Over the weekend a friend & I went over to Romney, WV where they were offering demo rides on Triumph motorcycles. I wished they would've had more of a selection, I was told that the market over there is more in the Adventure style bikes, I believe they had a couple of Tiger 1200's & Scrambler 1200's, one Tiger 900, 2x Tiger 660's, Trident 660, & a Street Twin, evidently the Tiger 900, Street Twin, & the Trident seemed to be the most popular as they were booked up all day with a waiting list. The demo was very relaxed the way they had it setup, basically ride over to the next town and then come back which was 9 miles each way and could get up to highway speeds, you could ride by yourself, with another friend or within a group.
They had the Tiger 660's available so we both took those out first, we were very impressed with them and I believe they were the favorite of the day. It was slightly too tall for me, I like being able to put my foot down without issue and could see that being one on a hill but they do offer a low seat option and a comfort seat, the low should make it more comparable to my Ninja 650 but the width of the seat has a lot to do with it too. I could easily ride this one all day without getting tired unlike mine where I'm wanting off the thing after about 2 hrs. The triple is very smooth with a lot more power than my twin but still very controllable.
Next I chose the Trident because it was available and he took the Scrambler, he wasn't too happy with that one at all and said once he got up to 55 the front end was all over the place, it could've been the knobby tires but the road was actually decent. The Trident is very similar to the Tiger, same engine and power but maybe tuned a bit differently, the major differences were the riding position and obviously the weight loss but that thing would scream down the road and felt like you could easily pull the front wheel if you wanted too. This one is more like what I would call a Supermoto only that it doesn't look like a dirtbike with road tires.
Lastly I got to ride the Street Twin EC1, and he took the Trident. I really liked this one, the sound is amazing with a nice rumble to it and is a bit loud when accelerating but once you get up to speed it's fine and isn't bothering but I would start wearing ear plugs or look for a helmet that is more quiet but I'm fairly certain this one had an aftermarket exhaust. I think they were strapped for time, they basically just went over the controls with you but didn't really spend a lot of time talking about each bike. I don't know if I could ride this one all day or not due to the seat but I'd say easily more than my current one and maybe 2-3 hrs if not even farther. This Twin is like mine meaning with power delivery there wasn't any hidden surprises but this thing pulls a lot harder, it doesn't matter what gear you are in within reason of course and there's plenty of torque. I used to wonder why Triumph didn't give it the extra gear but honestly it doesn't really need one, 5 is plenty and it's one less gear that you have to shift up or down.
I found all of these bikes were super easy to ride at least the ones that I got to test out, mine is a pig in comparison and more top heavy. We were hoping to at least get one more ride in but they decided to shutdown for the day. I found another Triumph one in Oct. that's actually a bit closer for both of us with more days to ride too.
They had the Tiger 660's available so we both took those out first, we were very impressed with them and I believe they were the favorite of the day. It was slightly too tall for me, I like being able to put my foot down without issue and could see that being one on a hill but they do offer a low seat option and a comfort seat, the low should make it more comparable to my Ninja 650 but the width of the seat has a lot to do with it too. I could easily ride this one all day without getting tired unlike mine where I'm wanting off the thing after about 2 hrs. The triple is very smooth with a lot more power than my twin but still very controllable.
Next I chose the Trident because it was available and he took the Scrambler, he wasn't too happy with that one at all and said once he got up to 55 the front end was all over the place, it could've been the knobby tires but the road was actually decent. The Trident is very similar to the Tiger, same engine and power but maybe tuned a bit differently, the major differences were the riding position and obviously the weight loss but that thing would scream down the road and felt like you could easily pull the front wheel if you wanted too. This one is more like what I would call a Supermoto only that it doesn't look like a dirtbike with road tires.
Lastly I got to ride the Street Twin EC1, and he took the Trident. I really liked this one, the sound is amazing with a nice rumble to it and is a bit loud when accelerating but once you get up to speed it's fine and isn't bothering but I would start wearing ear plugs or look for a helmet that is more quiet but I'm fairly certain this one had an aftermarket exhaust. I think they were strapped for time, they basically just went over the controls with you but didn't really spend a lot of time talking about each bike. I don't know if I could ride this one all day or not due to the seat but I'd say easily more than my current one and maybe 2-3 hrs if not even farther. This Twin is like mine meaning with power delivery there wasn't any hidden surprises but this thing pulls a lot harder, it doesn't matter what gear you are in within reason of course and there's plenty of torque. I used to wonder why Triumph didn't give it the extra gear but honestly it doesn't really need one, 5 is plenty and it's one less gear that you have to shift up or down.
I found all of these bikes were super easy to ride at least the ones that I got to test out, mine is a pig in comparison and more top heavy. We were hoping to at least get one more ride in but they decided to shutdown for the day. I found another Triumph one in Oct. that's actually a bit closer for both of us with more days to ride too.