This week’s Friday ride consisted of a Kurnell ride via the La Perouse route. As usual, this ride was a great opportunity to try out other bikes, since this ride was a very easy route, travelling along motorways and main roads. Of all bikes, my Panigale was the most popular for a fling by many of the riders. Being my first ride in three weeks with the group, it was refreshing to see a few new faces amongst us.

I had the chance to be able to ride Scott’s new Triumph Street Triple R for the 2nd half of the night. What I’ve noticed with the ‘Striple’, as I’d aptly like to call it, is that the power delivery is ultra smooth and progressive; just enough to gather a decent pace without needing any more or less. It’s also one that’s happy to cruise at any gear, something that I can’t do with my 1199. Where the Panigale would sputter in 3rd gear travelling at 60km/h, and beg you to keep its revs up, the Striple doesn’t mind maintaining the same speed in 6th gear, and does so with sufficient overtaking power on tap.

Being used to the Panigale’s non-existent seat padding, the comfort of the Striple was a revelation. It was like coming off from a plastic patio chair to a well-padded office chair (the designation for the lounge chair label goes to Greg’s Hayabusa 🙂 …). If I were to choose one single bike that can fulfil the duties of a fun, comfortable and commutable urban machine, the Triumph would be pretty much it.

And the feedback on the Panigale from Scott? It’s a hot bike, literally… 🙂