Triumph GT Announced?!?!?!

[drrod]

So my dealer friend calls me and says ".....you just gotta try this new Triumph GT. If I could get the pegs a little lower it would be the bike I ride all the time (he has knee issues)...."
This is a guy who has a choice of any BMW, Triumph, Kawa, Suz, Yam to ride. His previous favorite tourer was a 1200 RT and his go to work bike is an HP2 (now that is a cool bike!!!). Anyway, it looks like I am off to his place next week for an extended demo of this new Triumph. I'll let you know what I find.
Rod

 

[STCountryGirl]

As a Triumph owner, I promise you that this machine does not get but about 32 mpg. The 1200 and the 900 Trophy's are gas hogs! It has been very sweet to see my ST getting 45-50 mpg.

 

[TPadden]

Huh. See post #81 in this thread.....

My Sprint's an 08 1050; the GT is also a 1050. Anyone who's ridden with me can vouch that I consider speed limits just a guideline and I've never had a tank get less than 52 mpg in 24K miles. Triumph is famous for taking the same engine and changing cams, timing, and mapping for different models so YMMV.

Not sure what the 900-1200 Trophy's have to do with anything - they quit making them in 02/04 - 7 years ago .

 

[TPadden]

Padden you're killing me here... The more I read about the GT the more I like.

Without getting into a discussion on what hot is - I'd say the Sprint ST is almost as hot as the Honda ST :....... love them both though .

 

[TPadden]

....Can you tell me about maintenance? Maintenance cost? How hard is it to work on the bike yourself? I do almost all the maintenance myself on the ST11, minus valve checks...

I'm the wrong one to ask that question as I'm a charter member of the "if it ain't broken" club.

I quit checking any shimmed valves before about 75K miles; my Sprint has never been back to a dealer - I change oil, tires, and ride. I also have a sprocket/chain set sitting that I bought around 15K but at 24K they still look good.

 

[Bones]

I know NADA about maintenance and reliability of Triumph.

The Honda guys at the VFR event in Vermont asked me what bikes I'd consider if I were buying today and I mentioned the Sprint GT. The Honda guy offered that Triumph was now only second ("by a considerable margin") to Honda in terms of reliability for the marque. GRN rode his Sprint ST all over and never had an issue with it, and now he's in the market for the GT. I will agree with Padden that the Sprint ST is hot...roasted my stones on a 20 mile ride on a 75 degree day. It was cooler riding my Honda ST home. The lower routing of the exhaust on the GT should solve that.

 

[Mick]

My Sprint's an 08 1050; the GT is also a 1050. Anyone who's ridden with me can vouch that I consider speed limits just a guideline and I've never had a tank get less than 52 mpg in 24K miles.

In support of what you say, 50 mpg+- is the figure I've seen batted around for the Sprint on the Triumph Forum ( http://www.triumphrat.net/sport-and-touring/ ). Pretty impressive for an engine of its size and performance.

 

[tercol58]

I went and rode it.

Shouldn't have done that...
Posted via Mobile Device

So how was it

 

[Mick]

Haven't had the guts to go test ride it, I'd hate to lead that sales guy on. Have to head over in that area here shortly anyway to go to the store, might drop by and talk to him.

Smash, go ahead and listen that little devil on your shoulder and buy the GT. Be the first on "our block" and serve as an inspiration to us all! Tell your wife that.... er, uh,... heck, just tell her anything to get the bike!

I'm dead serious when I tell you that I haven't purchased a brand new bike since 1964. I'm going to be retiring soon and if I heal up good from my latest surgery, I may just get me a brand spanking new Sprint GT next Spring or early summer as a retirment present to myself. For me to even be considering a new bike rather than a used one tells you something about how impressed I am with it. Spring's a long time away and my lustful feelings for the GT may subside but right now it's got my libido dancing!

 

[RaYzerman]

I like the FJR, but it feels to light

There, fixed that for you. I've gone over mine and I don't think there's much cheap about it at all..... it does feel light, which some equate to cheap... I think intelligently engineered to be light....... once you fix the standard stuff, seat, windshield, FI response, it runs sweet, and I think it's a very capable LD sport tourer... and very reliable.

 

[TPadden]

There, fixed that for you.....

Cheap and light are very different feelings; one thing to disagree, another entirely to change a posters intent.

 

[RaYzerman]

Smash, I never took it as any disrespect and meant my comments in good spirit of appreciating other bikes for what they are... first impressions of the FJR if you take the bags off is the lightness of say the subframe brackets that hold the mufflers, and a couple of other parts. But shape and form can strengthen a lighter material, but they still might break in a crash. The good news, easily replaced. The ST's similar members are quite heavy and I doubt they would break in a crash..... The FJR is intentionally lighter, whereas the ST looks intentionally heavier.... we have no idea what Honda had in mind at the time, except to make it a capable tourer that wasn't a Goldwing. Here they put the two together in a "Premium" brochure back in 2006 when I bought my ST.

Another interesting note, quite humorous to me..... I quote from the Honda Canada website "The ST1300A's low overall centre of gravity contributes to excellent low-speed handling."

To the rest, sorry for the off topic diversion... and now back to your regular programming....

 

[LoSTBrit]

I rode it too, and got the t-shirt.

Liked it, but not much difference to the Sprint ST (50-60lb heavier, bigger bags, standard abs). still is a sports bike turned tourer than an all out tourer. Nicely quick plenty of power but could use a little more torque. Good price, well worth a look but probably won't be a replacement for your ST unless you are wanting more of a sports bike.

3 pot engine is smoother and more powerful than BMW's R-Series, watch out for the Triumph "Adventure" - coming soon.

2012/13 is rumoured to see the return of the Triumph Trophy, this will be a direct competitor to the ST13.

 

[Nevada]

I rode it too, and got the t-shirt.

Whaaaaaa!!! I didn't get to ride it! No T-shirt either. :cry:

Whaaaaaaa! My dealer didn't participate, so they won't even have the GT until November.

Liked it, but not much difference to the Sprint ST (50-60lb heavier, bigger bags, standard abs).

50-60lbs!!!??!! That doesn't sound right. 2 lbs of additional plastic for the larger bags, and ????

 

[LoSTBrit]

Yeah we were wondering about that too. Numbers I have seen were 530lb for the ST and 590lb for the GT.

Differences :
Bigger bags, changed exhaust, new (much heaver??) ECU :shock:

Exhaust may have added a little but can't really see where 60lb came from.

The bike still felt very light compared to my ST11.

 

[Mick]

Bummed. Just saw the first serious downside (for me) on the new GT:

From Triumphrat.net ( http://www.triumphrat.net/sprint-forum/155647-first-impressions-2011-triumph-sprint-gt.html )

"1. The seat is too wide. I am five feet nine with inseam of around thirty one inches and when you make a stop my heels were barely for the ground because the seat is too wide."

I have a 30" inseam.

One of the things I found extremely irritating about the ST1100 was that when I put on a Russell Day-Long saddle, I could no longer flat foot the bike if I stopped on an uneven surface. At a stop on normal, flat pavement, I could just flat foot it if I scooted up toward the tank a bit and especially if I had some weight in the panniers. With the stock saddle I could flat foot it with no problem. Here's a pic I sent to Russell in the hope that they would tell me they could shave the saddle down and STILL retain the comfort (they said they probably couldn't and retain the comfort). The picture was taken in my driveway which is uneven due to soil movement:

I would NOT want to pay $13k+ for a bike that I could not flat foot. The Day-Long made for a VERY comfortable, all day ride on the interstate but when loaded up, I almost dreaded having to come to a stop from being paranoid about stopping at an uneven road surface and dropping the bike.

As soon as I can, I'm going to have a sit on a GT. I sat on one the other day but it was on the center stand. Here's hoping that this guy on Triumphrat.net is exaggerating.

 

[skyboybry]

...can we start a chain lube thread?

Oh man, you've done it now!

Plus it leaves my bikini area silky smooth!

 

[Mellow]

And a tool kit (shouldn't that come with the bike?

Only if they brake down...

 

[Rob__]

Only if they brake down...

So the trailer of tools comes with some bikes?

 

[Mick]

So the trailer of tools comes with some bikes?

Only if it "breaks" down.