As I mentioned in that thread, the expiry of the 890 was a big disappointment to me, I loved my 790, and the 890 was pretty much everything I wanted in a fun road / occasional trackday bike for me, so the replacement for it had to be pretty much that, which in my world means
1. A 100 ish (+) HP naked bike
2. Light(ish) weight- it has to feel a lot lighter than your average 1000cc naked or sports bike
3. Characterful and Fun- I realise that these are both very subjective things, but for me , they both typically stem from the engine, either in the way the power is delivered and/or the noise it makes. The chassis, riding position etc add to that sometimes, but motor is key
So taking those into consideration, it is a very short short-list of 790/890 Duke (both ruled out), a Ducati HyperMotard, a naked 800 MV triple, or a Triumph Street Triple.
I absolutely love just about everything about the HyperMotard 939 SP, and I think I will almost certainly own one at some point, but at this time, the bike I want is more sportsbike derived, so it boiled down to an MV or Street Triple.
I think the Speed Triple RS is one of the best looking bikes you can buy, and a brilliant bike, but just that bit bigger/heavier than I want for this bike, the 790 spoiled me in that respect, I think at the time I got it I said it felt like a 390 on steroids and it really does, I love the relative smallness and lighter weight, compared to the true 1000cc bikes
MV are one of the few marques I’ve not yet owned, and in fact can’t remember ever having ridden one, I’m really not a fan of the styling of some of their Dragsters where they just have far too much of a chopped off rear end for me, but love the look and sound of the Brutale 800RR (and the new 4 cyl 1000
), I very nearly decided on an 800RR Brutale , but in the end, took what is probably the safer option and plumped for a 765RS Street Triple, and so far, am not disappointed I did.They only come in two colours, grey or black- I wanted (or at least thought I wanted) a grey one, but there was a black one in stock, and I wasn’t that bothered so I plumped for that as it meant I could have it within days rather than weeks.
I’ve only 150 odd miles on it so far, so early days, but initial observations and thoughts are:
- Greatly higher quality build quality than the KTMs, really is very nicely finished
- Gorgeous sounding engine, both from exhaust an induction, and surprisingly loud when you wind it up a bit- not got the instant GRRR!! at the bottom end that the 890 had, but its definitely not flat either- relatively torquey feeling IMO (although it's all relative and [mention]Couchy[/mention] I've not been spoiled by a 675 ST
)
- Higher footrest and very planted and stable feeling compared to the 890, without any real loss of flickablility, it still has that relatively light weight feeling- best way I can describe it, is like a full on sportsbike with the fairing ripped off and straight bars bolted on- very much reminds me of a BMW S1000R , but significantly lighter and more flickable, and with a much more exciting feeling and better sounding engine.
- It looks positively tiny next to a Multistrada 1200
THe deal came out cheaper than the 890R overall , and I splashed a bit on what I think are some decent extras such as the genuine triumph heated grips (fully integrated into the dash), frame and tank protectors, gen triumph paddock stand bobbins and the Bleutooth option for the dash- unlike the 890, all the other electronics (up/down QS/blipper, TC etc) come included in the base price but BLuettoth is an option- does all the usual phone/music/SMS etc stuff on the dash, but most importly, and the main reason I opted for it, puts the SatNav in the standard dash too via an App you install on your phone
I’ve got the first service booked for early in week after next, so need to get another 500ish miles on it by then, but don’t see that as being a problem- so far am very very happy, and much as I loved the 890 in our brief time together, think it may have done me a favour- if I’d test ridden this before putting my deposit down for an 890, I suspect that I might have just plumped for the Triumph.
Some more pics below, and I can't wait to really let it rip at Brands and Pembrey in a few weeks time, updates to follow as we go!
Front view
The frame protectors
Heated grips
#Standard exhaust can
SatNav!
