Editor's Note: This Bike has already sold

Some of you may recall that I chose a 2004 Sprint ST 955i a couple of weeks ago as my editor's pick of the week for used bike. Well after going down there and looking at it a couple of times and talking with Jan about it, I decided I really wasn't in the position to be purchasing another bike right now. That bike was (and still is in my opinion) a good deal for it's condition but I put it out of my mind and moved on. Then about a week later, last Friday in fact, I received a call from Jan. She told me that she just had to call me knowing of my interest in Triumph ST 's and wanted to let me know they had taken in another one that was a bit older

Still not that interested in spending money on another bike at the time, I asked her how much. "$2,799.00", she told me. The wheels in my mind that had jammed up days previous on motorcycle purchases started to turn slowly. "Really!?" I replied, "next you're going to tell me it's red, right?". Much to my simultaneous delight and chagrin she told me it was indeed red. The wheels had gone from slowly turning to top gear. "Alright, I'll come down tomorrow and take it for a test ride in the morning" . I went on to tell Jan that she had certainly called me on the right bike, and I added that she was evil and must be dealt with for presenting me with such a temptation.

Saturday morning was perfect riding weather. At 9:30 in the morning when I arrived at Castle Powersports it was in the high 70's and mostly clear skies. Traffic on Gallatin road was pretty light as my SV650 and I crossed the lanes to pull in to their parking lot. I stepped over to the red Sprint 955 and started inspecting again. I had dropped by on my way home from work onFriday afternoon to just give the bike a quick once over to see if I even wanted to do the test ride, which obviously now I did. Jan spotted me and got the key and dealer tag as well as collecting my signature and a copy of my license. A few minutes later I was settling onto the Corbin seat that the previous had installed and thumbed the starter,ready for my first ride on a Sprint.

It wasn't the most graceful launch, I have to say. The previous owner had adjusted the shifter lever rather high for my taste (don't get me started on the foot brake lever) and as such my foot couldn't flex up high enough to upshift. I ended up sliding my foot forward under the shift lever so that my heel was resting on the footpeg and the lever was on the top of the middle of my boot, about on the laces. Nonetheless, once I adapted to the shifter position a few minutes later, it was less noticeable, but still not right, for me. "This is a two minute fix to adjust the shift lever so no points off for that", I though to myself as I approached the two ramps comprised of three turns to get on Vietnam Veteran's Blvd.

Being unfamiliar with the bike and having not had enough time to get the tires warmed up I cautiously started up the ramp which cuts to the right and then left at an upward angle. Even going as slow as I was it was obvious was out of sorts. The first turn in only goes to the right about 80~90 degrees and and as I leaned over the front end felt unsettled and wanted wander a little as I leaned over. Leaning over to the left for the second part of the turn up the ramp felt the same way. To me it felt to hard, like the fork oil was too thick or the compression damping was cranked up all the way.

I only had a few seconds to dwell on it as I was heading up to the next ramp to Vietnam Veteran's Blvd itself. Up to this point I had been keeping the revs down to give the engine time to warm up. Now was my chance to see how the engine pulled while merging into the traffic. Triumph triples are known for their balance of torque similar to a twin and the top end power more like an inline four. This blast coming off the ramp onto the highway made it clear what I've heard is true. Below about 6k the engine pulls strongly and smoothly but as you rev past this range the power starts to swell and the "buuuuwahhhh" roar coming from the carbon fiber can on the Sprint pushes you forward as fast you please.

I'm not a power monger myself and have been happy with the 70 or so horsepower of my SV650, but I have to admit that it's nice to have that power there when you need it. The power is controllable and does not come on abruptly so even newer riders should feel comfortable managing the power/torque curve. This is a welcome factor as some fuel injected bikes can be "snatchy" making it difficult to modulate the throttle smoothly.

Now at highway speeds, the Sprint feels in its element. Eating up lots of miles is what this bike was built for and it shows. I first had the feeling that "this bike doesn't seem to be that much more powerful than the SV" until I took a closer look at the speedometer. I was traveling about 25mph faster than I thought I was, all the while the Sprint and the installed Corbin saddle conspired to mask my true rate of speed ( true sign of a bike designed to tour ). I slowed down for the next exit and turned around to head back the way I came.

As I came back up Vietnam Vet's, I found at speed that the Sprint changes direction very easily. The thought of a lane change is all that is needed. This is certainly influenced by the near new set of BT-021's installed on the rims. These tires appear to have a relatively "pointy" profile which would explain the quick turn in. The downside, if you can call it that, is that at lower, parking lot speeds it can take some getting used to the willingness of the bike to "flop" over.

The next exit was coming up for Center Point road so I turned on my signal to exit. As I headed down the ramp I took a moment to examine the  instrumentation.  The gauges are nice with an analog tach and speedo but the speedo's background is black where the tach has a white background.  This combined with size of the numbers on the speedometer make them harder to see. This could have been improved by omitting some of the numbers climbing up to 180mph. The Sprint 955 is a fast bike, but that's a bit optimistic. In the instrument panel you'll also find fuel and temp gauges (with white backgrounds as well) and an LCD clock. Above it all you'll find a row of lights for indicators, neutral, and idiot lights for oil and engine alerts.

Back to the ride now and I'm cruising down Center Point road heading north. This road isn't very straight but the curves are mostly gentle and there aren't many surprises. This is where the Sprint really struts it stuff. Curves are dealt with effortlessly and the 955 engine gets you right back up to speed exiting them. The brakes are also very powerful, considering their somewhat dated design (by today's standards) and the heft of the bike, with my only complaint being that they are a bit grabby with their initial bite.

I continued on for a few miles enjoying the road, the weather, and the overall experience on the Sprint. The thing that I was hoping for was that the Sprint would combine performance with comfort for longer rides and Sprint indeed has equal helpings of both. There are motorcycles that are faster and there are others which are more comfortable but sometimes the middle of the road is just what one is looking for. After a few miles I turned around and headed back the dealer, satisfied I had learned what I wanted to know about this bike and Sprints overall.

The only real issue I had was the suspension issue up front. After I got off the bike back at Castle, I put the bike up on its centerstand and pushed down on the forks. I was expecting it to resist strongly with little give. What happened was quite the opposite. The forks compressed easily and came back up,  then compressed a bit again came back up again. Aha! The forks weren't to taut, but were lacking in damping. I didn't see any obvious compression (or rebound) damping adjustments on the forks and I don't believe this year bike had those. Some fresh fork oil in the correct weight is probably in order if not a new set of springs (depending on one's weight). This is a relatively easy and inexpensive (under $100.00 even with springs) fix that would tame the front end and transform this bike when in turns.

Overall I feel the Sprint straddles the line between sportbike and tourer very evenly. The triple cylinder engine is loaded with character while the comfort level is many steps above most any sportbike while still offering a somewhat aggressive riding position. This particular example is really clean for being eleven years old and with about 13k miles on it, still should have lots of miles left to go. I didn't buy this bike but were I in the position I would have and in fact I did check into borrowing the money to purchase but the desire to keep from acquiring to more debt won out.

This experience has confirmed though, that a Sprint is in my future and it has also got me curious about the newer 1050 Sprint's which I though were to big to be fun sporty bikes. I think I need to find out for sure though, so Jan ( temptress!! ) if you're reading this, I'd be happy to test ride a newer model if you have one available.

Keep the shiny side up everybody,

Brandon

This Bike has already sold. You can see this bike over at Castle Powersports website or you can call Jan Taylor at 615-851-4403