Seat Color (Triumph)

[kvdv_imp]

Thanks kvdv....but this seat has grown on me and I have already decided to stick with it.

So, picked it up this afternoon and rode it about 30 miles from the dealer. I'll do a more detailed observations post after I have had a chance to ride it more, but here is a short list of initial impressions....

1. Relative to the CB1100, with both naked, the CB is just better relative to wind blast. I think that it's because the riding position of the Speedmaster, with it's feet forward pegs and controls, encourages you to lay back even at highway speeds. I was really jostled around a bunch. Some of that is probably because I95 between the two beltways is raised above ground level in many places and crosswinds are more prevalent. Still and all, at least without faring, the CB is probably the more comfortable highway bike, as strange as that might sound.

2. The low end torque on the Speedmaster is just fantastic. You can be in 6th, give it a bit of throttle, and "thwack", it responds fantastic. Far less shifting for any riding environment.

3. While I had already test-rided the Speedmaster, and really liked the peg and control positions, it took nearly the full trip to get used to where I needed to move my feet once underway.

So, my very initial impression is that I'll likely reverse the roles that I had in mind for both bikes. We'll see how it nets out, but I'll bet I'll tour around on the CB and do my local runs on the Triumph. Either way, I love the Speedmaster based on just my initial ride (and truth be told, I find it beautiful in any case.) But I'm sticking to my story that if I had to have just one, it'd be the CB1100 all the way.

No worries on the seat, Tommy. Thanks for considering. And wow, our experiences on the same bikes could not be different! When I first rode my 2014 DLX home on the freeway, it felt like 3 or 4 huge guys were trying to tear me off the bike. I couldn't believe the violence of the wind swirls and shifts. It only got better after I added the Road Comet fairing, which of course bumped up the helmet noise a bit. Fast forward to the Speedmaster, and even at 80+mph, no windshield, the air is absolutely smooth for me, very little helmet noise (Shoei RF1200), almost serene. The only thing I'm considering for the Speedie now is a set of mid controls...the feet forward thing doesn't seem to agree much with my lower back. It's the only complaint I have so far with the Triumph in the first 900 miles...
Happy Riding!