Reliability of other Triumph

O.k so as some may know I'm one of the newer guys around and since I'm mainly around Honda motorcycles I was wondering about the relability of other brands, Triumph in particular. I have tried online seaches for reliability of the triumph brand and get next to nothing other than forums which in this case may be a bit biased. So I was wondering if you guys could give me an unbiased opinion on the brand and if you own any model, how does it stack up against Honda in quality of make and the cost of ownership i.e cost and availability of parts, cost of maintaince, etc. Thanks :smile:

 

My friends Triumph 675 engine came apart with very low miles, a few people have said the 675 engines were weak.

 

my wife has 2 triumphs. a '06 675 and an '02 sprint. both have been quite reliable. we had a thruxton but sold it. it too was reliable but only had about 5k on it. the 675 has 13k and the only issue was the check engine light came on a few times and was related to a stuck exup valve. easy fix (i didn't lube the moving parts the first time). she primarily uses it as a track bike. i have heard that there were some engine failures with the '06 and '07 675s
the '02 sprint st has the 955 motor which some prefer to the 1050. my wife bought it so we could tour this summer but didn't care for the current design sprint (10550). we've not had it very long but in the 6 months we've owned it, we put on 1800 miles. no problems. the '02 955 motor has had a few cases of crankshaft failure ($$$). we're keeping our fingers crossed! the sprint is a top heavy bike and you feel the weight when moving it around in the garage but as with most bikes, the weight disappears once moving. it takes a bit more work to turn in versus the vfr but seems a bit more stable it big sweepers. neither is nimble but they are not supersport bikes but they are comfortable. my wife is 5'2" and prefers the vfr as it fits her better. i'm 6'1" actually prefer the sprint as it is a larger bike and fits me better. even though i tell people that i have a vfr and she tells people that she has a sprint, when we ride together, she's on the vfr and i'm on the sprint!
a great place to check out, is the the triumph forum. Triumph Forum: Triumph Rat Motorcycle Forums
it has a more international presence and the folks are quite honest and helpful. as far as the cost of servicing, it hasn't been anymore than an inline four for routine maintenance. again, nothing catastrophic so...european bike dealers tend to let folks test ride their bikes. this is very helpful. i wouldn't hesitate to buy any bike nowaday (except a harley). they all seem pretty reliable now. good luck and happy riding :roll:

 

I've heard of very few reliability issues, mostly concerning the 1050 motor and that is it. I have a friend that used to have a 98? daytona 595i and it was a spectacular bike. He never had any problems with it and it was a blast to ride. Maintenance was about the same as a Honda however parts were just a little more expensive which is to be expected from a European bike. I absolutely LOVED the triple every time I would get on it and crack the throttle. Aftermarket parts were also a little more expensive but they definitely seemed more easily found that for the VFR.