What’s it like on the road?
Fun. Despite its slightly mad looks, it’s not a mad ride. Blip the throttle from idle and you get the reassuring feeling of a big, solid motor with a big, solid crankshaft thrashing about. Then as you pull away you’ll feel smooth, urgent drive from low down, rather than a mad rush of power.
This long-stroke version of the original Daytona engine has enough top end to get you into trouble, but it’s in the midrange where it really shines grunting cleanly out of bends from low down with a fantastic, growly intake and exhaust noise, saving you the need to dance on the gear lever all the time. Just as well really - despite various upgrades from older versions, it’s still a ponderous, slightly clunky gearchange that doesn’t take too kindly to fast clutchless (or even clutch-light) shifts.
The riding position puts you firmly in control, and the wide bars give plenty of leverage for low-speed riding - the Speed Triple is ace at filtering. At higher speeds and on twistier roads the steering’s a little slow, though that depends a lot on tyre choice and suspension settings.
Windblast is obviously going to be an issue on long, fast rides, but most owners say that helps keep their licences safe - you can’t claim you didn’t know you were going fast, because your neck muscles will be keeping you fully informed at all times. But if you can’t easily go fast, you can easily go far - the high-level cans make throwovers tricky (but not impossible), but stick a big tailpack on, and suddenly you’ve turned your daily commuter and weekend toy into a useable tourer. It’s really a great all rounder.
“It has enough top end but really shines in the midrange”