2013 Triumph Speed Triple R on 2040-motos

Triumph Speed Triple tech info

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Moto blog

2010 Triumph Speed Triple exhausts tested

Over the last month I’ve been busy trying out some of the exhausts available for the Speed Triple. Apart from being very easy to fit, they all claim power gains of around 8bhp and give substantial weight savings. It’s worth noting at this point that Triumph only recommend Arrow cans and discourage the fitting of slip on exhausts especially if they are not mapped to the bike.

Filling a void with an RD350LC

Last winter I managed to fill a void in my life when I stumbled on a very reasonably priced Yamaha RD350LC.  It was a tad scruffy, had the wrong exhausts but most importantly it was blue and white with all numbers matching.  I had the usual euphoria when the deal was done but I underestimated how much pleasure this particular purchase would continue to deliver another eight months down the line. The difference with this old bike is, instead of just taking it for the occasional ride I was talked into doing a full nut and bolt restoration.  Having never taking a bike apart completely before, initially it was quite daunting but I soon found the RD is easy to work on so it turned into a truly satisfying experience.  I’ve had some help from LC enthusiasts with the rebuild, however, the stripping, sourcing and organising was a total labour of love.  And call me sad but it has made me bond with this bike like no other which only adds to the feel good factor.  The bike cost £1800 and I’ve spent around £1000 but I reckon my mint Elsie is now worth a fair bit more.   I fancy rejuvenating a Fizzy  next time but there’s lots of other cheap 70’s and 80’s winter projects  out there so why not have a go yourself?

A thing of beauty?

The weather was pretty good over the weekend and I managed to get 500 miles in and become better acquainted with the Speed Triple. I’m still running it in but as it’s reputation suggest the bike doesn’t disappoint. There are some noticeable differences over most other naked bikes I’ve ridden, you could call them quirks, but i'll talk about those in a week or so.