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/127863
FIRST RIDE umph has developed for the bike in an extens ive aftermarket catalog . I think some of these, though, shou ld be included on the bike as standard especia lly the pa ssen ger gra b rail: All fou r of the passen gers I carried on the bike complained there was now here to hold on to - excep t moi l (It's a sociab le s tylcbikc.) Also, the footrests were too high - an inevita ble function of the twin exhaust sty ling. I guess. But incorpora ting some grab handles in the rea r mudguard brackets surely shou ld have been possible as standa rd - thou gh the trio of optional handleba r screens (two clea r Pers pe x, one a color-coord inated headlamp cow l) are better left as an option, a llowi ng each rid er to decide w ha t he or she wants to deflect the air blast wit h, especially if it helps hold down the base price of the bike, which is sold in the UK home ma rke t for the sa me pri ce tag as the base Thunderbird . While sho pping fo r o p tio ns, y ou mi gh t co nsi de r th e lower-handl eba r kit Triumph is offering for the Sport: It will not on ly make some sense ou t of the Sport tag, bu t, cou pled Triumph Thunderbird Sport grounded o u t, thanks to th e excell ent grip from the 17-inch Avon radial rubber fitted as orig inal eq ui p ment. The rear , a 160/70 AV281 with a round profile and high aspect ratio , suits the Triumph's handling very well , especia lly cha nging direction from side to side in sweeping turns, where the long wheelbase give good stability even when you s hit some bumps cra nked over. On the Thunderbird, this might ha ve been an invitation for a fit of the shakes, especially with the non-adjustable, very stiffly spru ng rear shock fitted as s tanda rd in pursuit of U.S. ridi ng tastes. But on the Sport, T riumph has ad d ressed this probl em from the sta ndpoint of everyone else by finally fitting front and rear Kayaba suspension on the s po rt ing s ty lebi ke . fully adjus tab le a t both ends for compression and rebo u nd da m p ing a nd s pr ing preload : There 's also lon ger wheel trave l as well tha n on the T-Bird . Coupled with the wider 3.5inch / 4.25-inch Akront alloy rim s for the 36 -s poke front /40-s poke re ar wi re wheels, the result is not only improved (Right) Up front. a 3.5 x 17Inch spoked wheel carries du al 310mm discs to handle stopping duties, The 43 mm eonven tlonal fork s are adjustable for both compress ion and reb ound damping. as well as spring preload. (Below) Over head shot further con fi rms the styling route. . Call t his Triump h's versi on of a "Heritage:' (Below) With the overtones at work here, Europe an Editor Cath cart could not resist posing for th is shot of Triu mph 's Thunderbird Sport at Coventry St adium In Engla nd. A din tracker it ain 't, b ut maybe someday,•. Britai n, also ha s a hig her level of engine pe rformance compared to the Sport. But the new fuel-injected Triumph also has a ve ry different visual p er son alit y than the Th unde rbird Sport - tod ay s loo k, not yes terday once more. Evidently. Tri umph's aim is to cover all the bases. Sporting triples ? Triumph's got themern, any way you like.... C~ Triumph Thunderbird Sport Specifications Engine .Lqutd-ccoled DOHC in-line triple r-, 00,..... 0' N .... (l) .g .oJ U o 12 wit h the optional pa ssenger-sea t cow l giving the illusion of a single-sea t sportbik e, it makes the Sport look - well, spor tie r, a s wen a s p resuma b ly more su ited to ride a t speed . The I3 0-mph top s peed Tr iu m p h claim s for the bike is effec tively hypotheti cal, because you' d have a hard time hanging on to the bars at that speed in stock form . H owe ver, T r i u m p h h a s al rea dy considera b ly i m p roved t h e Spo rt's specs against the original T-Bird by adding a second 310mm Nissin stainless-steel front d isc, gi vi ng n ot o nl y improved s topping power (and it wo rks very well in the rai n, too, with lo ts of bite and feel ) but also an enhanced margin of safety, especially with the ext ra grip obtained via the added front-end weigh t bia s obtained with th e lon ger swin garm . The base T-Bird 's single front disc is margina l, wi th a passeng er and .494-pou nd dry weight of motorcycle the Sport scales little more than 8.5 p ounds m ore , thanks to its s e co n d disc / caliper and heavier exhaust system. This is tucked in reason ablv well, but even without pretending to be Ca rl Foga rt y, it's quite ea sy to scrape th e ou ter of the three downpipes, which in fact belo ngs to the middle cylinder. The two outer ones conjoin to make t h e twip le's second megaphon e. Be fo re tha t, th oug h , th e U.S . dir t tra ck-st yle fli p- up foo trests w ill ha ve WIth four valves per cyli nder Bore x stroke Displacement Output 78 J( 65mm 885cc _. _ 82 bhp @ 8500 rpm Compression Ratio , 10;1 Fuel system 3 x 36mm flatstde CV carb ureto rs Ignition s y s t e m .Diqi tial - inductive-type Gearbox six-speed Clutch Wet . multi-plate Frame Micro -alloyed high-tensile steel Su spension Front 43mm forks with trip le-rate springs adjustable for compression . rebound damping . and spnng preload Rear ~ ,~.,\'~' ( ~. 1,:1 ~ '-" "' ~r M onoshoc k adjustable for compression. rebound damping and spring preload Rake/trail Wheelbase Dry weight Fuel handling and grip for th e Sport - though ground cl earance is an ever-present problem on ce you sta rt riding the bike ha rd on those g rippy tyres - bu t also su perior ride quality, provided you take the time to dial in the rear shock by raising the seat and accessing the remo te adjuster s: Standard settings are st ill very stiff and give a choppy rid e over freeway joints and broken road su rfaces . Still, this is a big imp rovement - which, considering the two bikes cost the same. ; also makes the Sport a much better value for the money than the Thunderbird. However. at the end of the day.. the customers who buy the Sport will mainly only be inte rested in "the loo k," not so mu ch in the fact that this Thunderbird is Go! This is a s ty leb ike w ith added zes t, not a st reet-fighting , naked sportbike like the l06-bhp T509 Speed Trip le , w hich, apart fro m offeri ng g rea te r tech n ica l sop histica tio n a nd cos ting only a little more a t $8799 in capacity Brake s Front Rear _ _.62.2 Inches .494 pounds 5.5 gal. Dual 310mm disc 285mm disc Wh eels /tires Front 120170 R17 on 3.50-'nchwide alloy 36 -spoke rim Rear . .160 170 R17 on 4 .25-inch·wide alloy 4D-spoke rim Colors ...Racing Yellow and Je t Black or Tamado Red and Je t Black Retail price _ $8799