Author Topic: Sweet Rides - 2013 Triumph Trophy SE  (Read 2468 times)

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Sweet Rides - 2013 Triumph Trophy SE
« on: September 02, 2014, 05:06:32 AM »


By Don Moe | Florida Newsletter Editor

My new 2013 Triumph Trophy SE is very smooth, comfortable, peppy, nimble, and thus far, reliable, and at this moment already has 2,326 miles on the odometer since taking delivery on 1/5/13, thanks to the beautiful riding weather here in southern Florida. The fit and finish seems excellent. In particular I appreciate that the same 5mm Allen-head screws are used extensively to attach the bodywork.

After returning from Ohio following my accident just before the MPFB event last August, I learned that my Kawasaki dealer, Florida Sports Cycle in Stuart, Florida, was adding the Triumph brand. Although I had been quite satisfied with my 2010 Kawasaki Concours 14 over the 19 months that I put nearly 63K on it, I wanted any replacement bike to have factory cruise control. Before making a decision, I waited until the Kawasaki website provided information about the 2013 Concours. As soon as I realized it was essentially the 2010 model in a different shade of blue, I decided that the Triumph Trophy would be my choice, even though I’d seen the bike only in photos and videos.

Visiting the dealer as soon as feasible (and still in a wheelchair), I placed a deposit on my order for the new Trophy with the most of the “launch kit” accessories. Ordering the bike so early with the accessories apparently allowed Triumph to include mine in the production run of demo bikes for the sales reps. This saved me several hundred over adding the extras later. The total cost including Florida’s 6% sales tax and registration came to nearly $23K. A lot of money to pay for something I had only seen in photos and not yet even sat on! During the Barber Vintage Motorcycle event in October, Jim Park (a.k.a. RIDEMYST) had the opportunity to sit on a demo bike and reported his very positive impressions. Since he and I are nearly the same size physically, his opinion was important validation. During the long wait for my foot to heal and the bike to arrive, I could have changed my mind, perhaps switching to the Tiger Explorer or even back to another Concours.

The longest ride on it thus far, about a week after getting the Trophy, was about 460 miles r/t to attend a Central Florida lunch event in Floral City. This gave me the opportunity to learn how the bike handles on curvy roads and how comfortable it is on long Interstate rides. (Yes, there are many curvy roads in some areas of Florida!) The bike handling is noticeably more nimble than the Concours was. Low speed handling is also easier. This may in part be due to the bike’s lighter weight, about 50 lbs less than the Concours; although it certainly seems that the difference is greater than that. In early May I intend to ride the “real” twisty roads in north Georgia during NGC in Helen. That will give me my first opportunity for a true evaluation of the handling on such roads. I fully expect it to be very satisfactory.

The heated grips and seats work well and are certainly welcome on early morning rides in sub-60° temperatures. As with my Concours, I found the standard grips to be too small in diameter and thus installed Grip Puppies over them to add both cushioning and extra diameter to the grips. The windscreen does a good job of keeping me in an air bubble. A couple rides in the rain confirmed the magazine reports of the good protection.

With 6.9 gallons of fuel capacity, compared to 5.8 for the Concours, the range is quite good at around 300 miles, depending on riding style, wind direction, etc.

The configurable electronic display (Trip 1 and Trip 2) provides plenty of information options, such as instantaneous MPG, average speed, average MPG, miles ridden and gallons used, distance to next fill-up, elapsed trip time, trip distance, tire pressures, suspension setting and loading, status of heated seats and grips, and of course odometer.

Of all of those options, the gallons used since reset misleadingly displays in tenths of gallons. Upon filling up, it indicated that I’d consumed 5.3 gallons, but actually needed 5.8 gallons to fill the tank. This appears to be a calibration issue, as the analog speedometer consistently displays between 30 and 95 MPH about 5 MPH higher compared to my GPS. In contrast the odometer is within nearly 2% of the GPS track-log distance (456 vs. 463). Although these errors might be corrected with a firmware update to the computer, they are certainly not major issues.

The cruise control is very nicely done, although it does take a bit of practice to work it. The on/off button enables/disables the CC and it stays that way even when ignition is off. Thus, once enabled, it’s only necessary to press the SET- or RESET+ toggle to activate the CC. The display flashes the set CC speed until it is reached and is likewise about 3 MPH higher than true speed. Pulling the clutch in, using a brake, or closing the throttle beyond the idle position also deactivates the CC. This last point takes a bit of practice and I found that resting my hand on the bar end weight and gripping the throttle lightly seems to be a way to avoid inadvertently deactivating the CC. Yesterday I also mounted a new Throttle Meister for occasions when the CC isn’t suitable, as in group rides or highway traffic.

During the lengthy return trip from Floral City on a warm day, I found that the seat, although reasonably comfortable with good support, could be improved to reduce “monkey butt.” After returning home, I installed my Bead Rider cover that I had used for many, many miles over the Corbin seat on my Concours. I’ve found that it helps quite a bit, particularly when I need to squirm to change the pressure points.

In comparing the Trophy to the Concours, I would say that the performance in actual practice is very similar. Although the Concours has about 10% more power, it weighs about 10% more. On a racetrack the extra power might be significant, but I feel that the Trophy can certainly do what I need it to do, such as quickly accelerate in top gear from 50 to 80+ to pass slow vehicles on a two-lane road. In fact thus far I haven’t felt the need to even downshift. The Concours performed similarly, at least until I got into the higher elevations out West and found that downshifting one gear brought back sea level passing performance. Doubtless that will be the same for the Trophy.