Go for it!  It's always a good idea to check out the competition

Quote from: El-Twin on January 27, 2012, 09:13:00 AM
The salesman was very accommodating. He suggested pushing it outside for a little action but, since it was cold and wet outside, I deferred to think on it a bit. I felt like a tramp having such unfaithful thoughts.

Tramp indeed!  

Since you live in Santa Barbara, fit a 14T before you take delivery. They aren't a lot of fun at town speeds but on all the valley/canyon roads at your doorstep will be great fun. Just don't grab a handful until you are aimed in the right general direction. The front wheel will head for the sky!

With this bike mainly you can ride the canyons in 3rd and 4th and hardly ever need to touch the brake. NOT so with the Triple or any Jap 4. Your choice of course.

Quote from: Curmudgeon on January 27, 2012, 09:25:16 AM
Tramp indeed! 

Just don't grab a handful until you are aimed in the right general direction. The front wheel will head for the sky!

A point well taken, sir. That was my first impression on my test ride, when I thought to myself "You must be careful with this throttle."

Quote from: Curmudgeon on January 27, 2012, 09:25:16 AM

Since you live in Santa Barbara, fit a 14T before you take delivery. They aren't a lot of fun at town speeds but on all the valley/canyon roads at your doorstep will be great fun.

You're quite correct, Santa Barbara is pretty much laid-out for sports cars and motorcycles. And I'm not too concerned about town performance anyway. It would be strictly a valley/canyon machine.

Do you think a 14T combined with a 41T rear would be too low?

Quote from: El-Twin on January 27, 2012, 09:55:31 AM
Do you think a 14T combined with a 41T rear would be too low?

No..., unless you plan to do 125 MPH on the 101...

Having owned an '09 Daytona and the current owner of an 1100 EVO, I would say that you'd be happy on either. The killer for me is the ridiculously short range on the Duc. All Ducatis have stupidly small tanks. Pushing it to get 117 miles out of a tank is just lame. STR will be more around the 150 range (if not more). The sound of the smaller triple at speed is a thing of beauty as is the sound of the EVO working hard. You can't be wrong unless second guess yourself.

Oh, dumb as it sounds, the other thing that's always bothered me with Triumphs is that the headlights are attached to the frame and don't turn when you turn the bars. They also used to have a really hard cutoff (in the EU style) for even the high beam so the Daytona was totally crap for riding at night because the high beam just lights up the same area as your low beam only brighter. The '08 Sprint ST that I had fixed that problem a bit but the Duc is better for night riding.

Quote from: Curmudgeon on January 27, 2012, 10:09:47 AM
No..., unless you plan to do 125 MPH on the 101...

  My goal would be to be able to use 6th gear on the 101. Say, to be able to cruise at 70-75 in top gear. This way you could actually use the whole transmission, rather than throw a gear away.

Quote from: EvilSteve on January 27, 2012, 10:51:29 AM

The killer for me is the ridiculously short range on the Duc. All Ducatis have stupidly small tanks. Pushing it to get 117 miles out of a tank is just lame. STR will be more around the 150 range (if not more). The sound of the smaller triple at speed is a thing of beauty as is the sound of the EVO working hard.

If I could get 120 miles out of a tank, that would pretty much make my day.

Quote from: EvilSteve on January 27, 2012, 10:51:29 AM
dumb as it sounds, the other thing that's always bothered me with Triumphs is that the headlights are attached to the frame and don't turn when you turn the bars.

That doesn't sound dumb. It bugs me too. But I could overlook it because of what you said about the sound of the triple at speed.

Quote from: El-Twin on January 27, 2012, 12:09:04 PM
  My goal would be to be able to use 6th gear on the 101. Say, to be able to cruise at 70-75 in top gear. This way you could actually use the whole transmission, rather than throw a gear away.

Without a 14T you will be lugging the bike in 6th at 70. Cruising would be more like 85+ in 6th with a 15T. My gearing is identical to the evo on my 796. If you want to use 6th in the U.S., mostly a 14T is mandatory. Big $38- for a 14T. Have the dealer include it. 

Are you going to try the Street Triple R?  We impatiently await your findings

Quote from: El-Twin on January 27, 2012, 12:09:04 PMIf I could get 120 miles out of a tank, that would pretty much make my day.

That was to fuel light, went further than that before I filled but it's always been an issue for me.

The cut off for the Triumph lights is actually a really big deal. Think about it, you're riding at night, coming up to a corner, you lean the bike over and even with high beam on, your lights don't actually light even into the corner, let alone around a bit. I personally think it's really unsafe. I had my Daytona high beam adjust all the way to the top too, hopefully the STR won't be that bad.

Quote from: EvilSteve on January 27, 2012, 03:46:48 PM

The cut off for the Triumph lights is actually a really big deal. Think about it, you're riding at night, coming up to a corner, you lean the bike over and even with high beam on, your lights don't actually light even into the corner, let alone around a bit. I personally think it's really unsafe. I had my Daytona high beam adjust all the way to the top too, hopefully the STR won't be that bad.

Wouldn't this be the case with most or all bikes with a fairing?

Quote from: RC Fan on January 27, 2012, 01:29:32 PM
Are you going to try the Street Triple R?  We impatiently await your findings

I'm trying my best.

Quote from: EvilSteve on January 27, 2012, 03:46:48 PM

The cut off for the Triumph lights is actually a really big deal. Think about it, you're riding at night, coming up to a corner, you lean the bike over and even with high beam on, your lights don't actually light even into the corner, let alone around a bit. I personally think it's really unsafe. I had my Daytona high beam adjust all the way to the top too, hopefully the STR won't be that bad.

This does sound like a big deal, a bit like "Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead." But this will be basically a toy for me, so it won't see much night shift work.

The sound of my evo at 7000 rpm is just so much better than ANY i4 thru the traffic!

Quote from: reebok on January 27, 2012, 11:53:51 PM
The sound of my evo at 7000 rpm is just so much better than ANY i4 thru the traffic!

Well I guess it's a good thing that the StripleR isn't an I4.

Quote from: Travman on January 26, 2012, 10:43:48 AM

Looks pretty good with a classic Monster headlight.

Killer, totally love this look.

Hmm, maybe it's time to visit "another" dealer.

It's funny, but one of the best headlights I've seen (photoshopped) on a STR is the new monster's.  Works really well with the bike.