That sounds just about right. I find the STR to be outright boring to ride, while the Speed is a whole different animal. I would buy the Speed Triple in a heart beat. Actually, I'm in the market for a bike down here and if I can't find a Monster that fits my wallet, I'll be looking at a Speed.

Quote from: duccarlos on January 30, 2012, 11:30:31 AM
That sounds just about right. I find the STR to be outright boring to ride, while the Speed is a whole different animal. I would buy the Speed Triple in a heart beat. Actually, I'm in the market for a bike down here and if I can't find a Monster that fits my wallet, I'll be looking at a Speed.

I love the Speed as well, but it's a little too juiced-up on steroids for my purposes. Although if you tell anyone that I said that, I'll have to deny it.    

Wuzz

Quote from: El-Twin on January 30, 2012, 11:00:04 AM
Here's my riding impression of the Triumph STR.

First, the dealer has a perfect test circuit at his disposal. It's a 9-mile loop that includes city streets, freeway, country highway and a canyon section. The STR moved out smoothly without any fear of stalling, as happened to me the first time on the EVO (much to my embarrassment). There was absolutely no sign of too-high gearing or too-lean fueling as on the Duc. The test bike was fitted with Arrows slip-ons and a reflashed ECU, so that may have helped. Plus, the Arrows looked and sounded hot.

Going through the gears, tha transmission was silky and smooth with pleasntly close ratios. My biggest impression of the gearing was that in 6th gear it felt as though there should be another gear left to reach the top, and acceleration was quite strong without needing a downshift. This is in marked contrast to the Duc.

The power delivery was exhilarating, encouraging a mad charge up through the gears. It was very user-friendly in the way it put the power to the ground, and was happy at all rpm's. Really, the triple is a little jewel of a motor, and the sound of it at speed is a thing of beauty.

This brings me to the torque vs hp argument. Really, for me, it just didn't matter. I'm a big fan of torque vs sheer hp, but the Triumph felt so powerful and nimble that I felt totally in control (after a few miles) and could call on the power whatever my intension might be, and it was right there where I wanted it. Very smooth and very linear with no surprises. I know that this is not everyone's cup of tea, but I was very happy with it. It was really great fun!

So my summary so far is that the Duc is still the sexy Italian mistress with the throbbing heartbeat, while the STR is more like a wild animal with the manners of a swiss watch. Googly-eyes and all.

So my next move will be back to the Ducati dealer for a refresh on the EVO while the impressions are still (somewhat) fresh.

Thanks for the interest that some of you are showing. It's really encouraged me 

Thanks for the details!  Your report echos what I have read in many reviews of the Street Triple R.  I am very excited to get mine!

They had to do all that to it to get it to run?  Try the evo with a 14T, DP ECU and Termis. Otherwise, you'll be missing the point of a head-to-head comparison. All Triumphs need tweaking as much as Ducatis. Got one in the garage right now with about 90% dialed in after two years of fiddling.

How $$$ was that STR, as equipped, BTW?

Quote from: Curmudgeon on January 30, 2012, 02:22:07 PM
Try the evo with a 14T, DP ECU and Termis. Otherwise, you'll be missing the point of a head-to-head comparison.

There's nothing I would rather try more than what you just described. I just don't know where to find such a dialed-in evo. And it does make the head-to-head comparison much more problematic. I just have to work with what's available out there.

Quote from: Curmudgeon on January 30, 2012, 02:22:07 PM
How $$$ was that STR, as equipped, BTW?

I have the numbers at home. I'll let you know.

Quote from: Curmudgeon on January 30, 2012, 02:22:07 PM
All Triumphs need tweaking as much as Ducatis.

I'll disagree with that comment.  The Daytona I had, along with three other stock Triumphs I've ridden were FAR better sorted than any current/recent gen Ducati that I've been on.

Quote from: Curmudgeon on January 30, 2012, 02:22:07 PM
They had to do all that to it to get it to run?  Try the evo with a 14T, DP ECU and Termis. Otherwise, you'll be missing the point of a head-to-head comparison. All Triumphs need tweaking as much as Ducatis. Got one in the garage right now with about 90% dialed in after two years of fiddling.

How $$$ was that STR, as equipped, BTW?

From what I have read the stock Street Triple runs fine.  I have also read that air-cooled bikes have a harder time reaching the emission standards, which is part of the reason the Ducatis run better with the various mods.  Also, the Triumphs can have a new 'tune' downloaded for their ECU, the cost of which is minimal.

Cost is actually free, as the software to do it is shareware, and you can download the map from all sorts of places.

Quote from: DRKWNG on January 30, 2012, 03:03:27 PM
I'll disagree with that comment.  The Daytona I had, along with three other stock Triumphs I've ridden were FAR better sorted than any current/recent gen Ducati that I've been on.

And I though Ducati riders had the Kool Aide market cornered...  Talk to my Triumph mechanics who owns 5 fully-sorted Hinckley classics. He still likes his Triumphs of course. Maybe you should buy another.

I'd love to buy another.  The 675R is on the short list.  But then again, I've had quite a few Ducatis as well, starting with a 916, 996R, S2r800 and the current Sport1000.  I stand by the statement that my Daytona ran FAR better stock than any of the Ducs I've owned.

Quote from: DRKWNG on January 30, 2012, 03:18:38 PM
I'd love to buy another.  The 675R is on the short list. 

The Daytona is a really sharp bike!  I admired one at length the last time I was at the dealership

Quote from: DRKWNG on January 30, 2012, 03:03:27 PMI'll disagree with that comment.  The Daytona I had, along with three other stock Triumphs I've ridden were FAR better sorted than any current/recent gen Ducati that I've been on.

I have to agree with this. I didn't even think about putting a pipe on my Daytona, it just rocked right out of the box. My EVO has a 14T front sprocket and I'm considering exhausts and flashing a spare ECU I have lying around. The Sprint I had was boring but still didn't need any help getting it messed with out of the box (although, it was second hand, came with shitty pipes that I needed to take back to stock for the 8800 mile road trip I did on it but it was back to stock map for that too... blah blah blah).

Ducati aren't good at making their bikes meet the emissions regs. Some may not like me saying that but it's true. Whether it's just the nature of the beast (twin, small factory, etc) I don't know but it's a fact.

Oh, don't be embarrassed about stalling the EVO, common problem, I've stalled mine more times than I've stalled the 3 bikes I had prior. It's stall-y.

Quote from: RC Fan on January 30, 2012, 03:31:54 PM
The Daytona is a really sharp bike!  I admired one at length the last time I was at the dealership

I test rode the Daytona, I'm starting to see a pattern here, anyway, I did not dig the ergos. It might be cause I'm short. I was more comfortable on the 848, but please don't take my word on this since I was more comfortable on the 848 than the Street Fighter.

I barely restrained the urge to sit on the Daytona and the nearby Speed Triple...both are really nice.