becomes irritating on the street and tiring on the track. I know that Triumph gearboxes take a very long time to run-in, and that with 3000 miles under the bike's wheels they start to loosen up. The test Triple was brand new, so this may explain the problem. But I've ridden brand-new Japanese bikes and even delivery-mileage Ducatis that had impeccable, light-action gear changes. Triumph needs to make a big' effort to address this final chink in its armor. There's one other thing: I'd like to have the Speed Triple employ the high handlebars as fitted stock to U.s.-market bikes, but as an option everywhere else. The T509 looks even better with them on, and we believe they'd suit the kind of next-millennium cafe racer the Speed Triple has now become, delivering even more wicked handling as well as a more upright riding position. Check it out before you decide which setup to use if you're in the market for a Triple. CN 17

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