Saturday 17 March 2012

The Wrong Bike

After 18 months of the sequentially monogamous bliss caning the Street Triple through the urban jungle, The Antipodean Mariner is being seduced by the 'virtual infidelity' of a new bike.

With the sun beaming down on Melbourne for Grand Prix weekend, AM took a Triumph Sprint GT for a test ride around a test course of the industrial docklands. Mercifully free of traffic on a weekend, boogie time on a Saturday morning with the chaperon of one of the dealership's riders.



While the Sprint GT is a fabulous package of engine, hard luggage and ABS, the bike didn't light the AM's fire to the point of saying 'I do' at the alter of automotive consumerism. The stretch across the tank to the handlebars was just too uncomfortable when weighed up against a reality of a daily 70km commute. The AM has the luxury of two bikes covering the spectrum of city weapon (Street Triple) to luxury tourer (BMW K1100LT) so a high benchmark has been set.



The Triumph Tiger 1050 looks nice, but the dealership has just sold its current demonstrator. Maybe this is the one? More news next week as the Dealer shakes the distributor's tree to see what falls out.

AM

2 comments:

  1. That's the tough part about reading reviews or even listening to friends' recommendations about bikes. What fits them exceptionally well just might not fit you. It's spring up here in the northern hemisphere and the bikes are coming out of storage. Lots of folks asking for (and giving!) advice on a new machine. I always say that the test ride is the decider.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great pics and details, also into motorbuikes, camping, etc and work in the marine area managing state wide oil spill response capability. Worked on the Rena incident too

    ReplyDelete