Learn Me: Triumph Street Triple vs Speed Triple vs Daytona 675

I am about to take my motorcycle riding test and will be buying a bike sometime within the next year. This bike will be a learner, daily rider and track learner. I want something that will be reliable, inexpensive to maintain, get decent mpg's as well as a good learning tool.

I am about 6'1" and 170 lbs. I am 21 years old and it will be my first bike. Because of price and the steep depreciation on motorcycles it will be bought used and probably a few years old. I want to buy something stock that hasn't been molested.

I absolutely love naked bikes and have been obsessed with the Street Triple for years now which is why I want a Triumph. Will I fit on this bike or will I be too tall? Being a British product, how reliable is Triumph?

According to the Triumph website the Street gets 33 and 51 mpg, the Speed with a much bigger motor get 34 and 50, and the Daytona with FI has much more power claims 46 and 50. I would have thought that the more aerodynamic Daytona would get better highway mileage than the cruder naked bikes. Is it the FI (turbo?) that helps the Daytona in the city and a possibly shorter gear that lowers the highway mileage?

I also like the BMW F800R which gets better mileage (65) but is probably harder to find used...

I think it's not a good idea at all to get any of those bikes as a first bike. Think cheaper and slower (SV650, hmmm?).

Get a used SV650. Once you discover whether you want to actually ride a lot, then get something like Street Triple R. FI stands for fuel injected. There hasn't been a factory turbocharged bike since the 80's, that I'm aware of. Aerodynamics are probably what's responsible for the difference in gas mileage between the Daytona and the Street Triple.

I have a 955 daytona, and love the noise of a triple, but most triumphs are not a good choice as a beginner bike. Think of it this way. There is a really high probability your first bike will get dropped a couple of times. A used bonneville might be a decent first bike as far as speed and rideability, but still 2-3x more expensive than a UJM. Get a cheap 500-650 and put 5,000-10,000 miles on it, then think about what kind of bike you might want.

Osterkraut wrote: I think it's not a good idea at all to get any of those bikes as a first bike. Think cheaper and slower (SV650, hmmm?).

this... I started on a mid 90's katana 600 (so mid 80's 600 sport bike power)... even at nearly twice your weight it was more then enough to scare the crap outa me a few times...

it's fairly easy to find smaller bikes fairly inexpensively... they've typically been dropped a few times and are ugly but are great to learn on... when you get ready to upgrade you can sell it for about the same you paid...

just a few comments

I have a 2009 Speed Triple...it is not a beginners bike and neither is the street triple..... I've been riding since I was basically a damn baby and the Speed Triple can still be a handful. You asked if you'd fit...... I'm 6'3" 200 pounds and fit just fine.

The Daytona 675 has less power than the Speed Triple....not sure where you saw it had more.

My Triumph is more reliable than my BMW k1200s.

Start out on something a little, well a lot, more beginner friendly like the sv650 (which is a great bike) then move up.

The Speed Triple is a beautiful machine, but at about 130 hp, just thinking about starting out on one gives me the heevie jeevies.

I'm one of the many that started out on the SV650. I tend to recommend it in just about all of these types of threads, probably because my bias of only really owning this one bike. The first few weeks were a bit harrowing as I acclimated to its power, but two years later, I don't feel like I have "outgrown" it it in the least. The SV's seem to crash well; just about everyone I know has crashed his or her bike at one time or another, and the SV guys are always quick to get it back on the road. It has been reliable and easy to keep up with. It's not as smooth as a straight four, and probably not as smooth as a triple, either, but it's comfortable for in-town riding, which is about all that I do.

Have you checked insurance rates? The Speed Trip will crush your wallet.