[nikhn]

Introduction

I will start this thread by saying, some dreams are worth pursuing. One of my dream was to own a high performance motorcycle, popularly known as a superbike. My fascination with superbikes started when I saw the mighty R1 in 2006-07 while I was crossing the street on MG Road. The rider kitted out in all leather and the roar of the inline-4 caught me with my jaw on the floor. However, I knew I had to start from the beginning.

Growing up, I began my two wheeler journey on a humble Honda Aviator which accompanied me through my university. Then the desire for a sports bike grew when KTM launched the RC200, which ended up becoming my next bike. Quick, light on the pocket and good looking. What more could a college-going kid want? Moved on to a more comfy Bajaj Dominar when the RC200 became a burden on long commutes to office in the infamous Bengaluru traffic. The last I saw of that bike was when I left India for higher studies. The only two wheeler in my life later on, was an Omafiets. Until now.

Life takes you in different directions. I landed in the UK with nothing in my hands except a job. To start off barebones in this country is challenging. One of my ultimate goal was to own a superbike here. However, realised soon that getting a license was actually the biggest challenge. More about that later. 10 months later, in December 2022, I had the keys to a Triumph. A used 2017 Street Triple 765 RS. 8100 miles on the clock with a clean service history, a year's worth of warranty, a fresh MOT, a full tank of petrol and out of a BMW showroom .



As with all superbike ownership, comes risk, financial burden and the effort in maintenance. Especially when you are not in India, where labour is cheap and rules are lenient (rather convenient). Scouring autotrader for good specimens and calling up dealers was the easy part.

[nikhn]

Contents:

1. Bike Overview
   
2. Getting a motorcycle license in the UK (DAS)
   
3. Purchase
   
4. Bike Details
   
5. Conclusions

[nikhn]

Bike Overview

It's been 4000 miles on the bike so far. To give an overview of my experience with the bike, here are the positives and what could have been better with the bike.

Positives:

1. The triple inline engine is a true symphony. The characteristic whistle puts a smile on my face every time I open the throttle.
2. Power is on tap, clean pulls throughout the entire power band.
3. Light body makes it easy to flick and maneuver. A true pocket rocket.
4. Really powerful Brembo brakes. So powerful that at times, I am scared to pull the lever hard.
5. Feature built. Has all the necessary features that a modern motorcycle should have. Quickshifter, TFT screen, riding modes, ABS, TCS, with the provision to add more.
6. Good headlight spread. Having to ride in the dark during winter times, the twin headlights light up the road pretty well. With the LEDs, they perform even better.
7. Really good build quality. No plastic rattles or buzzes audible at any speed.
8. Extremely light clutch.

Could have been better:

1. Annoying oil dipstick instead of a sight glass. No idea why Triumph put a dipstick on a bike. It's a hassle to measure the oil level easily without doing gymnastics.
2. Major service is to be done every 12,000 miles or 2 years, and costs an eye watering 650GBP at the Triumph SC. Plan to do most of the standard services by myself and get the major ones like the valve clearance checks done at the local garage.
3. Visor is useless at high speeds. Can install a taller one but would end up spoiling the looks.
4. Dodgy software on the TFT. The fuel indicator is grossly inaccurate.
5. Insanely expensive official accessories. The heated grips for example cost around 250GBP, TPMS is around 240GBP and the list goes on.
6. Vibrations and buzzes above 5000 RPM make the mirrors blurry.
7. Really weird startup sequence on the TFT. It takes longer to complete the sequence with increasing odo, although you can start the bike once the fuel pump is primed.

[nikhn]

Getting a Motorcycle License in the UK - The Direct Access Scheme (DAS)

Landing in the UK, I was quick to realise that public transport is inconvenient and not to be relied upon (unless you are living in London). A train / bus strike every month was making things even more challenging, especially when you are used to the convenience and flexibility of the Dutch Spoorwegen (NS). Having been almost stuck in a remote village since I missed the last bus out of town, and making colleagues go out of their way to drop me off, my priority then was getting a vehicle license.

One has to wait at least 180 days after entering UK in order to even apply for a learner's license. However, I was told that this can be bypassed if you have an RP valid for at least a year (not too sure about this). Exactly 180 days later, on the dot, I had an application posted and 15 days later, received my LL. This was when COVID was beginning to subside, so things were still slow to process. Then the confusing choice of whether to get a car license first vs a motorcycle license began. Car license sounds more practical since you can use a car for commuting all year round (rain, sunshine and snow) plus carry cargo / groceries with you. Travelling around the country becomes easier as well, especially with the lovely British 'summer' and winter. So, I 'sensibly' decided to get a motorcycle license first!

Getting a motorcycle license involves 3 difficult and 1 easy test (as per locals), in the below order.

• Theory Exam (Difficult)
• Compulsory Basic Training / CBT (Easy)
• Module 1 (popularly known as Mod 1) (Difficult)
• Module 2 (popularly known as Mod 2) (Difficult)

With the long wait times due to COVID backlog, booking a theory exam was more difficult than the theory exam itself. A 5 quid app helps you train for around 50 questions and hazard perception scenarios. Frequent practice and some common sense helped me with the below score.



Next stage was calling up riding schools in order to book in a DAS course. As it was 'summer' season, everyone was booked out until September. Finally, was able to book a slot in mid September 2022 at an eye watering 800GBP, for a 3 day training course and 2 day exam comprising of CBT, mod 1 and mod 2. This cost does not include exam fees, which were 15+65GBP for mod 1 and 2 respectively. Oh well, the school does provide us with all the essential riding kit needed for training and exam.

Come September and I was ready for my training with a well known riding school in Wiltshire. Their school is located on an old abandoned air field. Some of you may know the place which is popular on a very famous car show.



There were two of us during the course, who, coincidentally, had booked the exam on the same day, with slots one after the other. The school therefore, combined our training, which was on a Yamaha MT07. Amazing motorcycle for a beginner. Light and nimble, easy to handle and comfortable for all day riding. No wonder many in this country start off on this bike (and no wonder why they are the most frequently stolen motorcycle in this country).


My bike for the course with my instructor's bike.

Training was a breeze as I was already familiar with the basics of a motorcycle and the Compulsory Basic Training (CBT, as it's popularly called here) was straightforward. It covers all the basics of motorcycle operation and a few standard maneuvers such as a U turn, a serpentine and emergency braking in a closed area. This is a day's training which ends with you following your instructor on public roads. After this, the instructor deems whether you are safe to ride a motorcycle (up to 125cc only) on the streets and hands you your CBT pass certificate. With this, you can ride on the street (except motorways) with a large 'L' plate on a sub-125cc motorcycle. This has to be renewed once every two years, if you do not get your full license. As we were en route to complete the DAS, we did this on the MT-07.

Two days of intense riding and maneuver practice (lots of nodding your head left and right - life savers / blind spot checks) was followed by the Mod 1 exam first, at the local driving test center. This is a closed track exam with different manoeuvres ranging from a simple, 'move your bike from one bay to the other physically by pushing it ' to a more complex, 'speed up to a minimum 30 mph, perform an evasive maneuver between cones without touching any cone and come to a hard stop between two cones'. An examiner is constantly monitoring to see if you perform the standard life savers at critical points throughout the course. Apparently, a lot of new riders fail here for silly stuff (not using four fingers for emergency braking). The hype around the exam was more stressful than the exam itself and I was in and out in 30 minutes with a pass certificate in my hand.



Two days later, it was on to Mod 2. This test is on the streets with an examiner following you for 40 minutes and giving instructions via a one way Bluetooth headset. It involves going via roundabouts, A roads, B roads and city streets. I was tested for road awareness, lane discipline, constant speed checks and following road signs. I was more stressed about this test than Mod 1 since I had no experience riding / driving outside India. The examiner marks you down on your points for the errors you make. These errors can be majors or minors. A major involves the test being cancelled (fail) and you can rack up to 10 minors. Thankfully, I passed with just two minors. Breakthrough! Seems like this test is a gold standard as I had a four wheeler driving license exam 2 months later and the instructor passed me on my first attempt with just one minor (extremely rare in my town) after getting to know that I had a motorcycle license (of course I had to go through all the standard testing processes).



A mandatory pose on my instructor's S1000R after passing.



Now, it was on to purchase a motorcycle. This had to be put on hold for a few months as I had other work to take care of.

[nikhn]

Street Triple 765 RS Purchase

Would spend free time during the weekends, looking for well maintained motorcycles on Autotrader. A new rider plus young age and no history in this country meant eye watering insurance quotes (>3000 GBP) for bikes I liked such as the S1000RR, CBR1000RR, RSV4 and similar. This meant no litre class bikes or faired bikes. My brother in India has a GSX S750 (ownership review on this forum) and I considered that since it was familiar to me. However, getting the same bike would not feel any different. So, I started to look for a Street Triple, which would be powerful for the motorway and handles the twisty B roads (ride to office is around 35 miles in total). IN addition, the triple cylinder engine has that sweet whistle. There were plenty here, should I find the need to procure spares. But mainly it had tolerable insurance quotes (still burnt a hole in my pocket).

Finally, in December, found a mint condition 2017 Street Triple 765 RS tucked away in a BMW showroom. The asking price was not ridiculous and they were offering a free service, MOT and a years worth of warranty on the bike. Headed off on a Saturday morning in snowing conditions to have a look at the bike, with the hope that I would be back for a test ride, and purchase it in case the bike checked all boxes.



At the showroom, I was greeted by the manager who showed me the bike, parked right at the reception inside. We had a quick chat and he was very professional and accommodating.



A quick PDI, look around as well as a brief investigation of the service history helped seal the decision. It was coming home with me. I informed that I would be back for a test ride next week with better weather conditions. This would give me sufficient time to purchase necessary riding gear as well. The week passed by slowly with work distracting me most of the time. I had constant discussions with my brother, father and few colleagues at work on this bike, seeking confirmation bias that I had made the right choice.

The stoppie initiating, high performance M50 monoblock Brembo calipers



Ohlins rear suspension (front is fitted with Showa)



Chain and tires (Michelin pilot) with around 2500 - 3000 miles of life left. Looks like the previous owner was tracking the bike.


I was back in the showroom next week ready for a test ride. A quick test ride sealed the deal for me. It was raining and the roads were wet in addition to the 6 degree weather. The bike was comfortable for my height and weight. Engine pulled cleanly through all gears. Slight buzz at 5000 rpm but nothing too concerning. Triumph Quick Shift Assist (QSA) helps with smooth upshifts (no auto-blipper). Handles brilliantly. It's just a point-and-flick and the bike goes where you want it to. More details about the bike characteristics later.

First look outside the showroom.


On a short test ride a few miles away from the showroom.


Came back and finalised all documents. Made the full payment and the keys were handed over along with the relevant paperwork and accessories which the previous owner had safely kept. The plan was to switch back to the stock tail section as I hated the tail tidy. Just flings mud all over, even with the huge rear number plate.

Condition of my jacket after the test ride.


A customary picture after purchase taken by James - the bike specialist at the BMW showroom.


My home was around 20 miles from the showroom and the ride back was in heavy downpour. Of course, I was not prepared (rarely rains in this country I tell you!). Reached home and the bike was completely filthy. I am pretty obsessed with keeping my vehicles clean and so I had to get it washed. Rode to the local petrol station for a quick self wash using a prepaid pressure washer.



Local self washing stations are a goldmine to meet other fellow riders.

[nikhn]

Bike Details

- Performance:
The bike is a hooligan to ride. My office commute consists of a 35 mile (60 kms) commute on twisty B roads (country roads). I ride the bike every time the weather gods are nice. The ride by wire throttle is quick to respond without hesitation. The only time I've felt a difference or lag in throttle was when filling with dodgy fuel from ASDA. The tank feels massive and is around 17 litres but the low fuel light pops up at around 13 litres. Even with the stock exhaust, the triple whistle becomes audibly prevalent after 5000 RPM.


Ride on a cold wintery morning

The bike comes with a multifunction TFT as standard (on the RS) that has multiple options. There's a plethora of choice for different themes and a day/night mode as well. Standard trip 1 / 2 and mileage details are present. A dedicated button for riding modes is present that allows preselecting modes such as sport, road, rain and a custom rider mode. The sport mode naturally has a more aggressive response from the throttle when compared to the standard road mode. Shifting between riding modes when the bike is moving requires the throttle to be completely closed and the clutch to be pulled. There is an option to add a bluetooth module in order to access maps and phone functions via the TFT. It costs 250 GBP and requires the dealer to update the software version to the 2020 model. Multiple owners have issues with the Bluetooth functioning and therefore, I did not get it installed. I currently use a quad lock phone holder with my spare phone for maps.

Brief functions of the TFT. The screen is tilt-able using the silver tab at the bottom right. There is a light sensor that automatically switches between day and night mode. The bike is also equipped with an immobiliser and flashes a red LED at the top center of the TFT. The service light cannot be reset through the TFT and requires a special app and an OB2 reader to be purchased or it can be reset via the dealer.


The shift assist together with the slipper clutch helps with quick upshifts, although downshifts still require me to pull the clutch in. It works well most of the time and needs slight pressure to be applied on the gear lever before shifting to get it to work flawlessly (and with the throttle mostly open). The slipper clutch is massively light when compared to the heavy clutch that I experienced in the GSX S750. The clutch lever is adjustable for reach.


Left Hand Side switchgear consisting of the DRL/headlight switch, riding mode button, indicator switch, toggle switch and horn switch. The bike has auto-cancel indicators which automatically switches off the indicators after 8 s and 65 m of travel. The toggle switch is used to navigate the TFT/ reset the trip meter. Surprisingly, none of the switch gear is backlit. Heated grips are sold as an official accessory and the switch is integrated into the grips. These can be installed straightforward and easily. A small hole has been provided at the bottom of the handlebar near the clamp in order to route the wires of the heated grips cleanly. Talk about attention to detail! A socket is present underneath the fuel tank and the TFT automatically detects the grips.


High beam is toggled with the pass switch. Strangely, the pass switch does not flash but rather switch to high beam. It needs to be pressed twice to flash. Also note the adjustable clutch lever. Feels quite premium.


Right Hand Side switches consisting of hazard button, starter switch and home / menu button. The hazard light and parking lights can be activated from the key slot even when the key is removed.


- Handling, Suspension and Comfort
The riding stance is similar to that of the KTM Duke in my experience. The bike just goes in the direction you point it to. I'm able to hold corners really well even in twisty country roads with the stock suspension setup. The front and rear suspension (compression, preload and rebound) are adjustable and I've set it to the default road setup. I believe the previous owner had it on a track setup. Even with the road setup, bumps and drain covers are a bit hard to go over. The bike is also quite light when compared to the GSX S750 and this can be felt on the roads when crossing heavy vehicles generating wind buffets that unsettle the bike slightly. From what I've understood, the preload is set for riders of around 80-100 kgs. I weigh less than that so that might be the reason why the suspension feels a bit stiff.

Out on the country roads.


I rode around 300 miles to Wales with just one fuel break. Very soft, wide and comfy seat. I recon the saddle is comfortable for even longer rides. It's the constant wind buffeting that tires me out quickly. I did try to circumvent this limitation by installing the OEM visor but this doesn't help much.

Switched out the regular pillion seat to the seat cowl that came with the bike.


On a break near Cardiff.


- Braking and tires
The bike comes with Brembo MCS 19>>21 master cylinder and M50 monoblocks as standard. The stopping power is phenomenal. With the amount of engine braking, I hardly do use them. However, when the situation demands, those front brakes bite at an instant. The bike comes with ABS as standard, in case the bite is too much. The rear comes with a standard single pot sliding caliper that does the job. Nothing extraordinary.

The front master cylinder and lever adjustable for bite and for reach.


Brembo M50 monoblock caliper. Note preload adjuster nut.


Standard rear single pot caliper.


The bike came with Michelin Pilot Street which were alright. They were used quite well given the borderline rubber burn out. Looks like the previous owner tracked it. I switched to Road 5s after 3000 miles as the tread had worn out to the limits by then. In addition, they were throwing me off in the corners as the wear was uneven. The Road 5s cost me about 340GBP including fitting and balancing. The Road 6s were about 70 quid more expensive, but were surprisingly not recommended by the dealer owing to minimal benefits over the Road 5s. I've put around 600 miles on the Road 5s. Haven't tested them in the rains yet.

The new and fresh Road 5s


- Miscellaneous

The bikes comes with LED all around except the headlight and number plate light. I have swapped these out for full LEDs.


Bar end mirrors not only complement the looks but also function well and give a good view behind.


Underneath the seat cowl is an empty space to keep small items. I generally carry an alarm disc lock and a cleaning cloth.


- Accessories
No bike of mine remains stock and this bike is no exception. Therefore, I've added a few functional accessories to make my Street Triple more convenient for my use.

With regular ride in rainy weather, this mudguard extension was essential. Bought this off eBay and mounted them on the existing mudguards with fasteners. Does the job of keeping most mud away from the radiator.


The stray stones / mud that does get through, are deflected away from the radiator with the help of a radiator guard. This was also a purchase off eBay.


The bike came with chassis protectors and swingarm spools from Evotech and R&G.


Got some generic tank pads from eBay, Does the job and keeps the tank scratch free from my belt / knee pads.


Swapped out the hideous aftermarket tail tidy kit to the stock the OEM tail. Looks much better IMO.


Added an OEM visor to get some minor relief from the wind during long rides. Got a good discount and hence procured them. If you are looking for wind protection, these are not the ones to go for.

[nikhn]

Conclusions

My plan was to initially purchase a reasonable performance motorcycle like the STriple to build my insurance NCB and then slowly switch over to something even more powerful, two years down the line. It's been almost 10 months with the bike now. I do not think I would need something more powerful than this. The bike so far has been reliable, quick, fun to ride and comfortable. Riding motorcycles is not just a hobby / passion but a stress buster for me. Working in a fast paced research environment, the feeling of starting up this bike after work and riding on twisty country roads daily is a sure shot way to get me relaxed and close my day. Nothing comes close. Would I recommend this bike? Yes.



Checked one of my goals, at least before turning 30.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[Aditya]

Exceptional, unbiased & detailed ownership reviews of bikes have started going to our homepage reviews box. It's the ultimate stamp of trust from Team-BHP (as a platform) because lakhs of visitors every month check out reviews from there & make purchase decisions.

Your review has also been included here. Thank you so much for sharing .

[hifisharu]

Hey nikn,

Congratulations on the Striple and welcome to the Striple club. I'm such a big fan of the Striple, I bought it twice, once in India and once again in Germany. Do let me know if you plan to ride sometime in mainland Europe, I'll join you on a ride.

[nikhn]

Originally Posted by hifisharu

Hey nikn,

Congratulations on the Striple and welcome to the Striple club. I'm such a big fan of the Striple, I bought it twice, once in India and once again in Germany. Do let me know if you plan to ride sometime in mainland Europe, I'll join you on a ride.

Thanks. The bike is an all-rounder and I am very happy with it. If I do ride down to Europe, I will definitely contact you.

[abhi_tjet]

Congratulations nikhn for the beautiful triple symphony you have bought. 8k miles is literally nothing for Street Triple RS.

This triple motor has been perfected by Triumph over the years and it just can’t go wrong, IMO.

Further, this naked roadster is as gentleman as a sports bike can get in terms of sound, looks performance and overall finesse.

Loved reading about the License acquiring process for bikes. Hoping for something similar in India as well at least for bigger capacity bikes.
Ride safe and enjoy to the core.

[nikhn]

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

Congratulations nikhn for the beautiful triple symphony you have bought. 8k miles is literally nothing for Street Triple RS.

This triple motor has been perfected by Triumph over the years and it just can’t go wrong, IMO.

Further, this naked roadster is as gentleman as a sports bike can get in terms of sound, looks performance and overall finesse.

Loved reading about the License acquiring process for bikes. Hoping for something similar in India as well at least for bigger capacity bikes.
Ride safe and enjoy to the core.

Thanks. The engine does put a smile on my face every time I open the throttle. Cannot get enough of that induction whistle. Planning to put as many miles as I can and definitely not keeping it as a garage queen. After all, why save the bike for someone else down the line, if I cannot have fun on it.

Indeed, especially with the RS version which sits a bit more sportier than the R and S variants. Some detest the bug eye version that I have.

If the licensing process is similar and as cumbersome in India, that itself would be a deterrent for inexperienced riders purchasing high performance motorcycles.

Congrats on your Ducati as well! It looks lovely and hope you use it to the fullest.

[nikhn]

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this thread. The bike is running fine, doing the usual commutes to work with occasional weekend rides. I have clocked around 5000 miles in the year of owning it. I expected to rack up a lot more but the weather has not been friendly.

It’s now due for a service and it’s the major 12,000 mile service. I’m planning to do most of the service by myself. Have procured relevant parts for this. Will update in the next post.

Meanwhile, purchased a few goodies for the bike. Got the below one at an amazing price and I couldn’t stop myself from picking it up. Was eyeing it for almost two months, waiting for the price to fall. Grabbed it when it came to its lowest price of around 165, from the official distributor here in the UK.

[nikhn]

Continuing off the previous post, I have added a few accessories.

Quadlock Stem Mount. Previously had a handlebar mount which looked really out of place, popping out like a sore thumb. This one is more discrete and easier on the eye.





Replaced the standard steel heel plates with carbon fiber ones. They blend in well, are thinner and lighter. Alright for the price.



During winter, riding in icy and wind conditions resulted in freezing fingers last year. This winter however, I wanted to be prepared. During my short trip to India, I picked up a pair of RE heated waterproof gloves that help with the cold. They are pretty good at keeping my hands warm but they have a battery life of around 1.5-2 hours, resulting in me charging them almost every alternate day. I wanted to have backup in case I run out of battery during a ride. As mentioned earlier, heated grips were on my wishlist but they were extremely expensive at 220 GBP for a pair. Cheaper aftermarket variants from Oxford and the likes were available but they were ugly with a huge controller mounted on the handlebar. Discrete ones required the grips to be removed and stuck on using superglue which I did not like.

A quick search on eBay led me to a used OEM pair being sold from a crashed 2020 bike with 4000 miles on the odo. After verifying that the part number would work on my model, I began negotiating with the seller and we agreed on slightly less than half the price of a brand new pair.

They seem brand new to me.


Over the weekend, I installed the grips. I would rate this a moderate install. The challenging part was pushing the wires through the handlebar to the respective sides and snapping on the connectors. Triumph has thoughtfully provided a small hole at the center of the handlebar to route the wires discretely for the heated grips. However, the hole is ever so slightly small that, pushing two wires simultaneously is not easy. In addition, they have to be routed to the right sides and slowly pulled back to the right length after pushing them all the way through. Applying more force would end up disconnecting the connectors and it was back to square one all over again. The seller must have broken the clips that lock the connectors in place when dismantling it from the crashed bike.



The bike comes pre-wired for heated grips. It's a simple plug-and-play. Works straight out of the box and no setup needed. The connector is located below the fuel tank with a blanking plug.



After installing and testing the grips, I routed the wiring with the OEM clips and cable ties with the connector tucked underneath the fuel tank. The heated grips has 3 simple settings. Off, Low and High. Apparently a software update gives an additional high mode which makes it even hotter than the current high mode. I find the current one sufficiently hot when used with the RE gloves.

Note the mode switch on the LHS grip.


A video showcasing the different modes for the heated grips.

MOT Inspection

Having owned the bike for a year, the bike had to undergo its mandatory MOT inspection every year, since it's older than 3 years. This is the first time I was getting an MOT done by myself and was slightly concerned with things that could be flagged up, and resulting in the bike failing the inspection. I did my own pre-inspection with knowledge of the MOT manual and everything seemed fine but you can never be sure. Have heard of cars being failed for the MOT due to perfume hanging on the IRVM.

Got the inspection done at a local garage located in a small village, on the way to work. They were kind enough to accommodate my last minute request for an MOT inspection. The bike passed with zero faults. That was one checkbox complete.

Annual Service - 13,000 miles

As mentioned earlier, it was time for the yearly service on the bike. Manual states a 6000 mile / 1 year service interval. It so happened to be the 12,000 mile service which is a major one. It involves replacement of engine oil, oil filter, spark plugs, valve clearance checks and throttle body balancing. I planned to do most of these myself except for the valve clearance. I do not have the right space to perform this nor do I have the right tools. It didn't make sense to purchase these tools new. The plan is to get this done at the authorised dealer / neighbourhood garage.

Over thanksgiving, Black Friday and all the usual holidays. I started collecting parts / items needed for the service.

Went with the OE recommended Castrol Power 1 Racing Oil, OEM oil filter with sump washer. Got a good deal on a BMC air filter from Carpimoto during Black Friday, so will be swapping that over as well.



An engine oil change is fairly straightforward. The sump plug and washer was stuck on and took some effort to loosen it. Same with the oil filter which should have ideally been hand tight. The oil was slightly reddish. Maybe I could have got some more miles out of it.





Replaced the engine oil with fresh 10W40 oil. Tightened the sump plug and oil filter to spec with a calibrated torque wrench.

I would need a hand with lifting the tank in order to replace the air filter and spark plugs. The plan is to visit a colleague and do it at his garage. Much easier than lone working in the basement of a building. Access to the throttle body should be possible then which would help with the throttle body cleaning and balancing. A popular app called Tune ECU (only on android) is used to reset the service light as well as read the pressures needed for the throttle body balancing for Triumph bikes. It works with other EU motorcycles as well and works only with specific OBD adaptors. I had purchased one that luckily works with it. Plan is to reset the service light and perform all necessary checks once everything is complete.

Leo Vince LV One Exhaust

I was looking out for an aftermarket exhaust for the bike. Keen to get rid of that huge box underneath and hear the bike better. Used ones were an option and a lot of well maintained Scorpion exhausts were on sale on eBay. However, they were priced out of my budget. I came across another British brand called SP Engineering who make Carbon Fiber, Titanium and Steel exhausts for my bike. They had a sale of around 20% bringing down the price to 265GBP which was slightly higher than what I had planned. However, no other options were present at that time.

Got to know that the Leo Vince UK distributor was closing down and was getting rid of stock at mouth watering prices. However, the one I wanted was not discounted much. I used to check back regularly to see if they dropped the price any further. Luckily one evening, when I was casually checking the website on my way back from office, I found that the price had dropped to 165 GBP, which was well within my budget. So, I immediately grabbed it.

Neatly packed with stickers.





Comes with a carbon fiber tip, a removable baffle and a carbon fiber bracket to hold it up.



Another weekend job to replace the OEM exhaust. Big ugly box.


I ran the bike without the exhaust just to hear what it sounds like. Ridiculously loud! (That is not oil leak on the sump. I sprayed cleaner on the clamp / header to clean the dirt before installing the connecting pipe)


Installation was fairly easy. Remove the stock clamp, bolts. Attach the connecting pipe, exhaust. Connect the tension spring and clamp the bracket. Finally adjust and tighten the header clamp.



The heatshield was annoyingly hard to get back on. Note carbon fiber bracket.


From online reviews, it didn't sound very loud, unlike the Racefit or SC project. Hence I chose the Leo Vince. Oh, how wrong I was! It is not extremely loud but it has added a lot of deep bass and burble that I've never heard from the stock exhaust. This is with the DB killer on. It reverberates inside the helmet. I've been told that it isn't loud. Maybe I was used to the OEM exhaust note. I haven't felt the need to remove the DB killer for now. On the plus side, it's homologated for road use with the DB killer on, so I am safe on the legal side.



Was it worth it? YES. For that price, I don't think any exhaust comes close in terms of fit, finish and audibility.