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/128609
RIIIIRB£::J Triumph TT600 RIOING TRIUMPHANTLV This classically British company is ready to take on the sport-bike mainstream. EFI - or competing on performance By ALAN CATHCART Photos by Gold [, Goose T he debut of Triumph's new Tr600 terms with its Italian and Japanese rivals with a product ever so slightly famous bike marques, and produc- quirky, and therefore incapable of direct comparison, like the 955i Daytona. But now, with the TT600, it has stood up to be counted in the 600cc Supersport category that is the world's largest sport bike market sec- tion began of his born-again brand's tor. And to do so, it has adopted the new range of bikes. same in-line four-cylinder 600cc format as its rivals, inviting head-on marks the Hinckley firm's commg of age, exactly 10 years after building-developer John Bloor breathed new life into one of Britain's most But Triumph's new 600cc Supersport model represents the first time the British company has gone head to head against the might of Japan, Inc. in a volume-production segment of the booming world bike market. Until now, Triumph has concentrated on building better bikes for niche markets - Sprint ST, Sprint RS, Tiger comparison on an equal basis by potential customers around the world. This is the big time - and the stakes are high: Triumph - having spent three years developing the world's first volume-production fuel-injected 600 - is batting in the major leagues, now. With the TT600, Triumph goes from nic:he marketer to mainstream hopeful. 40 APRIL 19. 2000' cue I • n e vv s Riding the TT600 delivers a sense of sophistication and added refinement that's been missing so far from the 600cc Supersport class. The liquid-cooled, four-cylinder, in-line engine doesn't have the balance shafts of Triumph's larger fours, but it's incredibly smooth and well-balanced even at idle, yet it has an appetite for revs which denotes the fact that it's the shortest-stroke 600 in the Supersport showroom. The Sagem EFI delivers the precise pickup at almost any revs that you expect from a properly mapped, top-line fuel-injection system, and doesn't have a jerky pickup low down off a closed throttle like certa in other injected bikes do - though this may be as much because the TT600's engine response is downright flaccid at low rpm. But it does have a vivid response when you gas it wide open at anything above 6500 rpm, and the built-in self-correction of EFI means that, unlike its carbie rivafs, it's always at its best, no matter what the altitude or weather. Below that mark, though, the Triumph displays the typical temperament of a thoroughbred racehorse - it trots along quite happily on part throttle at 4000 rpm or more, and canters faster when called upon to do so, though without a lot of conviction: you need to kick it down a couple of gears to pull out and pass a line of cars, for example - but that's all part of the zest of sport-biking, and what makes, for example, the 748 Ducati a much more stimulating and enjoyable real-world desmo V-twin road ride than its 996 sibling. Same thing with the TT600: you have to work at riding it hard~ even though it's quite happy to amble along at lower revs, while hiding its race face behind a civilized smile. But all the time you sense that it's straining at the rein, eager to charge into a full-blooded gallop and test its mettle against all comers - which as the revs rise progressively but strongly on the analogue tach, you find yourself eagerly allowing it to do. Because at 10,500 rpm there's an extra burst of top-end power that Supersport racers and Sunday-morning street squirrels alike will appreciate. That power delivers a heady turn of speed for a 600cc street bike - though the TT600's 14/42 gearing is deliberately on the low side, to make the most of its acceleration rather than pursue top-end numbers. On level ground along the Toulouse-Biarritz autoroute in southern France, 154 miles per hour was the most the Triumph would give a six-foot rider, tucked away as much as possible on what is a small-but-well-packaged motorcycle. That's with lOOO rpm to spare before the soft-action rev-limiter kicks in at 13,750 rpm and flutters the engine - but the payoff was impressive acceleration out of any of the numerous turns on the twisty Pau-Arnos race circuit in the foothills of the Pyrenees, where the TT600 track launch took place. Though the TT600's riding position isn't as spacious as the new IX6R's, it feels compact rather than cramped (as the R6 Yamaha surely is). The stance delivered by the footrest location and the alloy clipons mounted above the top triple clamp, is almost ideal. There's reasonable protection by 600cc Supersport standards via the bland-looking fairing (with its surprisingly bulbous nose when viewed from inside the cockpit, and good mirrors, especially when wearing leathers), though not as much as you might expect from the relatively narrow, low-cut screen: still, 100-mph cruising is no hardship. Styling-wise, we all understand that Triumph couldn't take any risks in terms of appearance with such a crucial debut into the big time as this model represents - but still, they could have given it a little more per. sonality, donchathink? Dynamically, however, there's a very balanced feel to the bike as a whole, though overall ride height seems higher than expected - at least on the settings Triumph sent us out street-sweeping with. But though you feel slightly perched atop the TT600 rather than part of it, ground clearance is excellent, and nothing drags before you wind up grinding away the side of your boots when cranked hard over. Those new dual-compound Bridgestone BTl Os fitted as standard give outstanding grip - especially the front - and even on the standard ride height, turn-in is very good (though by jacking up the rear a little to reduce the' effective head angle a little, the Triumph becomes even sweeter-steering without any sacrifice in stability, even with GP-Ievel steering geometry incorporating just 82mm of trail). Doing that makes you think a steering damper might be a good idea for bumpy road surfaces, though - there's none fitted as standard, and it doesn't need it on smooth surfaces. But get the front moving about with weight transfer on a bumpy stretch of road, and it's definitely an advantage, because the steering is so light the way it comes, you can afford to lose a little of that in the cause of improved stability over a rough surface. The six-speed transmission is amazingly light and precise to use, with neutral there every time you want it: this is the first time I've ever ridden a bike Made in Europe that has a gearbox as good as anything engineered in Japan, and the ratios are well chosen, too, with fifth and top gear quite close together, so you can knock it back a gear to maintain momentum when you come upon a hill at high speed, to keep it revving in the five-figure super-powerband. Good work, chaps.