Last weekend my odometer turned 10,000 miles on my street triple and I thought that warranted a decent review, but you can see decent reviews all over the internet so I'm going to do a GRM'ers review.
I am 50 years old and got back into motorcycling with this bike after a 25 year hiatus because I thought I missed riding, fortunately I did miss riding so I ride as much as I can. I bought the bike at a huge discount in December 2020 new as a leftover 2019 model and rode only a bit until March of 2021. At the end of March 2021 I had about 500 miles on the bike and quickly put on the next 500 miles and had its first service at the dealer in early may of that year. 141.00 out the door and they checked it over and changed the oil. It has fully adjustable front suspension and rebound adjustable rear and I never did any adjustments, just rode it. 225 lbs 6ft tall and It feels great right where it is. The original Pirelli tires were replaced at 3900 miles in November of 2021 and were way stickier than I needed. I could never outride those tires. I replaced them with Dunlop Roadsmart 3 tires with the intent to not have to replace them for at least two years. I removed the wheels and was charged 40 bucks a wheel at the local bike shop for installation and balancing. With 6000 miles on them the Dunlops still have plenty of tread.
I did the 6000 mile service myself trying to save money, and I did. The only mishap being after I got done checking the plugs and all that and was putting the tank back on it slipped from the bike onto the ground after I had attached the main fuel line and snapped that at the connector. Fortunately a used 675 fuel line is the same part and I was able to get one off of ebay for 16 bucks shipped. Unfortunately it scraped the tank and dented it on the concrete floor and I will never get that fixed, I do have to give props to quality paint work, if you aren't looking for the scrapes they don't jump out at you first thing. I changed the oil and used Valvoline 4T synthetic bike oil and it really improved the shift characteristics. Shifts became more positive and felt better in my opinion than the Castrol the dealership used and that came in the bike.
I have been the only person to add miles to the bike. When I test rode it, it started with zero miles and I bought it the same day. It is top heavy standing still but at any sort of speed it's easy to maneuver. I'd even say telepathic. In the twisties it will go as deep as I dared to, which judging by my tires isn't awfully deep but it flicks back the other way easily and without issue. It putts around town at low rpm with great ease but if I really wanted to get going it never disappointed me. Specifically over 9000 rpm it was brutally quick in every gear I dared(which was definitely not more than 2nd gear).
Ergonomically it's a cross between a standard and a sportbike, which makes sense because from what I understand the first naked bikes were sport bikes that had been crashed and the plastics not replaced. Normal handlebars, not clip-ons, elevate my torso so I can be comfortably old, I mean so I can sit normally and not have to bend over the tank. Foot controls set so that while the knees are bent at a less than relaxed angle it is not a horrible place to have my legs on long rides, and I never have pain or numbness. What it allows though is that spirited ride in the curves where I don't have to worry about scraping pegs when that Harley comes over the double yellow and I have to adjust out of his way (that actually happened). The factory seat is comfy though. At first it seems a bit dense but riding on it for hours at a time is not a problem and it's not something I would replace. Interestingly I love the mirrors. They work very well. Far enough out to see anything. Stock mirrors are a big plus. The fit and finish are top notch. You can see where the money was spent. quality finish, quality materials throughout.
I ended up adding a momentary button on the handlebar and attached it to a garage door opener under my seat. money well spent. I made it myself for only slightly more than I could have bought one commercially. If I hadn't bought the new soldering iron just for this It would have been much cheaper than the commercial product.
The sound from that triple is pretty sweet. I read probably 30 years ago in a motorcycle magazine that when revved out they sound like mini Ferrari v-12's and that's one of the reasons I was looking at this bike in the first place. What I was not expecting was the howling intake sound on acceleration. Quite the bonus just adding to that triple eargasm.
I thought I might have to replace the front brake pads already but they are still in spec. What I didn't expect was a headlight to go out. Fortunately they are widely available H4 lights that I bought a 2 pack of from amazon for 7.50 total and are super easy to replace.
Adding luggage turned out easier that I thought it would be. I got a nelson rigg tailbag that fits nicely and allows me to carry the essentials, tire plug kit, inflator, sunglasses, first aid kit. I bought soft saddlebags, Oxford F1 Large bags, they expand to 55 liters each and don't look ridiculous and don't get in the way. The biggest downside to the saddlebags is how they attach, double D rings for 3 straps each. its not hard, just time consuming if you are taking them into a hotel room while traveling and putting them back on in the morning.
I bought Motul chain lube and cleaner early on and ran out of cleaner so now I use wd-40 for cleaner and I still have lube even though I've bought some belray lube for when it runs out. I was initially cleaning and lubing the chain every 200 miles like it asks to be but now I'm lubing every 500 miles or after a wash or rain and cleaning every 1000 miles. Everything seems to be solid.
Im not looking forward to the 12,000 mile service since It's the valve check/service but I'm trying to get there before it gets cold and everyone else sends their bike to the shop for service. My understanding is its about 350 labor if the valves check out good and 1200 or so if they need adjustment. They are shim under bucket and I decided I am not doing that service or at least that part of the service myself.
Overall, It's a bike I would and will travel on, it can cover long distances in comfort and can go any amount of fast you need it to on the street. Fuel mileage averages 45 mpg with it being ridden hard anytime its not on straight roads. Ridden for best mileage I could see getting 55mpg easily.
I wasn't sure about the TFT display at first but once I understood it and used it now it's intuitive. Changing riding modes while rolling is as easy as pressing one button then toggling back and forth to your choice (like road to rain) pressing the same button to choose that mode , closing the throttle and pressing in the clutch at the same time and it turns that mode on and you continue riding. Reading it is easy it shows rpm with a gauge, speed with digits, ride mode, mpg below, can also check coolant temp and it has a digital clock, an outside temp gauge and an honest to god fuel gauge and low fuel warning.
About the only thing I'm not a fan of is while you can turn traction control off it has to be done when you are sitting still, deep in menus. Sometimes I start out without considering I will want to do wheelies later on. Such a pain. Great bike though 3/5 stars, wouldn't change a thing.
Edit: Leave it to me to leave out something I meant to say from the beginning. I see myself as fortunate that I got the last year of this generation before they changed again for 2020 so they could work out any little bugs with the engine change but it still got the TFT which they changed away from in the R for 2020 and only had on the RS. I felt like I got very lucky. 3 to 4 months later the big covid motorcycle craze hit and there were no bikes to speak of for sale.
