Triumph Daytona 1200 Reviews

casbah's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Good Points: The motor is a heavy thing but this gives an indication of its strength. It was obviously "over engineered" as Triumph could not afford to have anything go wrong with what was, at the time, its Flagship model. Remember that Mike Bloor had only recently got Triumph back on its feet and could ill afford ANY adverse publicity. Even the crankshaft was over designed and built by non other than BMW in its foundry as at that time Triumph did not have the facilities. The motor is a little light on power in the lower revs but comes on like a train over about 4300 rpm all the way to the limiter which I suspect is also tuned with a safety margin built in. It feels like it cuts in just when it really starts to sing!! The bike is still running it's ORIGINAL clutch and mechanically has had no major problems. I service it every 3000K and use the best synthetic oils. Cam shims have proven to be reliable up to around 10,000K for me.

Bad Points: The side stand sorta sucks. No real successful way for luggage other than a tank bag. Gets a bit hot and flustered in city traffic during summer. Mirrors are a bit ineffective due to their position on the fairing.

General comments: In 1993, I traded my 92 Soft tail custom on the "new" Triumph Daytona 1200 on the basis of a test ride on the 1200 Trophy. I suggested to the dealer that I would like a bit more poke. He produced a brochure describing the upcoming new, 147 HP Daytona to be released in Australia "soon" . I was taken by the bright yellow paint and promising performance details. Besides, it looked great! After three months wait and the boredom of a BMW loan bike the Daytona finally arrived. I was not dissappointed at all. I still own this bike and have only once been tempted to part with it (on a Rocket 111) but resisted the temptation. In slow traffic, particularly in Summer, the Daytona can run hot, but commuting was not what the designers had in mind! BUT this high temperature situation led to the malfunction of the coils which are located right above the head with only a minimal amount of insulation provided. A faulty / non factory replacements provided by the dealership led to some heated discussions and finally a factory coil. This solved the problem. I have had to replace a coil twice, the first after about 5 years and again after about another 6 years. Be aware that the coil problem manifests itself almost like a fuel problem in that it doesn't just cease to work. It feels and sounds just like blocked jet. I have had to replace the rear disc and the fronts are getting close to limits of wear now (not bad for over 15 years hard use!) The brakes do have to work hard as this is a comparitively heavy bike. I am 6'2" and this thing fits me like a glove. Handling is pretty good but I would class it as a very fast tourer but, owing to the hippy nature of the rear high density plastic panels (no cheap fibreglass here!) throw over bags will wear the paint on the contact areas. I do not like the weight distribution anomalies resulting from rear rack use, although they are available for the Daytona. The panel work is of high density material which is flexible to a degree as is the paint, this allows minor bumps and indiscetions to be painless. I have never dropped this bike but BE AWARE the sidestand is a shocker and will let the bike fall over if you do not make sure it is on the flat. hard and level. There is no centre stand. The speedo can be a bit "cluttered" as there are a lot of numbers and it can be difficult to get a glance indication. A minor sweep of the needle can cover 10 klmh. I have recently installed a custom 4 into one pipe with removeable baffle, removed the airbox, rejetted and fitted foam pod filters and dyno tuned. This has resulted in significant performance gains and it sounds great!! like two Ducatis going hard. On board the inlet sounds are magnificent and stir the soul!! These machines are really collectable as they mark the new Triumph's first foray into real performance motorcycles. They did it well, with the companies growing reputation on the line they could not afford a lemon so took every precaution to ensure a reliable, attractive package. Would I sell mine...no, I love it !

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Beautiful motorcycle right to the last screw almost Rolls Royce quality, solid, built to last. Mine is twelve years old and it still looks new and goes like a rocket. Very collectable and at the moment under priced but will go up rapidly.

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It is a good and reliable bike my good friend has had a 1200 daytona since about 1996 and he still drives it wory free to this day there has only bin one repare to the bike that is when he got crashed into by a police car and he ended up I a bus stop.

doxford13x's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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After market Micron exhaust cans, wide, MX style bars, and Corbin seat, I've been truly happy with the big, Brit "Rocket". Wouldn't trade it for the world.
I had a spill in August of 2007 where I broke my neck in 7 places on 4 vertebrae and now that I'm back in form I'm having a complete resto done on her. Thank God it was @ 30mph and it's all cosmetic as it would cost a mint to have mechanicals and structural work done. Tha plaque on the trees says number 143 out of 150 brought to the States, w ...

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The Triumph Daytona is an all round ok bike but they need to bring back the triples. Its a plastic fantastic and nothing compaird with h2 750 triple nothing like the smell sound and the acelaration.

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I have been riding my Triumph Daytona for over 15 years and although I have tried a number of newer and lighter machines. I have not found an alternative that gives me the excitement or the stability that the old bus does so really reluctant to change.

cranketeer's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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I love the Triumph Daytona, a true sport tourer, it will stay apart of my collection, great for the trip of a few hundred miles or so, a short stop and off again, my SE is only eight years old and I can't wait to see how it compares to other machines when it grows up.

S Bridgford's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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The Daytona is a brilliant bike that has become a keeper and I agree with the comment that if it was a car it would be an Aston V8. Being over 6 feet tall bike is the perfect size for me, great tourer and a bike that will hold it s own with many so called hyper bikes. You can ride it more than 200 miles in one go unlike so many other bikes because of it s large tank and good fuel economy.

BimotaRich's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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I have owned several 90's Triumphs and they have all been perfectly reliable. I have never had a problem with any of them. The Daytona however is by far my favorite. I liked it so well that I brought it along with me to Japan when I changed jobs. It handles better than the same year Speed Triple, has more torque, and is just as comfy. The looks still turn heads even 12 years after it rolled off the show room floor. People are shocked when I tell them it's a 95. She is still a beauty! I commute, ...

Bluebeard2006's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Great all rounder. Loves the open road, great for touring, but also looks good and still turns a few heads (especially all black version) as there are so few on the road. Has presence!

Bluebeard's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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I've been riding the Triumph Daytona 1200 for 5 years or more and knocked up over 50,000 miles on it, and apart from the fan switch packing in recently, it's never let me down. Gets through tyres and chains fairly quickly but if you ride it with respect (and you'll need to with all that weight) it will go on forever. Fairly easy to maintain too. Acceleration isn't fantastic, and certainly no match for an equivalent jap bike but get it on the open road and it will give anything a run for its mone ...

Big Dave Midlands's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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I have owned two Triumph Daytona 1200 sports bikes. The Big Daytona 12 is an absolute Missile of a bike which demands respect. A genuine 172mph top end, with a sub 11 seconds quarter mile time, which is fast in anyone's book, and faster than most people can handle even today. These solid old bikes with their single colour paint schemes look classy even on 10 year old examples. The in gear acceleration is quicker than the Sprint ST, and quicker than any sports 600. Buy one privately for sensible ...

johnbirkens's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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Triumph Daytona 1200 a classic none Japenese bike that any one should be proud to own.

Tigger Eeyore and Roo's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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If the Triumph Daytona 1200 motorcycle was a car it would be a V8 Aston Martin of the old school. If that's what you want there is little to touch it.
I've found it a comfortable high speed tourer, but although it's fast, it's never going to challenge a Fireblade; it just isn't built that way.

BimotaRich's review has yet to be rated - Be the first!
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The Triumph Daytona 1200 sports bike is a torque monster with great real world power(100 foot lbs of torque and 147 hp!). It prefers to be ridden hard but the feedback is vague which works against confidence. For such a big bike with a steel back bone frame it actually works quite well. The brakes are good, the power excellent and the bike is very stable. In tight corners throttle control is the key to getting around them with grace. It is a decent bike for sport touring (just toss on some so ...