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The short 55.8-inch wheelbase delivers quicksteering agility, and the Kayaba rear suspension and 43mm cartridge fork are extremely compliant over every kind of surface, working with the Bridgestones to give a high level of grip and enhanced corner speed through the demanding Pau-Arnos turns, many of which are blessed with big bumps right on the apex. Yet what is a sophisticated suspension package by the standards of the cost-conscious Supersport class not only delivers good ride quality, it's also very adept at eating up bumps on the angle, as well as providing good stability around fast, bumpy turns, like 130 mph top-gear sweepers on a concrete freeway, with a surface like a washboard. But that's arguably as much due to the Triumph's superior architecture compared to its carbie counterparts - for what looks like the fuel tank is in fact partly the force-fed 2.2-gallon airbox for the multipoint sequential EFl's four throttle bodies. In fact, the TT600's 4.7-gallon fuel tank is located behind that, right in the middle of the wheelbase. This not only allows the center of gravity to be positioned close to the center of mass - a key element in making the Triumph so sure-footed and easy-handling - it also means that as the fuel load gets used up, the center of gravity gets steadily lower, improving stability as well as the ease of changing direction. The twin 310mm Sunstar brakes and their four-pot Nissin calipers are fantastic, with lots of bite but not too aggressive a response. They deliver all-out stopping power as well as a degree of sensitivity, and are superior even to those of Yamaha's moldbreaking R6. GETTING TECHNICAL To develop the first-ever 100-percent European four-cylinder Supersport 600, Triumph followed in the well-marked tire tracks of the Japanese big four in overall design terms but added its own distinctive features, aimed not only at competing with the class benchmark, but also ensuring that John Bloor's hefty chunk of investment - reputed to exceed $16 million - in developing the bike from the ground up, would stand a good chance of earning its payback profit over more than just a single season of sales. So evidencing the speed with which Triumph's technological capability has progressed during the reborn company's first decade of existence under Bloor's ownership, the TT600 is a clean-sheet concept owing nothing to any of Triumph's (Above) With all of its success in the triple arena, some were surprised with Triumph's decision to go with a four, but the company figured it needed to in order to be a real contender. (Right) Top speed on the new Triumph is respectable, but the emphasis is on acceleration. The obvious question is, How does Triumph's fifth force in world Supersporting stack up against its fab four rivals from Over There in Japan? Well, at a claimed 374 pounds dry, the TT600 is completely in line weight-wise with the best of the J-bikes, and its 108 horsepower at 12,750 rpm puts it at the top of the class in comparative same-day dyno tests, says Triumph. But where the fuel-injected British contender stands out is in the sense of refinement, delivered by what at over S10,600 is essentially as much a budget Superbike price as that of a class-leading Supersport. This puts the Triumph on equal terms price-wise with its carbureted rivals, and it's arguably the best value yet offered in the sport bike market - the most performance per pound for the street bike customer. Discounting the CBR600 as excessively bland in terms of both looks and riding satisfaction, anathe quirky GSX-R600 as yesterday's papers, the TT600 may not have quite the edge on the R6 Yamaha in track-use terms, but it's a much better real-world road bike. That leaves Triumph's best of British stacked up against the new Kawasaki for the title of king of the Supersport all-rounders, a crown either can lay valid claim to, depending on customer profile. If you're taller and/or heavier than the average rider, and want to use your bike to ride to work on, with the occasional two-up tour or Sunday-moming sprint, go for the Kwacker, which has a better lowdown power delivery than the Triumph, but isn't so strong up high, doesn't have such a vivid throttle response, and is much more choosy about rear suspension setup. Oh - and it still has carbs, so it's a less sophisticated package in terms of engineering. If, on the other hand, you're more economically built, still want to make the morning commute fun, fancy the idea of taking your favorite squeeze for the occasional sporting day out, but look forward to putting the bike to the use it's made for at track days or on long solo blasts, you have no other option: Triumph is tops in the world's most competitive sportbike category, and you don't have to have a Union Jack fiying on the side of your helmet to say so. Believe it. previous models - not even the one-liter and 1200cc fours which kicked off the company's comeback back in 1991. It's a leadingedge 600cc Supersport design in its own right - but it also self-evidently isn't a triple, a fact about which some have queried the wisdom aloud, given the company's success in carving out a distinctive product ident~y by focusing of late on the three-cylinder engine format. "We looked at doing a triple when we first discussed the project back in 1996," admits Triumph export boss Ross Clifford, "but it was soon discounted, for several reasons. One, we're aiming to build Triumph up into a mainstream manufacturer, not exclusively a producer of niche products or quirky designs, and the 600 is a key element in that. This meant going head-to-head with the Japanese in the four-cylinder Supersport market, in pursuit of the kind of sales volume that will fuel Triumph's significant growth - the total 600cc Supersport market is 150,000 bikes a year in Europe alone, plus 50,000 more in the USA. Market research told us that customers for this kind of motorcycle wanted something that was light and fast, without being too radical - so, tried and trusted stuff, and that meant a four-cylinder bike with an aluminum beam frame. Also, fitting the balance shaft that would be necessary with a triple would mean making the engine longer than ideal All of this legislated in favor of a 600cc four - and so in January 1997 Triumph engineers got down to work developing the engine and the chassis to put it in. The result is a lightweight, aerodynamic bike with a very compact, water-cooled, DOHC engine which, with its 16-valve fourcylinder in-line format with offset chain camdrive on the right side, and Sagem multipoint sequential EFI, represents the very model of a modern middleweight motor. The TT600 is the first volume-production 600cc Supersport to hit the market fitted with EFI (just 225 examples of Bimota's fuel-injected, Yamaha-engined YB9 SRI were made during its three years of production, a drop in the Supersport ocean even compared to the 4500 examples of the TT600 Triumph has targeted for the first full year of manufacture). With dimensions of 68 x 41.3mm, it also has the shortest stroke, and thus by definition also the widest bore, of any 600cc four to date: compare the CBR600's 67 x 42.5mm, or the R6's 65.5 x 44.5mm layouts, to see by how for Supersport use if we put it in front much. The shorter stroke means a greater of the crankshaft, like on our present three-cylinder engines, and on top of that would entail a small-but-significant power loss, in what is an ultracompetitive class horsepower-wise, where every last horsepower counts. appetite for revs, the wider bore gives room for bigger valves (and thus better breathing than anything else in the class), and the use of EFI allows adoption of an engine-management system that maximizes the potential of such a layout, while electronically In any case, to produce competitive performance with a triple would entail building a bigger engine than 600cc, with potential spin-off problems with insurance and sales tax in various countries. And finally, recognizing that our customers will inevitably want to race the bike, even if we don't have the resources or intention permitting ignition and fuel mapping which minimizes its drawbacks. What's more, the Sagem EFI not only has an on-board diagnostic system integrated within the ECU, it can also be remapped to take account of engine tuning. That's also handy with the fitting of Triumph's aftermarket of doing so ourselves, there's still no internationally agreed three-cylinder Supersport class like there is for twins - and we didn't have time to waste waiting for the FIM or AMA to be lobbied into creating one." eye I e exhaust cans, such as the carbon one fitted to several of the Pau-Arnos test bikes, which unlocks a little extra power and sounds even sweeter. n e _ so • APRIL 19. 2000 41