The 2011 Triumph Speed Triple

Triumph has been showcasing its new version of its hugely popular Speed Triple at the Cologne Motorcycle Show.  Unfortunately if web chatter is to be believed it has met with a muted response due to one, some say iconic, detail.

Other specs have been welcomed such as it generates 130bhp with 111Nm of torque, and it’s lighter than before by 3Kg.

It’s sporting a new frame, swingarm, and five-spoke wheels supported by Showa suspension front and rear.  However the new lights have got all the attention.  Triumph have said this design change was decided upon early in the re-vamp, and the new angular twin set does significant;y alter the well-known look of the Speed Triple.

Some are saying it helps the bike stand out from immitators, others say it looks ‘squinty’ and weird.  Would it put you off buying the new bike or is the overall package irresistible?

New 2011 Triumph Speed Triple Appears (Briefly) On-line

Sharp sighted web surfers caught photos of the new 2011 Triumph Speed Triple in the accessories section of the company’s web site, for the brief amount of time they appeared.  The bike is due to be revealed next week but web site preparations have blown that carefully set up PR exercise.

Earlier reports of technical tweaks and little else weren’t totally accurate as it’s clear there’s new lights and styling cues to the highly successful naked.  Head over to MCN for a couple of more shots.

Somebody in Triumph’s IT department will be hiding under their desk..

Suzuki’s New GSR750 for 2011

Suzuki has released a sketch of its on the horizon GSR750, due in 2011.

The middle weight naked should have a competitive price around the £6500 mark and feature a detuned GSX750 engine.  RTWW can’t help but feel though that a lot of these bikes are starting to look very similar, nice and all, but there are definately signs of a potential homogenized blandness creeping in around sharp plastic and angular headlights.  Have a look at the bikes below and see if you agree;

The Yamaha FZ8

The Kawasaki Z750R

The Aprilla Shiver

Ducati stands out with curvier styling however…

2011 Kawasaki Z750R Official Video

Kawasaki’s new Z750R, due to arrive in 2011, has a lot of good things going for it.  The ‘R’ version has some design tweaks and new fully adjustable forks, a new revised rear shock bolted to an aluminium swing arm, a blah blah blah.  You don’t need to know any of this to start saving your $/£/€, all you need is the video, and damn kawasaki make good videos!

Kawasaki says of the bike “The Z750R is an impressive package. It has been designed to take the handling, braking and overall specification of the hugely popular Z750 to a totally new level, justifying the exclusive R status of our new mid-weight naked contender for the coming year,” and in case you do want some more information the spec for the new Z750R includes;

• High-grade, sharper front cowl
• Multi-piece cowl construction
• Sharper, more aggressive, multi-facet design
• Luxurious two-tone colouring
• Front fender with new fork guard portions
• Sharper turn signals
• Sporty R-model instrumentation
• Front suspension offers more precise adjustability
• Both sides feature rebound adjustability (vs only one side on Z750)
• 41 mm inverted fork
• Preload adjustable
• Bottom-Link Uni-Trak with piggyback reservoir also offers increased
• cooling performance
• High-quality sculpted aluminium swingarm
• Radial-mount 4-piston calipers
• Radial-pump brake master cylinder
• Steel-braided brake lines (front and rear)
• Thicker front petal discs

It’s Kawasaki Day! Part 1 – The Z1000

We’re having a bit of a Kawasaki day
today here on the Ride The Wild Wind Blog, and are going to give you
some video teasers for two upcoming models from the Japanese company.

First up is the new Z1000 which will be
making an appearance in 2010. This newly engineered model is
promising a lot of fun, and if the video is anything to go by looks
like it will deliver. Aggressive styling, great noises, and suitably
high-tech readouts make for a mouthwatering package, hopefully test
rides will confirm the hype the video delivers.

Kawasaki Z1000 2010

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