A bit like a Star Trek movie...

If you're not a trekkie this may leave you pretty flat, but if you're familiar with the original cast through the series or movies then you've likely seen a scene unfold something like this:

The Enterprise has barely surived a battle, the engines are offline, some mega-device is about to detonate and Kirk is asking Scotty to get the engines back online. Somehow someone does something to save the day and engines come online and Sulu engages the warp engines and in a surge of unimaginable power the mighty ship leaps into warp speed.

This evening was sorta like that. I'm a bit ashamed to admit it but I had to trailer Vader (already christened by my girls) home. It was a long day out to Yamaha Sportscenter in Longview but even with heavier holiday traffic pretty much uneventful. Jerry and his staff were really helpful and walked me back to see the bike. It was love at first site. I'll always have a special place in my heart for my '06 but this thing is drop dead sexy. I know, I know... black is a pain to keep clean but who cares, when you're going warp speed, it doesn't matter. Anyway, I finally managed to get the bike home and unloaded it. I had things scheduled that kept me from getting much time to ride but I couldn't just park the dang thing.

So... I took it up the road for about a 15 minute leisurely jaunt then turned to catch Hwy 121 south back to my house. I figured it was time to crank that throttle a little bit harder. Getting on the on-ramp, banging through the gears, feeling that surge of power... it was like Scotty magically getting the engines back online. Time seemed to stand still, but then I realized it was the cager traffic quickly dissappearing behind me. Getting back in the saddle has never felt so good. More posts to follow. How about some pics?

Test ride -- Triumph Daytona 675

This is another place holder so I can post some thoughts after having taken the 675 for about a 20 minute test ride. Coming soon...



So here are my riding impressions finally:

(Quick disclaimer that my impressions are influenced by having recently come off a Yamaha YZF600R with some pretty dated technology.)

To me, the riding position was without question designed with the track in mind. The height and angle of the seat plants you into the tank. I thought this would really be uncomfortable but when I went through a section of road that allowed some "spirited" manuevering, I found that the foot peg position coupled with the incredible lightness of the bike, made moving around the saddle really a no brainer.

The engine makes such a distinct sound and though I really never pushed it very hard, it really did feel like there was a lot more grunt than I had expected from the tripple. This might have really been influenced by that wonderful distinct sound though.

Moving through the gears, the shifts where crisp and precise.

The layout of the cockpit was nice, easy to read without distractions.

The front fairing and screen seemed tiny but at 5'9" the wind hit me right on the helmet and the airflow didn't create any buffetting.

As far as the actual ride? It was like riding a razor blade. In some situations, I could have sworn that all I did was look into an upcoming turn and the bike was already leaned over and tracking like it could read your mind. The setup on the suspension was pretty close it seems since I did hit some bumps and holes mid turn a couple times and the bike never hesitated.

When I brought it back, I had a grin that lasted for the next few days. The test ride pretty much sold me on the bike and if everything goes as I plan, I'll have one in the stable sometime this summer.