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“In 1993, I traded my 92 Soft tail custom on the "new" ”

written by casbah on 02/04/2009

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 !