2013 Daytona 675 road tested at the Akaroa GP

[300weatherby]

Got my hands on the 2013 Triumph Daytona 675 for the weekend, have to give it back monday.............maybe.

From home in Christchurch central to Akaroa and back, playing with the bike to get an idea what the new iditeration of the 675 is all about. Tomorrow on a 2010 SE 675 for a back to back comparason. Gonna put up a write up and pics when my notes are in an organised manner. Such a hardship really!

[Grizzo]

You poor bastard. I feel for you.

[300weatherby]

The 675 Daytona has been an awesome baby triple since it rolled off the line in 06, but not without it's problems, flawed geometry has hampered it for racing,( where rules did not allow changes ) less than perfect lubrication design and the dreaded heat exchanger setup helped to make it (the engine) a ticking bomb, but on the track, none of the UJM's could touch it for turn in and drive out, but at race pace, a hole at the bottom of midrange, less than desireable stability on the gas and a lack of top end really hurt it.

Untill now.

Finally Triumph have redesigned the engine ( having never aknowledged the problems!), lubrication system redesigned, alloy block oil cooler, gearbox redone, new internal ratios, slipper clutch, short exhaust and............... more power!

The geometry problem has been looked at too, the claimed trail increase is small, but what they don't tell you is they changed the offset by about 4mm, and it works.

We figured out 4 years ago that the short exhaust got rid of the dip between 6000 and 8000 rpm that could not be tuned out whatever way you cut it, we got rid of the dip, gained 3hp, improved torque by 5% and got rid of 7kg using a 750 GSXR can, noisy as, awsome sound and looked great, no good for nationals as not homologated (obviously), but for a Bears bike it was outstanding
(there will be the odd one on here that will know that bike and how fast it could be),- same bike, when we worked out the geometry problem, we made a set of offset triple clamps at 8mm, was supposed to be 5mm, but there was a miscommunication......8mm made the bike stable, still fast in but now you could trail brake in and gas out hard as you like and ride height became a thing of choice rather than dictated by the front. No more mid straight tank slappers in the wet!

Bless their cotton socks, Triumph have just done the same!. In the real world this stuff is not relevant, but the track is quick to expose flaws and make you pay.......

One bad thing they have continued with, is the stupidity of the OEM rear shock spring, if you weigh 95 kg or are allways two up, no drama, but if not that rear spring makes the 675 twitchy and flighty, for a couple of hundred you can completely change the bike, get a rear spring to match your weight.

Saturday.

Went to Street and Sport, let my self propelled security device make friends with the staff, then put the bike in the van and bought it home to look over. Attention to detail and finish is well up on previous efforts. Neat trick is the inbuilt frame sliders. The new LCD display is not great in good light but great in bad light. The display now has an acuall fuel gauge.

Start up, and that rasping growl is gonna tell you this is different to the rest

Didn't do sags or change the factory settings, just jumped on and went. There appears to be more room and comfort to ride than on the 2010. Ride was hard and unforgiving on bumpy sections, making the bike twitchy and compromising rear grip. the rear shock spring overwhelming the valving making rear evaluation difficult. Front came with too much comp but springs feel good, seat of the pants suspension dyno tells me maybe 9.5ish up front, 12 rear( should be 10 give or take the rider weight. Was given parameters within which I was to ride the bike, it was new with only 160km on the clock........ Fueling is great, pulls from nothing and no glitches anywhere in the rev range. Turns in great, holds the line you choose and responds accurately to line change without effort, no " counter steer wrestling) needed!) Body shift, pegs and knee, you can nearly steer this bike without your hands!

Power is evident as extra " go forward" compared to the previous edition, but when you hit 10 grand and pin it, yikes this thing pulls like a dirty schoolboy! Triumph clain an extra 3hp over the previous model, seat of the pants tells me more, much more, maybe 115ish at the wheel. The slipper is outstanding, conditions were could and greasy but despite deliberate attempts to provoke it on corner entry, it kept things tidy.Brakes are a bit too grabby so care needed on the lever, might just be a new thing that will wear in and be all good. Quick shifter timing seemed to be spot on once you got up it a bit, but use the clutch below 4 grand. The rear spring in cold greasy conditions ment wheelspin on aggressive corner exit but the bike stays composed, a softer matched spring and this bike will go like a robbers dog off the turn. Gearbox is now neat and accurate, first to second and back now work cleanly, unlike before..... The Hilltop section of the Aka GP was made for this bike, storms up the hill, turns like a demon and just charges out, very front biased bike, down hill, get back in the seat, steer it with your knees and it is fast and accurate and there always seems to be enough in hand to tighten the line. Comes on Pirelli track day tyres, they don't like cold and greasy or the heavy stone chip type surfaces,and are quick to tell you!

Love the redesigned rear end body work, clean and sexy.

Sunday.

Cold and so not a great day! Took my boys 2010 SE 675 to Akaroa and back, it has hot grips, they stayed on the whole trip! It really felt different to the 13, was on Michelin Pures that heated up fast and gave ok grip, but the rear still has the OEM spring which gave lots of wheel spin if a little willing on the gas. Everthing that is good about the 675 Daytona up till now, it just got a whole lot better!

I have had 07/08/09/10 Daytonas as both road and race bikes, with a number of different setups and modifications, but the 2013 is just better everywhere. Absolutely destoyed my last 675 at Sot this year, swore that was it for the 675 and me, been fooling about on a 999 for Bears instead, but maybe......

Anyone looking for a fast 999? Only ridden on sundays!

[SVboy]

Nice review! Now you have another dilema! Hope it was you that won that big Wed 22 mil!!

[300weatherby]

Nice review! Now you have another dilema! Hope it was you that won that big Wed 22 mil!!

I wish!, if I did, I would buy Ruapuna and ban cars!

Might yet sell the Busa and 999, turn the Superbike back into a road bike and buy the 675R for the track, it has Ohlins both ends and race ABS, just gotta convince the wife it's a great idea!

[tail_end_charlie]

Excellent read and thanks for the review. Sounds pretty good, wonder who is gonna be the first to race one in these parts????