It's funny how life takes unexpected twists and turns! I've had the Street Triple from new in 2009 and loved it to bits. Utterly reliable and totally versatile - scratching with the lads, touring, and for mentoring work with IAM NZ. It's also the most comfortable bike I've ever done the 1000 miles in under 24 hours Rusty Nuts endurance ride on - as perfect an all-rounder as you could wish for.
I'm 68 this month and a while back, the intent was to upgrade it to a Street Triple "R" or "RX" as a birthday present . Now the time has more or less arrived, a few worries have crept in. If I get a new 675 now, what will be the impact of the rumoured 800cc Street Triple? If I wait for the 800, will I be waiting for a year or two and will I actually like it when it comes out?
I was in Auckland over the weekend and ended up sitting on the new Suzuki GSX-S 1000A at Holeshot. A test ride was on offer so why not? As a relative shortarse, I could get my feet flat which was surprising - it's a small bike . I was a bit nervous about the offer, particularly about the weight at 207 kg compared with 170-odd for the Triple as my knees are not in pristine nick. Within moments of heading out of the showroom, I was amazed at how easy the transition from the Triple to the Suzuki was. It carries its extra weight really low for starters so the extra kilos weren't apparent. In fact, it was amazingly similar in terms of nimbleness and ergonomics to the Triple and it was these features which made the transition from one to the other so easy. The extra 50 or so horses wasn't a factor as it's all in your right wrist and is also helped by the 3 stage traction control. Mentally comparing it to the Blackbird which I owned for 8 years before the Triple, it was a good demo of how far bike technology has advanced!
To cut the tale short, I came back with a grin a mile wide and put a deposit on one (matte grey), and am picking it up in a couple of weeks. I'll be putting the Triple up for private sale in the near future - so it will be on KB soon (Edit: on there now!). As I said at the start, totally unexpected but think it will be the right choice for my current circumstances. Very much looking forward to a new bike after 6 years of trouble-free riding on the Triple.
Cheers,
Geoff
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Originally Posted by sil3nt
. Regarding the grey, the blue option was too much like my old Blackbird and the red/black looks a bit odd on the naked version to my eyes. One of my friends has just bought the "F" faired model in red and black and that looks really nice. I've never been a particular fan of matte paint but it works for me on the Suzuki. Sort of unobtrusive and it somehow makes it look a bit more menacing. Oh, and the matte clearcoat doesn't leave fingerprints 
. May take you up on it when I've settled in to it.
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