In 2011-12 era, I was doing my btech (3rd year) & always dreamed about owning a Ninja 650 but my heart always wanted a Street Triple. Readers might wonder why Striple. I'm a die-hard redditor and all motorcylists on r/motorcycles always appreciated a Triumph. Whenever MCN does a review and that has a Triumph Striple, it always wins (because they are brit!, people might say). Everybody knows about it's well-known torque curve and grunt in low RPMs. The exhaust note always gave me an eargasm. AutoExpo 2012 gave me the opportunity of owning one and I scrapped the idea of getting a Ninja 650. I patiently started waiting for the Triumph launch. I got a good job and started dreaming about owning one. Started saving for the bike from second month itself (this was August 2012). Meanwhile, it was frustrating to see Triumph not launching the bike but I was OK as I didn't have money to buy one too in the early months of my job .


Fast-forwarding to Dec 2013 (after Triumph launched in Nov'13), after being in my job for 1.5 years, I went to Lets Gear Up to buy some good helmet & Mr. Sukesh gave me a number and told me that I can actually book a bike now if I want. That's how I booked the bike on 19th Dec and was the 6th guy who booked a Street Triple (and 30th guy in total). The guy whose number I got, Mr. Samarth, took a check worth ₹50k and didn't commit anything about the deliveries but I was fine with it as I wanted the bike anyhow, even if it takes 6 months to deliver.

12th Feb'13, here I'm, owning the only bike my heart wanted, Triumph Street Triple.

Here is pic of my bike on the second day.





My Gear:

I currently have a Alpinestars GP-Air textile jacket with added chest protectors and back protectors. I absolutely love my jacket. Chest protectors decrease the airflow a little but that's ok.

My helmet is a HJC RPHA 10+ Lorenzo Replica.



I had a feeling that it might look cheap with those Monster stickers but fcuk it, I don't care. Lorenzo wore it in 2013 & safety-wise I didn't do any compromise.

For gloves, I currently have a PlanetDSG's full gauntlet glove (full leather). I wanted gloves with good protection and that's the only one I could find at that moment. I highly recommend to *NOT* buy them. They are piece of shit. In 3 days of riding, the velcro started getting teared-off from the leather.

Well, I don't have anything yet for my knees and foot, I plan to buy it as soon as I find a good product.

Review:

Well, my riding experience is not very versatile. I was used to riding my own Pulsar 150, my friend's FZ-16 and sometimes an Avenger 220. I've taken test-ride of Duke 390 which I rode like I stole it.

The bike is yet to complete a run-in so I've not ridden my bike really hard but still I've got some things to say.


Pros: (As everyone is aware of it's pros, I won't say much).

• The bike's engine is super smooth and I love it's sound. Build quality is top-botch.
• I love the throttle response, the bike does what my right hand commands, instantly.
• Suspension travel is less and they're stiff. But, trust me, it doesn't feel bad at all & gives a feel of bike being more planted on road and predictable.
• The bike doesn't heat up insanely. It's manageable, even in high traffic. My friend has a Duke 390 and my experience of riding with him says, Duke heats up more. At least, I felt so. (May be, it was just a warmer day. )
• Bite in the rear brake was not good on day1 but now it's fine (It was mostly because they were new). The front brakes has a good feel to it.
• While remaining seated on the bike, the bike is easy to move for a guy like me who is 5 feet 7.
• ... (watch any video/review on the interwebs. They say all sorts of good stuff about the bike)
• ... (the bike is awesome, no doubt about that)
• ...

Cons: (They won't avoid me from loving my bike but still)

• The rear mirrors are shitty. I don't see anything in them in my usual riding position. It could be because I'm 5 feet 7 & I lean a bit more than other taller riders. I've to straighten up a little and that way I only see partial stuff. They are not really dependable and encourage me to look back before taking any U-turns and stuff. I wish they had more room for adjusting.
• May be it happens to most big bikes but this bike starts to lug if the speed is around 16 km/h or less. Repeatedly, I've to press the clutch and give it a push by rolling the throttle if the traffic is slow.
• Clutch is a bit heavy comparing to the bikes I was used to riding. As it's hard to ride the bike below 16 km/h, frequent clutch usage starts to hurt my hand.
• Headlights don't turn off . People keep saying to turn off lights on the streets.

My buying experience with the Bangalore dealership was awesome. The guys there behaved professionally and gave a good walk-through of the bike controls and mainly instrument panel and stuff about regular maintenance. They mostly responded to my calls promptly and also gave a callback when needed. The dealership delivered the bike with full tank, that was a nice gesture.


Here are some more pics to drool at:


Left:



Right:


The T:




Love those bug eyes:



That ass:


Love that color:




That ass too:





The curvaceous booty:


I love the new eyes:







Sick, isn't it!!



Ignition:


Tail light: