TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE 1200RS

Iam beginning to wonder if my plans for mass-mile munching will ever come to any fruition with the Speed Triple. No sooner had I picked up the bike ready for more adventures than some genius in the national press decides that five petrol stations running out of fuel was front page news, thus sparking extraordinary scenes in the station across the road from me, which was mirrored across the country.

You all know the drill, and despite being able to pick my moment to replenish a quarter-filled tank there were no such guarantees en route to any of my planned trips at the start of the month, so they all had to be canned. This included a very kind invite from Triumph to go to its premiere of No Time to Die to finally see the Trumpets in action on the silver screen – pig sick doesn’t go anywhere near covering it.

But with normal service resuming, I finally managed to luggage up and head to the south coast to visit Bikerheadz, the business formerly known as TranAM, for its preview of what is to come in 2022. Thankfully I am testing a Rukka ensemble at present and it would have been rude not to arrive in the said gear, whatever the weather – perfectly, it smashed it down for the majority of the journey, which seems to have been par for the course this year.

It was a good test of the new luggage, though. With both the tank and tail packs having internal waterproof linings within the hard packs, there was no concern of any of the contents getting wet – or myself, to be honest, in my Rukka bling.

However, on the tank bag there is a slight problem with the phone window I use for navigation. The waterproof plastic bounces off any sunlight available, which produces glare so you

can’t see the screen. Add to this the balance of the phone, which is slightly downward and away from you, meaning the screen constantly spins 180 degrees, leaving you reading what you can see upside down. Okay, yes – you can freeze the screen of your phone but that involves stopping and taking it out again when actually you can just lean on the bag until it rights itself. But all of this is a faff, and a solution is already present via My Triumph connectivity which

comes as standard on the 1200RS. Intertwined with the new operating system of the five-inch TFT dash, a simple pairing of your phone via the app will enable you to answer calls, listen to music (with suitable headgear, of course), read SMS messages and also operate your Go-Pro (not supplied, damn it) via the switch cube.

Most useful for me, given my predicament, is the turn-by-turn navigation, powered by Google Maps and giving clear displays and instruction on the dash as to where you are heading, be that one destination or via multiple others. So thanks to Triumph for providing this self-confessed technophobe with some techno joy!

While I am at it, let’s address the keyless ignition, too. I hated the idea of it, and listened to my peers on how they hate it too… but having used it, I am a definite convert. I know the arguments about starting the bike and riding off, then dropping the key somewhere behind and being screwed for when you next shut off the engine... well, don’t drop the key. Put it in a zipped pocket and forget about it or attach it to a lanyard around your neck or belt loop. You don’t need it in the ignition in front of you, constantly flapping away.

I am a keyless fuel filler cap fan, too. It genuinely makes things really easy once you have the key stored away securely on your person, knowing you can just pop the cap when you need to fill up, and as you walk away from the bike, it locks.

So, all in, this month has been a somewhat stunted experience of just how good the Speed Triple continues to be on the road. You could genuinely ride it all day, and the additional power that Triumph has woven into this all-new engine continues to be useable throughout the rev range, giving a smooth comfortable ride with the capability to up the ante with some immediacy when conditions dictate it.

Considering that a very high percentage of my journeys thus far have been wet, I have pretty much stayed in the road setting, despite a softer delivery from wet mode being available.

Unfortunately, I also haven’t had many opportunities to throw the bike into sport either, but I am hoping there is still time before ‘that call’ is made by Triumph and it wants her back.

I haven’t been on track at all this year, and despite the fact that Triumph has stated that this is no track bike, I still think it would be more than enough for me, and certainly a great laugh being able to properly wring out the throttle. As it is, the nights are drawing in again and trackdays are coming to a close, so it may well be that this is the one that gets away.

That being the case, I will be hunting out those sunny, dry autumnal days, selecting sport mode and giving these new Dunlop Sportsmart TTs a run with some decent angles thrown in, though given the boys’ feedback from our Naked Sportsbike of the Year last issue, I am not sure there is much I will be able to add. Some warm winter sun, please!