Five years ago we loved the then-new ST’s delicious 1050cc three-cylinder howl and sporty handling, but worked ourselves into a lather concerning a couple of its shortcomings: Its undertail exhaust and poor heat management meant “the rider’s right shin gets roasted… and the poor passenger has to sit high atop a muffler pack that heats the grab rail to the point of uselessness.” Its saddlebags, we said, “are a tragic joke… poorly made, cheap looking and don’t work worth a damn…” (and we continued on from there). Triumph whipped out a new, vastly improved bag design in a hurry to fix the issue not long after launch and heat management improved with later models.
But the Sprint GT looks to elevate Triumph’s game with an all-new set of hard saddlebags capable of swallowing 8.2 gallons of gear, and a low-mount exhaust. And as an excellent segues, another thing that holds 8.2 gallons is the bike’s fuel tank, which should give it serious range. A subtle but significant restyle of the bodywork and cockpit freshens things up while retaining the bike’s triple headlight/triple gauge-pack theme: The bike’s comprehensive three-dial instrument panel consists of a traditional analog speedometer and tachometer flanking a third dial hosting the bike’s onboard computer readout info, where the rider can scroll through fuel consumption, range-to-empty, journey time, average speed and clock functions.
Meanwhile, the 12-valve Triple itself has been retuned for more power, with an emphasis on midrange delivery: Triumph says the new 1050 makes 80 foot-pounds of torque at 6300 rpm, 4 more than the previous engine at 1200 fewer rpm. Up top, 128 horses at 9200 are 5 more than before, 100 revs higher.
Sounds like the new Sprint will need that extra power, given that it’s gained 60 pounds in the transformation from ST to GT: Triumph claims 590 pounds wet (18 of which are 3 more gallons of fuel than before), which may slot in right there with the new Honda VFR1200F. Wheelbase, at 60.5 inches, is 3 inches longer than before. The 3.3 inches of trail is 0.2 inch less than before, and should help keep the new bike quickish-turning and sporty.
Eschewing Multistrada-style electronic suspension exotica, the new Sprint GT makes do with a twin-spar aluminum frame and single-sided swingarm controlled by a conventional Showa 43mm cartridge fork and monoshock. The bike does come with standard antilock brakes and a 12-volt power supply—and naturally there are available accessories including heated grips, a gel seat, a taller windscreen and a top box Triumph says will hold two helmets.
The result, says Triumph, is a motorcycle with a different feel to the Sprint ST, a “composed machine with precise and intuitive handling that’s also able to deliver the comfort required for a long two-up ride cross-country.”
The Sprint GT will be available in US dealerships this fall as an early-release 2011 model, for $13,199, in Pacific Blue or Aluminum Silver.
