In 2010 I wrote an article about my 50.000 km on my Sprint ST (50.000 km on a Sprint ST). The article was mainly intended to express my satisfaction with my Sprint ST 2007 model but also to talk about the upcoming Sprint GT that was released a couple of months later. The Sprint GT was my hope to replace my Sprint ST so I immediately requested a test-drive when it came out. The fact that I’m reaching the 70.000 km mark on my Sprint ST is the proof that the test-drive didn’t go as expected. Let me be clear, the sprint GT is probably one of the best Sport-tourers around. It’s main benefits are : very sporty, good looks, trustworthy engine, luggage space in abundance and a good price/quality ratio. The problem however was that I didn’t see the difference with my current bike when driving the Sprint GT, it was like having the same bike again after 5 years of bliss with my Sprint ST who was still doing what I wanted it to do. Same dashboard, more or less the same driving experience, no new gadgets and from a driver perspective I was still missing those elements that make a tourer a real tourer bike (cruise control, adjustable windscreen, integrated GPS, a good onboard computer). So if I wanted a sporty tourer, well… I already had one in the garage and it still kicked ass.
So I decided to drop the thought of buying a Sprint GT. If I wanted to spend some cash I at least would like to have the sensation of having something new while driving it. So how to solve my craving for a new bike…and more specifically, my craving for a real tourer bike? With the mileage I will be pumping the coming years I’m really looking forward to the comfort of a tourer and I was getting slightly stressed by the fact that Triumph didn’t have anything in that range. I was becoming so stressed that I did a test-drive with the new K1600 of BMW last year. OMFG (pardon my French), delicious, great, what an experience… the corresponding price-offer more or less halted the blooming romance between me and my German mistress. Not that it was that expensive (oh, who am I kidding, of course it was to expensive…) but the problem was that I wanted a more or less naked K1600. The looks on the salesman’s face should have warned me that I was doing something “not done”. Let me just re-enact what happened :
Sales : So, eh, you want no onboard GPS and no onboard Radio…correct?
Me : YESSIR
Sales : so no prebuild radio, speakers and GPS wiring
Me : NOSIR… and why would I do that if I don’t want a radio and a GPS??
Sales : To increase resale value…
Me : I couldn’t care less.
Sales : you realise that your dashboard will be rather “empty”.
Me : meaning?
Sales : Well, all the slots that are foreseen for the speakers, GPS screens and corresponding buttons are closed with plastic lids.
Me : a bit like when you order a car without any option and that you see buttons that are not activated on the dashboard?
Sales : Indeed
Me : how does such a dashboard looks like then on the K1600
Sales : I wouldn’t know, we never had a driver that can find his way without a GPS and who has a built-in sound system in his helmet and who doesn’t want to blow the neighborhood away with 150 decibels of music like you. You are definitely not the typical BMW-driver.
Me : NOSIR and I guess I’ll never be…
In short, I really like the K1600GT and the R1200RT but have you seen one without the horrendously expensive options? the K1600GT has a dashboard the size of a matchbox if you don’t take the GPS-system and if you forget the speakers you have so much “empty” dashboard that it makes you wonder what all that plastic is for. I could use the space I save by not taking the speakers for a small fridge (THAT would come in handy!!) but off course such very usefull options are not offered (a shame).
Anyhow, I really considered buying the K1600GT but it stays a bit pricy, so I was in doubt. It was then that the first spy-shots were released by Triumph of the new Triumph Trophy 2013 (somewhere around September 2011).
Well, well… isn’t that what I’m looking for? It’s more or less a shameless copy of the R1200RT (IMHO) but hey, who cares? The engine is a three-cylinder shaft driven 1251 cc that we already can see now on the Tiger Explorer that has just been released. The first reactions I got there from people who tried it out are quite super positive. Okay, I don’t think it will match the 1600 cc in line beast that BMW delivered on the K1600GT but again : who cares? The final specs aren’t there yet but boy am I craving to try this puppy. I even heard that it will have the possibility to light all 4 turn lights at the same time (people knowing Triumph will agree with me that this is quite close to a miracle).
I’m a bit afraid that it will have the same “if you don’t take all the options you will have a bike that will look like an empty Christmas tree” problem…but I’m rather hopeful. Triumph is known to deliver complete and honest bikes even without options. I’m wondering if they will uphold that custom now that they are entering the realm of the popular Tourer bike. They are rather silent on the release date but current rumors talk about September-October 2012. I have no details on pricing yet but there the idea is : BMW’s price minus 1000 €. That would be a small drawback…the R1200RT costs around 20.000 € more or less full option (no GPS) so that would mean that the Trophy would cost 19.000 € with the same options. I hope it will be a bit cheaper and that the almighty dealer will give huge discounts (Did you hear that Dirk??).
Nothing more to do know than to wait and watch the official announcement with all the details but boy…am I excited.
Source :
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/New-bikes/2012/February/feb2312-2013-triumph-trophy-spied-in-finished-form/
http://moto-online.be/content/scoop-la-triumph-trophy-1200-modele-2013
I am in exactly the same boat. I have a 2009 Sprint ST 1050 with 40,000km, and after hearing stories about the 1200cc engine, was thinking about the Tiger Explorer. I saw the latest photos of the Trophy 1200 in MCN this week, and it looks nice. I have put my bank account into full savings mode!
I also agree with Bart’s comments about the radio!! I hope this is an option that we can ignore.
Motorcycle radios are still like the big beat-box music stations that people carried on their shoulders in the 1980’s, before the invention of the walkman and now the iPod. Really, who thinks it is a good idea that everyone else can hear our music when we cannot hear it ourselves through a helmet and ear plugs.
If Triumph is reading this, how about a 2012 motorcycle radio without speakers, but with bluetooth connection to rider and pillion helmets directly?
Hello Paul,
Just as an extra thought. I have a Schubert-helmet that I upgraded with my already owned Scala teamrider set. There is a “built-in” version for Schubert helmets available but it is a tad expensive. I’m very satisfied with my combination but the only thing I recommend to do is put the earpieces directly on my ears and not in the foreseen sockets because then you can’t hear anything anymore when you driving faster than 80 km/h. There are velcro-strips attached to the earpieces so that they stay in place but sometimes I have to fumble a bit to get it OK. It works as a charm with my iPhone 4 and since I have Spotify and an affordable Data-connection on my mobile I’m the luckiest guy in the world :-). It would be nice to have a good holder for the iPhone because now I store it in my inner pocket of my vest and this isn’t the best solution.
Hello Paul,
Did you see the official Press Release? I wrote about it in my latest post. I don’t see any loudspeakers on it so it seems they have heard you :-).
Bart