TJ ….. Certainly not uncomfortable…. Just done 180 miles straight over the mountains on the CrossTourer…….got it for a full days demo…..give it back ltomorrow evening…….
Not as good as the Triumph…….and I still prefer my VFR……….
Now need an extended demo on the Triumph…. 75 miles is nowhere near enough time to decide……

I have to say, the triumph explorer seems like a very useful tool. I’ve long listed after a street triple to replace my ancient Gs500 but the explorer might be a better all round machine, especially for touring and 2up duties.

Edit: sorry, double post.

sam – the exact reason i’m looking for something more long distance capable and more comfy than the VFR [which i still love].

Crazy how things have changed a VFR800 would do exactly what you are describing with ease.

I have a 3 year old Street Triple R and it is like new so I can vouch for Triumph quality.

Picked up a 12 year old VFR 800 for a mate who has just passed his test. That was in incredible condition Hondas do seem to last well.

Took a GS1200 touring for 2 weeks in the Alps last year. Loved the ease of putting on all the luggage and all that and the huge screen made for easy fast progress, but at the end of the day it was not that exciting as this type of bike is just that little bit too fat and a little bit slow. I know there are people who would be faster than me on one even if I was on a S1000RR but they don’t feel alive like a lighter bike.

That said not ridden a Multistrada which might hit the spot.

I realise that all that does not really help your decision but I love talking bikes and I am excited about a track day at Brands on Tuesday 🙂

The VFR panniers and top box are just a bit too small at 29, 29 and 31 litres for 3 weeks 2 up touring Europe…hence the triumph interest…

Isn’t there a new Trophy coming out soon?
Shaft drive & you won’t look like Chewan. 🙂

Sadly, like most new Triumphs, Mr Bloor seems to have pointed to a BMW and said ‘Make it look like that’.
Shame, but at least they didn’t get John Mockett to design it. 🙂

Sadly, like most new Triumphs, Mr Bloor seems to have pointed to a BMW and said ‘Make it look like that’.

Except for EVERY other Triumph model. I don;t think the adventure-types look too much lie a GS anyway TBH.

You’re right, nothing like each other: 😉

By new, I meant the 800 and the Explorer.

When Bloor resurected Triumph, at first they looked like Kawasakis, an odd coincidence as the engines were based on the GPZ900.

At least they looked presentable and the original Speed Triple is still the best looking bike they’ve ever made.

Then they became very ugly indeed and we had the Speed 4, Sprint GT & several incarnations of the Daytona that looked like a popped frog.

Then we had Mockett’s finest, the Rocket, which is a wonderful engine wrapped in something from Jabba the Hutt’s porn collection.

The America & Speedmaster are overfussy and messy, when they should be lean and stripped back and the Thunderbird looks like a two wheeled Mondeo.

The Bonnies look ok, (but the Kawa W800 is nicer) and the Tiger 1050 is nice.

You’re right, nothing like each other:

In a general sense the look the same, so does the Yamaha Tenere and to some degree the transalp, its just indicative of their type.

The Bonnies look ok, (but the Kawa W800 is nicer)

Maybe as nice, but looks like it is exactly what it is (jap replica), its also a grand dearer……

The W800 is an updated version of this:

The W1.
The design of which was obviously based on a BSA. 😀

In a general sense the look the same, so does the Yamaha Tenere and to some degree the transalp, its just indicative of their type.

Nope, don’t agree.
The asymetrical headlamps, the trellis frame, the dual front mudguards
(The BMW beak) and a separate sporty flyscreen have been GS styling features for years.
The Transalp and Tenere have none of these features.

The W1.
The design of which was obviously based on a BSA.

It was as BSA. It was originally a BSA A7 made under license by Meguro. Kawasaki purchased Meguro and carried it on. Later models (like this) were not made to the exact BSA design (the BSA A7/A10 was discontinued in 1962), they went off on their own mild tangent, like Santana with their land rover.

Thats all fairly irrelevant however, as the W800 shares no parts whatsoever with (and is not based-on whatsoever) the W1/2. The W800 is unit construction and has discs for a start!

Nope, don’t agree.
The asymetrical headlamps, the trellis frame, the dual front mudguards
(The BMW beak) and a separate sporty flyscreen have been GS styling features for years.
The Transalp and Tenere have none of these features.

KTM (a few models) and Ducati (Multistrada and Hypermotard) and use the trellis frame and “BMW” Beak. Only the XC tiger actually has the beak. The Yamaha Tenere also has the flyscreen. Nothing is original……

At least they looked presentable and the original Speed Triple is still the best looking bike they’ve ever made.

I do happen to agree with that. Black ones especially

Then they became very ugly indeed and we had the Speed 4, Sprint GT & several incarnations of the Daytona that looked like a popped frog.

But I gotta disagree with that. The origional Daytona (509/955) was a good looking bike in it’s day, and it’s aged VERY well. Now it looks proper timeless and classy IMO where the multicoloured Jap stuff looks like an old shell suit.
The 509/955 Speed Triples started this whole streetfighter thing off in a new direction. How many others copied it?
I had one:

SunnyS3g by PeterPoddy, on Flickr

And the Speed 4 was a great looker too. Mrs PP had one. And what did that lead to…?

KJ_Sp4-1 by PeterPoddy, on Flickr

Arrrrrrgh!

See – that’s hideous!

WHY is that Speed Triple wearing a bra above the headlights?
And what is that horrible bit of placcy below the headstock?!?
Poor design, coving up sloppy engineering.

As for that Speed Four, words fail me.
The fake Hoover pipes on ZXR’s look amaaaaaazing.
Those fake intakes on the Trumpet just makes it look like it’s mother was surprised by a Dalek.

That bell pan is from one of those horrible late air cooled Ducati SS’s (how did they ever make that bike ugly?), the pillion cover doesn’t fit, the mudguars look like aftermarket LC350 one’s knocked up in a shed in 85 AND THE TANK DOESN’T EVEN FIT THE FRAME PROPERLY.

And it’s orange, which should only be used on Laverdas and some Harleys.

Please take it down, I feel a bit sick. 😉

WHY is that Speed Triple wearing a bra above the headlights?

That, my uneducated friend, is a screen made by a small Italian company called Road Racing. It’s made of 4 parts, the tinted screen, then 3 hand beaten alloy sections bolted together with stainless bolts. The 2 outer sections are colour matched, the middle (not visible) section is polished and laqured. I bought that particular bike simply down to that screen, which would have been over £300 new. When I sold the bike, I took the screen off and listed it for £150 on Ebay saying something like “If you know what this screen is, you’ll not argue about the price because you’ll know it’s rare and worth every penny”
It didn’t last 3 hours before I sold it.

😛

EDIT
I don’t have a brilliant pic of the front of the bike, but here we are somewhere up in the Alps on the way to Italy

Italy 2005 008 by PeterPoddy, on Flickr

I don’t care if was wrought in heaven by Bert Hopwood and delivered in Mike Hailwood’s Escort Van, it’s still an abomination. 😀

EDIT:

Oh god, it’s even worse from the front.
You could have saved a bomb and bought it one of these:

Only joshing, PP, it’s all down to personal taste isn’t it?

Have to agree, that orange explosion is a crime….
More time on the cross tourer today and it’s cementing the fact I must keep my VFR…….

that orange explosion is a crime….

From someone that rides a VFARRRGGHHHHHMYEYES 1200 and wants a Cross Torture?

Pot
Kettle
Black

😛

I’ve just thrown up having seen the pic of that hideous orange thing above. I’ve never thought Triumph made particularily good looking bikes in recent years but that is a horror.

I’ve had other bikes but probably more Honda’s that anything else. I’ve looked at Triumphs a few times but never gone with one – probably the closest I got was with a Sprint.

The big trailies don’t really do it for me – it seems a bit like buying a 4×4 and never taking it off-road e.g. something that’s compromised to look like something it’s not to the detriment of the job it is designed for – being a road bike.

I don’t know what Triumphs are like now but when I did more group riding a few years back they weren’t that bad but they did seem to get more problems than the Hondas. Ducati make some lovely bikes but they’d be pretty well down the list when looking for a bike to do long trips on.

Appearance is down to personal taste I suppose but, to me, it’s hard for any real motorcyclist to disagree with Peter Egan, then editor of Cycle World, who wrote an editorial 20-odd years ago on what constituted the ideal motorcycle (more or less a modern Vincent from his criteria) when he said “I don’t trust a motorcycle I can’t see through”.

I thought that summed up the requirements quite nicely.

it’s hard for any real motorcyclist to disagree

I don’t find it hard to disagree with that at all.

Orange Crush – Member

Appearance is down to personal taste I suppose but, to me, it’s hard for any real motorcyclist to disagree with Peter Egan, then editor of Cycle World, who wrote an editorial 20-odd years ago on what constituted the ideal motorcycle (more or less a modern Vincent from his criteria) when he said “I don’t trust a motorcycle I can’t see through”.

I thought that summed up the requirements quite nicely.

Wonder what he thought of this:

i like my VFR :

IMAG0160 by the_lecht_rocks, on Flickr

on top of the Furka Pass :

IMAG0235 by the_lecht_rocks, on Flickr

I think Honda have moved design on again with the new VFR.
I was a little ambivalent at first, but I really like it now, which is often the case with ground breaking designs.
It hangs together really well and has an air of class the competition lacks.

I believe there’s a new V4 sports bike on the way too, which should be amazing.

Still needs gear driven cams though. Honda and camchain is not a good combination for those of us old enough to remember the bad old days. CBX 550 anyone? 🙂

yeah, gear cams and their whine is luuuuurverly, but with the Akra and V4 power, the big V4 is thunderous 🙂