Triumph Trident – we have a go
Triumph have been the first manufacturer out of the blocks come the country's relaxation of restrictions, with a tour of their dealers to show off the new Trident 660. Maria, her dad and Oli went to have a go to see what they thought.
Maria took her dad so they could both have a go on Triumph's new Trident. What did they think?
Fancy a go?
The journalists may have had a ride and declared their love to the Triumph Trident, but they are flown out to test them in hot climes and are wined and dined, and anyway, journos never buy new bikes. So when the Triumph ‘Trident tour’ came up on Butch’s (Dad) radar, and, as he has done nothing but go on about the new Trident for months, I thought it only right to sign us up for a test ride.
We turned up on a cold but dry Sunday morning to Lings Norfolk Triumph, in nearby Watton. As soon as we parked it was obvious where we needed to go with our paperwork. Once we were all checked in, our temperatures were taken and we were able to have a look at the bikes to see what we thought. It was all very slick. The Trident did look good, but also looked similar to many other new bikes. They were all presented nicely and cleaned (sanitised?) in between each group, and neither Dad, Matt, or I could agree on which colour scheme looked best – I’d like a brighter one as the colour choices all looked a little drab.
There was a short safety briefing which included a run-down of the bike, its controls and what order we were going out in (there were six of us). I was the only lady rider on this time slot, which isn’t unusual, and the other riders made me feel comfortable and welcome. When
asked if we had any questions, I asked if the pre-load was on minimum so I could ensure a good footing; I did not want to drop it at the first set of lights from over balancing! A couple of minutes later, no less than three men rushed out from the showroom to have a look and decided that it was already as low as it would go, so I had a perch to try it for size. I was looking for Dad to see what he thought but he was busy listening about the controls of the bike. One of the other test riders was keeping an eye on me, it seemed, and leaned over to say, ‘I think you’ll be fine with that’ – and that was all the confidence I needed to be happy to go out.
The nerves had well and truly set in by this point. It has been quite some time since I’ve ridden a bike this big and tall – and especially in front of all these people. Being female feels like all eyes are on you, but it also means you can get away with more than the men. After a wobble down the slope onto the road, we were off. My first thought in the first few hundred yards was that it felt like a big bike; it wasn’t the tank size or height, it just felt big bike, yet not too big.
During the ride I found it was very comfortable and all 100 gears (I’m used to four) seemed to glide in nicely. It pulled well in a high gear at slow speed and the dash was very easy to read without having to move my head too far. I chose to go out last in the group, with Dad in front of me and the tail rider (from Triumph) behind. I felt very safe the whole time, I could see what Dad was doing and what was