I have very much taken to the ‘new’ Hinckley Triumphs - three cheers (and a knighthood) for John Bloor! - Yes, I am biased and don’t see anything wrong in some good old fashioned National pride. Especially when the current output from Hinckley is so good. Lessons have been learned and Mr Bloor’s version of Triumph is not content to sit on its laurels with new models being developed to keep pace with modern requirements and the ever important US market. - 2.5 litre cruiser anyone?!

I just loved the look of the TT600 in Yellow as soon as I saw that PC desktop background picture (see the Home page), I had to have one. Despite the distinctly negative response from the British bike press I traded in my T160 and got a 2001 model Yellow TT600 just like the one in the pic.  It was a revelation!!

No problems with the ‘racing crouch’, in fact it turned out to be more comfortable to ride than an old fashioned sit-up style bike.

And... as for the engine problems reported in almost every review that I read, well I’m either stupid or the whole thing was grossly over stated. I know that various tweaks took place with the fuel injection software mapping but they must have fixed it by the time I got mine. This bike rides like dream. It’s plenty fast enough and handles better than anything I’ve ever ridden. No twitchiness or loss of grip even on severe lean angles and last minute braking manoeuvres. Standard suspension settings were perfect for me (6’2 and 14st).

It’s a shame that Triumph had to suffer the frankly biased reporting from our home grown press hacks. I’ve read reviews of a number of Japanese fuel injected bikes that also mentioned problems with low speed hunting and power band peaks and troughs but somehow it was always mentioned in passing and didn’t seem to score adversely in the overall rating. What is it with this country? are we embarrassed to admit that the once doomed British bike industry might actually have resurrected itself in a way that would have seemed impossible as recently as the early ‘90s?

My advice, for what it’s worth, is ignore the bad press and get one of these beauties. It is relatively cheap to buy and you won’t be sorry. Don’t forget, the updated Daytona 600 won the IOM TT junior in almost stock condition.  The press seem to like this one though, yet I will be very surprised if it differs enormously from the TT in any significant way.
Ironic that the name was changed for the model that actually went to the TT and won!