VOL. 51 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 25, 2014 P67
in pickup when opening it hard to
exit a turn.
Apparently it wasn't always like
this – until Triumph's R&D team
added around 22 pounds of ex-
tra weight to the T-Bird crank, to
produce a lot of extra inertia. And
rolling on and off the throttle as
you sweep through a series of
fourth-gear bends makes you ap-
preciate the Storm's added grunt,
even if the clean-shifting, six-
speed, belt-drive transmission
has at least two gearbox ratios
too many for such a meaty motor.
That was especially true of the
70 pounds lighter Commander,
which held top gear long enough
mile after mile to be practically
counted as an automatic - on
roads that on the heavier LT I'd
have to backshift to keep driving
cleanly uphill. But top gear roll-on
is excellent on the LT, especially
up to 75 mph or so. The Indian
Chief feels meatier from 80-90
mph, but the Triumph is still a top
tool for freeway riding.
However, what's even more ir-
ritating is the absence of a gear-
selected indicator, which means
that with such a torquey engine
and no tach you'll find yourself
loping along for miles on end in
fifth gear, wasting fuel until you
have a hopeful stab at the lever,
and – oh, s&%t! After that hap-
pens a few times you then end
up trying repeatedly for a non-ex-
istent seventh gear, just in case.
The sensor that would resolve
this is a low-cost item that Tri-
umph should fit - with at the very
least a Victory-style red overdrive
light to show you're in sixth gear.
Having said that, the gearshift
was excellent on all four bikes I
rode, except for a clunky bottom-
to-second shift on each. I found
it best to use the kicker heel lever
for up-shifts and the toe lever for
downshifts – shift action was a
bit heavier in lower gears when I
used the toe lever both ways.
Hustling the LT along bumpy
winding roads won't faze it,
thanks to its extremely compliant
suspension damping by cruiser
standards, with 4.2 inches of rear
wheel travel (ditto for the Com-
mander). This exceeds even the
previous benchmark in custom
tourer comfort, the 3.7 inches
of wheel travel provided by the
Indian Chief's monoshock rear
end with a progressive rate link -
and it's way more than any Harley
model that either Triumph model
is targeted at.
(1) Both bikes are belt driven.
(2) The pair of cruisers get 310mm
disc brakes that are ABS equipped
as standard equipment. (3) The
LT's cockpit. (4) The leather
saddlebags on the LT.
(5) The Triumph cruisers get
Showa suspension. (6) The
Triumphs get the largest parallel
twins in production. They produce
94 horsepower at 5400 rpm.
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