LAUNCH DAY I arrived at the NZ Launch of the Triumph TF 250-X with a little smirk on my face , ready for a good day . Not because I ’ m cooler than everyone else ( though who am I to say I ’ m not ?), but more because I already kinda knew what the outcome of the day was going to produce . A little peek over to the Ardmore track only solidified my smirk even more . The track was watered , power harrowed , watered again , and power harrowed again . AKA – it was in great shape . And with the baking sun , we were about to go through all the track conditions imaginable . Muddy and sloppy , tacky and grippy , dry and hard packed - plus , everything in between .

EASY RIDER The bike has been available around the world for well over a year now , and little old NZ is only now being allocated its share of these models to sell to the public . So , as you can imagine , the NZ Triumph team didn ’ t do much in the way of a presentation , as there is plenty of info across the internet that we all already know . So , with a quick briefing and run schedule , it was time to chuck on the helmets and go riding . Perfect , as I had only come here for two things ; riding and more of that beef brisket … and there was no beef brisket on the menu . At the Global Launch , I was allocated my own personal bike , meaning I could set it up perfectly and no one else was going to fiddle with it . At this launch , there were four bikes that were going to be rotated through 20-odd people , so spending half an hour on set up each time was a no-go . So the differences I had to deal with were the handlebar clamp not in my preferred forward position , and the rider sag not set up for me . Both aspects I figured would lead to a ride that didn ’ t come across as well as it could . So I thought . Of course , I am too heavy for the stock springs , so I would normally sacrifice some static sag

KIWI RIDER 51