OUR BIKES
tiring bike to ride . The flexibility of the engine is at the heart of its rideability and the brakes are well matched to the performance . I keep the engine spinning above 4000rpm and it only needs the throttle cracked back a touch for engine braking to bleed off a few km / h very quickly . A dab of front brake will wash off a few more , but it is entirely possible to stick the bike on its nose with just one finger of lever pull . I know this from personal experience from when a large lump of tree detached from its trunk and hit the ground closer in front of me than I would have liked . Remember though , there ’ s no ABS , so it ’ s all down to your hand and your brain . The seat isn ’ t particularly forgiving for long days in the saddle . I ’ d love to get a genuine Triumph gel seat for it , but these are super rare and silly expensive . It would also have the side benefit of raising the seat height a little , something my long and not so young knees would appreciate . The ‘ pegs are quite high and it does crank my knees a bit . I actually quite like the riding position , but it can be a little wearing . Thankfully , there ’ s enough room under the seat for a sheet of Nurofen ... but only just . There are four little fabric loops on the seat pan which are the perfect size to hook soft luggage to - exactly the right size for the hooks you get on Kriega soft bags . Handy , as I ’ ve got a couple of those .
FARKLES Whilst fiddling around with the bars , I made another couple of changes . You ’ ve probably seen a fair few Triumphs with bar end mirrors . To me they look a lot better than the standard items and , whaddya know , they actually give you a better view of the road behind . The only disadvantage is that they do make the bike a fair bit wider , so if you do a lot of lane splitting , they may not be for you . I also replaced the standard levers with shorty SD-R units . I ’ m a bit fussy about
42 KIWI RIDER