Moor than meets the eye
Back-to-back ride with our Monster shows Trident’s pros and cons
THE LAST DAY of summer, a fabulous bike and a handful of Britain’s best roads ridden with a mate is an irresistible mix. The much-praised Trident continues along the same vein (tarmac and thematic) as last month, making fairly easy work of a two-hour slog up north to the good stuff.
Off the A66 onto Stang Road, the diminutive triple gobbles up the twisting, undulating rollercoaster route to our lunch stop with all the eagerness of a kid at a birthday buffet.
“Wanna swap?” says Matt after a photo stop. I certainly do. But while the bikes have seemed well-matched so far, what comes next is a bit of a shock. The Triumph gives away a kilo in weight to the Ducati, and has a 73mm shorter wheelbase. But while the Monster definitely feels longer, it has all the girth of a dirt bike and feels significantly lighter. Its 29 extra horses punch forward off every corner exit with all the joyous thumping sensations you’d expect from an Italian V-twin. It feels alive, and I don’t recall another bike with such wonderful torque-to-weight. I’d wondered just how ‘Monster’ this new trellis-less version was. Out here, right now, smashing the hell out of the North York Moors and Dales under a cloudless sky, who cares?
After lunch and back on the Trident, it feels like we’ve gone back 10 years. You feel the weight, the steering seems slow and it takes a few miles to readjust. It’s still a great bike in isolation and I don’t need to rest my throttle hand on the way home. Is the Trident £3000 worse than the Monster? No. But back-toback, the difference dynamically is profound.