Down the straight at Road America, I can barely tuck in behind the diminutive fairing, giving the appearance of an ape riding a tricycle. The growl emanating from the airbox reverberates through the tank and my body, as I sit up to do my best parachute impression. As I downshift to second gear for the left hander, the brakes scrub speed effortlessly as I’m throwing the bike in later than I’ve ever done in this challenging section. I have taken this turn many times before, but never has a bike been so composed throughout the whole affair. This little Triumph rocks!!

Unlike Triumph’s previous efforts, which have always been nice motorcycles that have just lacked that certain 10/10^th performance that most middleweight buyers demand and rarely approach the 675 has turned the volume up to 11.

The 675 no longer vies for the spotlight by trying to out Japanese the Japanese. Triumph has abandoned its 4 cylinder aspirations and gone back to what it does best, triples.  It’s powerful 3 cylinder motor has an extra 75cc displacement on the 600 competition, which gives it a midrange punch that has to be felt to be believed. The 675cc displacement also happens to be allowed in most racing organizations as the max displacement for a triple competing in 600cc competition. Of course, it’s not allowed in the AMA, for some odd reason.

The Triumph’s money maker is a 3 cylinder, 12 valve gem of a motor. The midrange is more like that of a 750 and is as fast as liter bikes of recent vintage in roll on comparisons. The motor’s spread of torque starts from as low as 3000 and remains smooth all the way up until it tails off abruptly near redline. On our dyno, it made a corrected 107.2 horsepower and 48 ft/lbs of torque. These numbers are very competitive with the current crop of 600s, but, the power is made all over the rev band. The torque band can’t be really described as a curve, because it’s more of a plateau. The delivery allows smooth corner exits that perfectly split the difference between the all torque, low horsepower delivery of a twin and the no torque, all horsepower delivery of a four cylinder. The bikes just hooks up and takes off with little drama and a ton of great noise. The airbox makes some vicious noises as it accelerates. This bike sounds better than at least 2 of Tool’s last few albums and anything by Coldplay. It honestly sounds that good.

Helping the acceleration is the 675’s weight, or lack of it. Our bike weighed in at 417 full of fuel. This is a few pounds lower than most magazines, but, we had removed the passenger pegs and mirrors for the track, so it should come in around 419 lbs for the street. This lack of weight, combined with aggressive geometry and a short wheelbase result in a bike that steers telepathically. It doesn’t take much input to get the bike turning and it held its line very well. I didn’t notice any mid corner issues that some rags have been reporting, the chassis was composed throughout the corner. The bikes steering allows you to keep pushing your turn in points deeper into the corner. It instills confidence in the rider more than any bike I have ever ridden. Couple this with the smooth power exiting the corner and your corner exits can scare the crap out of liter bike riders. With my large self on it, the Trumpet managed to pull an ‘04 R1 up Road America’s front straight up until around 4^th gear and it ate the R1 alive through the corners.

One other note, for those of you thinking frugally, the bike, despite its power, gets great gas mileage. I’ve average 39.7 mpg in the thousand miles of street life, a pleasant surprise in this time of $20+ dollar bike fill-ups.

The dash has more functions than I would ever use, but a few are worth mentioning. The lap timer came in handy, although I don’t know how accurate I was at hitting the same spot. The shift lights are a cool shade of blue that is visible in all lights and warn you of the abrupt rev limiter’s impending approach.

All is not roses, though the complaints are minor. The brakes squeal loudly during normal use. I have heard all sorts of cures for this condition, from cleaning the brakes to changing pads and, so far, none of them have worked. Although a pad change did help feel, it didn’t kill the squeal. That rhymes!

The front edge of the seat has torn within 200 miles. The seam of the pants gets caught on it and tears at this spot. Although it hasn’t gotten any bigger, it still is an eye sore on a new bike.

The bike sits very tall in the back. If you are short of inseam, sit on the bike first. Although the riding position is perfect, when going, some people don’t like being on their toes.

Last, but not least, the shock seems to lack some control apparent in the newer supersport bikes. I wants to squat and stay in the bottom of the stroke. I dialed in a ton of preload and changed the damping settings, thinking it may be over damped, but that had little effect.

If you get the impression I am enamored with this bike, you’re damn straight. It’s the most fun bike I have ridden in about 15 years. It makes the right noises, looks the right way, is priced to compete with the big four and performs like a bat out of Hinckley. This particular bike will become the SBN project bike for the next year.  I will be making it into a track bike and running it at track days throughout the year. The Triumph Daytona 675 has destroyed my ideas of how a middleweight bike should look and perform. It’s a striking combination of style and speed that makes you feel like a hero and gives you the courage to ask that lingerie model out on a date too. You may still get hit with a cell phone, but at least you’ll have something sweet ride away on. .

This punk will truly create some anarchy in the 600 circles and I will be happy to go along for the ride.

A few thank youze to pass along;

Thanks to Exit Chicago, http://www.exitchicago.com/ , for letting us shoot a pic in front of the place. They play great punk music and are biker friendly. They actually have bikes to sit on as furniture inside. So, go there and have fun supporting those who support us. Just be safe and don’t drink and drive/ride.

Thanks to our lovely model Carolyn, for your lovely crimping job, for putting up with my frequent requests for Green River and listening to me whine about my man breasts.

Thanks to Jim Rashid of 4 and 6 racing for the suggested suspension settings that worked marvels at Road America and helping out with this project. Jim can be reached at   http://www.4and6.com

Specs verified by our helper monkeys.