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How weight affects your bike

‘The Daytona proves exquisite

on the faster sections, making me look so much better than I am.

It’s brilliant’

‘The same lap on the Street Triple serves up an equally engaging yet

very different experience’

The roaD TeST

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This one will tell you what gear you’re in...Underseat silencer helps weight distributionDaytona’s fully faired and looking mighty fine

...this one won’t tell you what gear you’re inGood job the Street Triple’s got personality Street Triple’s secret is its sweet chassis

The Street Triple rests on its sidestand in the McDonalds car park with a 30-foot long skid mark snaking across the tarmac to the rear tyre. Tere’s no such thing as a quiet

entrance on the Street Triple and nods of approval from the group of seemingly beltless youths confirm that even at the age of 40, I’m down with the kids. If the Daytona 675 is a masterclass in sportsbike design, then the Street Triple is a masterclass in simplicity and fun. It exists to make you smile where its stablemate’s purpose is to go fast. Trying to pick a favourite is impossible. Tey’re different in a lot of ways yet so similar in others.

Triumph have managed to transfer all the best DNA from the Daytona into the Street Triple but give it a whole different personality. What we have here is the motorcycling equivalent of Kylie and Danni Minogue. Unlike the other the pairs of Ducatis and Aprilias, the Triumphs share the greatest amount of family genes and on the road you get the same delicious power delivery that’s fuelled by the same perfect fuel injection in the same anorexic chassis. Te only really noticeable differences are the riding positions and gearing. Actively look for the less obvious and you notice the brakes on the Street Triple aren’t quite as sharp as the Daytona’s and the suspension is less controlled. Tis is splitting hairs and it’s only when the Daytona is in its happiest place and loaded up with cornering G-forces that the Street Triple starts to run out of ideas if you try to get it to do the same. Te Daytona remains composed, calm and focused where the Street Triple begins to feel a bit vague and short on conversation.

Does this make the Daytona a one trick pony and, likewise, is the Street Triple the safer, less extreme option? To pigeonhole either of these bikes would be a mistake. In the past, I’ve ridden both of these

bikes several times but never back-to-back comparing them as rivals to each other. I run through a mental list of things I like a bike to do. It comes down to two things: will they let me go really, really fast and will they make me smile every time I ride? Both these bikes can fulfil this brief for me without even trying. Just when I’m leaning towards the Daytona as my favourite, I remember a wheelie I’d done from a standing start on the Street Triple just because the bike gave me the confidence to give it a go. Te Daytona doesn’t do that to me.

One more 40-mile lap of my favourite route on each bike and the Daytona proves exquisite on the faster, more open sections. It’s dragging me around and making me look so much better than I really am. Te flat, off-beat drone from the engine is at odds with the precise and accurate chassis. The shock feels like it will always keep the rear tyre where it should be. The lightweight 675 is as stable as something 20kg

heavier. It flicks onto its side while trail-braking heavily into slower corners without any protest from the forks when I release the lever. Te Daytona is simply brilliant.

Te same lap on the Street Triple serves up an equally engaging yet very different experience. It’s like a different route. I don’t have the same urge to search out the best line or latest braking point. Now I’m looking for opportunities to pop wheelies and lark about. Tat mini roundabout is now a ramp to jump off and no longer a left/right/left chicane. T-Junctions give me the chance to do a few stoppies and practice my backing in technique. Finally, the McDonalds car park where my lap starts and finishes is the perfect place for doing massive skids, and that right there is the only difference between the Daytona 675 and Street Triple – the way they make you feel.

TrIumph DayTona 675TrIumph STreeT TrIple

They’re both top of their respective classes, but which 675 rules on the road?

Sports v naked Shoot-out

‘The difference between the two is the way they make you feel’

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Golden Era Superbikes Honda SP-1

HRC HRTNo male menopause for 54-year-old Nick Williamson. He’s topping up his testosterone levels by battling his way through the grid on his 140bhp Honda SP-1 in the Golden Era Superbike Championship

By Jon Urry Photography Jason Critchell

Exhaust‘The Akrapovic exhaust is a full titanium factory system that came off the WSB SP-1s. It could have been either Aaron Slight’s or Colin Edwards’, we don’t know which one.’

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I was having a decent amount of success in the car but to keep on winning I was going to have to spend serious money, which I didn’t have. Car racing is about money, bike racing is much more down to the rider – the

bike will always be better than me so there is plenty of room for improvement without spending any cash!’

Despite admitting he isn’t as young as he used to be, 54-year-old Nick isn’t shy of throwing himself up the track pushing his SP-1 to the limit while mixing it with far younger riders. PB has been watching him race and figured there may be more to this particular mid-life crisis than just an old boy who has bought a fast bike.

‘I started racing bikes in 1981 on a Suzuki GT500 before upgrading to a Yamaha RD400 and then a TZ350. I raced in the Marlboro Clubmans series

✱ s p e c

2000 honda sP-1engine 999cc, V-twin, 8v, water-cooled. Tony Scott flowed head, Pistal pistons, high-lift cams, Power Commander and over-chipped ECUpower 141bhpchassis SP-1 frame, Harris swingarm and adjustable yokes, Ohlins forks and shock, PFM six-piston calipersWeight 180kg (est)cost when bought £6500cost now £6500

alongside some quite decent riders, Carl Fogarty for one, but I stopped in 1996 and went to Australia with my first wife. Tat didn’t work out so I came back home.’

Unable to get the racing bug out of his system, Nick turned his back on the fickle strokers and joined in with the superbike revolution – the first time around.

‘After competing in some British Supercup rounds on a Honda RC30, I bought an ex-Russell Benny Phase One Kawasaki ZXR750, the one with the single-sided swingarm. It was a beautiful bike and I even got to race in front of a WSB and GP crowd on it. Well, we were a support race to the Brands WSB and also the 1995 British GP... I think I got 13th place and won £150. Phil McCallen passed me on the last lap.’

Having failed to get past the privateer stage, Nick ran into the usual family dilemma. Unwilling to give

WhEEls, brakEs and susPEnsion‘The wheels are standard Honda SP-1 but the calipers are PFM six-piston units. The suspension is Ohlins front and rear.’

ElEctrics‘As well as fitting a Power Commander and quickshifter we have had the ECU over-chipped, which basically fools the ECU by 10%. It used to redline at 10,200 and now it’s 11,000rpm. It doesn’t make much difference to the outright power but gives me 800rpm more over-run – although I did snap a camshaft in half last outing so we may put it back to standard.’

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PB trackday 2012Costa del Cadwell it certainly wasn’t, but it didn’t stop us from having it large in the rain on the 2012 PB trackdayDespite what the government wants us to think, summer 2012 isn’t going to be remembered for the Queen’s diamond jubilee or for London hosting the Olympic Games. Nope, summer 2012 is going to go down in our collective consciousness as the year it pissed it down for six months straight and we all bought a set of wets. Fact of the matter is, it takes a hell of a lot more than a bit of the old wet stuff to piss on PB’s chips so we weren’t at all surprised when hoards of PB’s most loyal and up for it trackday legends joined us for our rain-soaked PB trackday at Cadwell Park. We were so impressed by the turnout, the bikes,

the burgers and the superior standard of riding that it left the judges for the PB Trackday Awards facing a particularly tough job. We had it all from Dave Williams showboating his ZX-10R over the mountain at every opportunity, to top lad Martin Beecham who personally fitted five pairs of tyres to other PBers bikes after the official tyre man couldn’t be arsed to get out of bed. Guys, you’re both heroes and a PB subscription is on its way to you.

If you fancy doing it all again later in the summer then get in touch and we’ll try to organise another day (complete with sunshine) for the end of the season.

Best crashDarren Shelton, Suzuki GSX-R1000Considering the weather we thought this would be the most hotly contested award of them all, but unfortunate PBer Darren Shelton from Barnsley was the only victim of cruel Cadwell. His stunning K6 was left in cosmetic ruin after he lost the front running into Hall Bends and the bike ricocheted off the barrier.

Nine out of ten for height, eight for technical merit, ten for artistic interpretation

Best BikeCamo-paint, hard as nails, R1

This bike impressed with its single-minded, track-dominating hardness. We couldn’t catch him out on track and by the time we got back to the paddock the mystery rider was nowhere to be seen. If this is your bike then we want to hear from you – your prize is waiting.

Nitron rear shock, HM-fettled forks, carbon case covers... This bike rocks. But whose is it? Answers on a postcard...

The only crasher Darren Shelton was well chuffed

with his Best Crash trophy

✱ P B t r a c k d a y , c a d w e l l , 6 j u l y

TRACKDAY

JULY 2012

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Look on the bright side, you could win

a non-cash prize

Best riderJames Pickford, 1997 Honda CB500 race bike‘Sssh, I’m using the PB trackday as a bit of sneaky race practice,’ says 18-year-old James when we handed him his award. Former Superteen racer James left most of the fast group looking pedestrian as he buzzed them on his Honda. The rules in Thundersport GB’s CB500 Cup mean James’ bike is largely stock but it didn’t stop him out-cornering bigger bikes around Cadwell Park.

Most PBLeslie Twiselton, Supercharged Yamaha R1Leslie wins our ‘Most PB’ award for a stupendous display of PB behaviour. He rode the 300-mile round trip from London on a semi-slick set of Pirelli Supercorsas. He even had to be flagged in when the fog came down.

A spot or two of rain ain’t gonna stop this rabble

tearing it up on track

What’s the plural of lame-o? Lame-ohhhs

CB500 Cup racer James Pickford impressed. ‘He’s one to watch,’

reckoned Rupert Paul

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