I might be leaving you...

[hass]

See my post here... http://www.r1150r.org/board/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=14086

[BigEasy]

That bike peaks my interest as well. I'm thinking that possibly in a couple of years I'll pick up a used one or a street tripple.

[RonR]

I owned and, for the most part, enjoyed my 2001 Speed Triple for the 2+ years I owned it. The biggest improvement with the current generation is in the upgraded suspension. The engine has always been a hoot. I highly recommend looking for a well-maintained used one, however, because you can get a huge discount. Nothing in the world of motorcycling loses value faster than Triumphs, for some reason.

[famousperson]

Sorry, it just ain't as pretty as an R; to my eye, anyway. But you tempt me to take a test ride!

[ErikM]

I've owned a couple of Triumps.. First they loose value like a sinking rock, but worse they are very hard to sell.. For me at least no ABS is a deal breaker, and I'm not much of a fan anymore of chain maintenance. The fit and finish is not as good as BMW, it's good ,just not at the level of BMW. I could good on but I'll leave it that if you want a really fast great handling naked bike, my first choice would be the Aprilia Tuono.. And FWIW I got rid of my BMW K1200S cause I wanted to slow down and enjoy the scenery :-)

[deilenberger]

As someone pointed out - apples and oranges..

The speed-triple isn't a touring bike (not to say people don't.. but it really is a hooligan bike..) It is much more inclined towards "sport" than touring. Handling - difference is probably telelever vs standard front forks. Telelever can certain do just fine on corners, you have to get used to no dive and no suspension settling. I've also found turn-in on any bike to be great effected by the tires, not only type but how many miles are on them (as they flatten out.. turn-in changes.)

I'd say it's enough of a different bike that you deserve to own both, then see which one gets the miles on it. You might hang on to the R for longer rides and the Triple for when you're feeling playful.

[Dan-A]

I too love the Triumphs. I actually traded in a 99 Sprint ST for the Beemer. It had the slightly smaller 955 triple. The triple is magic, revs like a 4, torque like a twin, a sound all it's own.

The Speed Triple has a very short wheelbase, so I think it is a wheelie monster. It's much more of a bad boy real hooligan, and hard to ride slow according to write ups I've seen, though I admit to not having rode the bike.

I chose the BMW because it is just a happy cruising as blasting, and I was afraid I'd be getting tickets all the time on the Triumph. Now the TIger... HMMMMM.

Enjoy it!

[Bob41459]

Yeah looks like apples to oranges.
Now if I was looking to get a bike for just pure fun the Ducati Hypermotard would be in my garage.

[hass]

As you all have so rightly pointed out they are not comparable bikes. In an ideal world I would indeed have both. However, if I decide on the S3 (and it is still an "IF" as just the insurance is $115/month more!) then I would have to sell the R12R to pay for the S3.

I am not sure if I will be doing any more two-up touring (at the moment it seems very unlikely) and as such I no longer need a bike that can do more than short runs with two. The new S3 II can do this (Triumph have lowered the passenger pegs and enlarged the seat) so it would probably do for the odd day out. I might do some touring solo but the S3 would cope with that fine with an aftermarket solution.

The big suprise for me was the lack of dive on the S3 - all other conventional bikes I have ridden dived quite alot but the S3 had not much more dive than my R12R. I was very impressed by the suspension which was complient but firm, it gave a very nice ride. I would actually see no need to adjust it. Plus the ergos were absolutely perfect.

Yes, the lack of ABS is a concern, but realistically I haven't actually had the ABS activate since I bought the R12R (or whilst I owned the K1200S for that matter) - I would certainly get out and practise braking under a wide variety of conditions if I owned a non-ABS bike again.

The finish was as good if not better than my BMW and the components of a very high quality (Brembo brakes for example). I have owned an Aprilia RSV1000R (the bike the Tuono is based on) so a Tuono is not an alternative.

So, now I have to think things through (passion vs practicality, and lets face it if we wanted to be practical we'd drive a car instead)... Then I would have to convince my wife that it's ok to swap my bike for the third time in three years!

[ErikM]

Hass I'd say just buy it.. variety is the spice of life :-)

[yerguy]

I'm sorry to hear your'e moving from the Beemer to Triumph. Before you do I think you should hear of my experience with the Triumph Triples.

I'm a rider from way back. The most enjoyable (and sometimes scary) bikes I've had were the two Kawasaki triples I had. The H2 750 was rebuilt with drag racing in mind and was a real handful to launch, but i loved that thing.

I'm also of Celtic blood and have lusted after Triumphs for years. When I first saw and rode the 955 Sprint ST, I thought they had me in mind when they designed it. It seemed like kismet, a perfect match. I love the triple on the old Kawi's, I've always wanted a Triumph and we're of the same heritage. With Triumph now building triples, what more could I ask for.

But, in less than 3 years the following occured. Three no-start occasions. Causes were: Corrosion on several pins of the multipin connectors under the fairing, BROKEN wires within the harness, failure of the clutch safety switch in the left handlebar switch gear. Lousy quality control issues.

These are minor compared the rest.

The triples are known to run hot, but anything over 80 deg. would leave my right leg and thigh literaly being toasted. At 10K miles, I could see the lower under fairing paint and plastic beginning to bubble and distort from exhaust heat.

At 12K, had the valves adjusted, throttle bodies synched and pointed out the distorted bodywork and my extreme discomfort. I'm told "They all do that!!" The techs could NOT get the diagnostic tool to reset the ECU settings for the new throttle body synch, could not even get it to engage, let alone communicate with the ECU. Tech also wondered about the unusally tight exhaust valve clearance especially with the low milage.

Three different dealers have never been able to engage the factory diagnostic tools with the ECU. The OBD2 plug in won't even power the tool. I purchased the $350.00 diagnostic software to do it myself, but after 300+ attempts with 3 different laptops and 2 different PC's, it would never once initalize.

Preparing for my 1st Iron Butt and concerned about a rattling noise at idle I took it in for service at 21,800 miles. The noise was similar to a loose timing chain but a mechanics stethoscope probe found it most obvious around the alternator side.

Tech found all valves unusally tight, and the exhaust valves were only able to be set at the absolute minimum clearance. Pointing out the body work is now burned clear through and the bike has always run very hot (but radiator temps always normal) the tech says the exhaust valves have softened and sunk deeply into the valve seats. He felt the valves would not make it to the next valve adjustment. Only recourse- Head R&R, new valves, approx $2500.00-$3000.00!!!

He too could not engage the the diagnostic tool with the ECU. I told him about my other experiences, that it runs fine, but right at 5,000 RPM you can feel the exhaust heat increase substantially.

I come from a racing engine and fabricating background. I know the only thing that can cause this is the exhaust gas temps are way higher than normal. The only thing that can cause that is the timing is retarding and the fuel map is going lean at upper rpms, but with no means to access the ECU mapping, there is no way to confirm or correct this. The mechs agree, but the only recourse is to spend $1200.00 for a substitute ECU. The service manager would NOT agree to using the ECU from another bike to check this.

In regards to the rattle noise at idle. 3 mechs and the service manager suggested I look behind the alternator drive. There was something peculiar about their body language and reluctance to talk about that problem that seemed very odd, like they sort of knew what was wrong but did'nt want to talk about it. Bought new alternator drive rubber cushes with my finger crossed.

Once home, I found the alt. drive cup was LYING limp in the housing. Closer inspection showed ALL of the balls and inner race of the starter, clutch and alt. drive shaft on the left side were MISSING!!! Tore apart the right side clutch side and find all but 4 of the roller bearing missing!!!

Talked with the service manager, 3 dealerships about warranty, they would'nt even discuss it. The service manager at two dealerships declared my engine and ECU junk, one said he would'nt work on it ever, even if I left a blank check. The other says "Give me $5000.00 to start, but it will probably be more".

Contact with Triumph USA has all gone unanswered. As the service manager at one of the shops said, "Don't bother contacting Triumph....they DON"T CARE!!"

The only other bike that has really appealed to me are BMW boxers. EZ to work on, everything is accessible and lots of tech help available from numerous sources. A valve adjustment, throttle body synch and complete tune up can be done at home in less than 2 hours and I know everything is perfect. The Triumph leaves you at the hands of others with little training and little concern for anything other than your wallet.

I'll probably be riding boxers till the day I die. Never again will I even look at a Triumph.