opinions on TT600 please

A friend of mine is getting back into biking after a long lay off, he has
just rung me to say he has been into Clay Cross Motorcycles and he likes the
look of a TT600 on a "Y" plate. He asked me if they were any good so I
thought I would ask the combined knowledge of UKRM.

Cheers

 

Triumphs are prone to crashing

--
Spete
www.gimmemoney.mine.nu
www.spete.homeip.net

Occasionally, I'll be consistent

 

Down on power on the Jap 600s, and prone to EFI glitches which may or
may not have been smoothed out with later programming upgrades.

On the other hand, most magazines reckoned they had a top-notch chassis,
were comfortable and not too shabbily built.

If you like the looks, they're a pretty cheap way into the sports 600
market.

 

I don't know much but FastBikes magazine *loved* this bike when no other mag
seemed to. Not sure if they had an alterior motive or if they were just
being perverse.

ISTR the handling was highly rated but the engine was a bit gutless. I rode
a mate's and it certainly needed to be kept 'on the boil' or there never
seemed to be any power 'on-tap'.
It was the first 600 to be fitted with fuel-injection, however, and can
easily be tweaked to improve the mid-range tc.

Not the prettiest bike in the universe either.

 

I quite liked the look of it. Supposed to have the finest brakes and
chassis in its class which, to me, is quite highly placed in the
important stuff list.

Although I've never ridden one I suspect the FI (now) isn't as bad as
made out. I don't doubt it wasn't ready and needed several updates but I
now sense a certain amount of lazy journalism and perpetuation of 'fact'
in the case of the TT600.

 

I did a big buyer's guide on them recently, and did a lot of research.

Seems the early ones were gutless as hell low down - excellent on the
track, but not so good in the real world.

Triumph later updated the FI system, and now there are several downloads
available that improve it still further.

Consensus of opinion now is that it's a good bike - but it still isn't
as good as the Japanese competition of the day, still less the latest
600 equipment, with the possible exception of handling.

It got slated when it was new, and then forgotten about.

So.... yes, you're right. That said, it needs to be significantly
cheaper than, say, a Honda CBR600, in order to reflect this.

And It's still an ugly looking thing.....

 

And VTRs aren't, hmm?

 

<whistles innocently>
Don't know what you're talking about
</wi>

--
Spete
www.gimmemoney.mine.nu
www.spete.homeip.net

Occasionally, I'll be consistent

 

The multi-faceted nature of the things is already apparent from the posts
............

**** it here's my two penn'orth:

I had one for 5 or 6 days as a courtesy bike about 18 months back.

Having read the reports I pleaded with them to give me something else but
the option was a 125.
Grumbling like a badger with a bee up its arse I took the TT.

By the time I got home I wondered what bike the mag writers had actually
been on.

Up to about 80mph its injected motor felt to be accelerating faster than my
carbed J2 ZX6s.
Its cornering and agility astonished me.
And it was brilliant for stoppies.

Against that:
From 100 mph I doubt a TT stay with any of the Japanese 600s and certainly
it wouldn't stay with a ZX6 either on acceleration or top speed.
Beyond 110 the thing felt decidedly less 'planted' on the road too. I never
did anything nasty, but I was constantly wondering if it was about to.

Would I swap my ZX6 for one?
No.
But if I were buying and there was a 20% price differential in favour of the
TT I might well take the TT.
At 30% I would take the TT *if* it was one of the late models.

Bear in mind the one I was let loose on was a 2002 model and the last ones
had the injection mapping sorted whilst the earlier ones didn't. I dunno if
the mapping was update as a 'backfill' on all of 'em or not.

If your mate's coming back after a layoff, then something with good
steering, good ability to accept corrections and braking pretty much
whatever else you're up to may well be more important than something which
shines best on the far side of a ton. If he goes for it he should only take
it with a written warranty the injection mapping is fully sorted. And with
that I'd think its a very serious contender. I doubt so many TTs were
bought to be thrashed as the Jap 600s are and Triumph owners arguably are
more likely to ensure servicing schedules are followed etc.. (Though that
may just be my stereotype of Triumph owners).

--
Nidge
ZX6R J2 Stunning in zit yellow. KX 125 MX 'I'm snot green -fly ME'. A few
bits of CB500S in Norwegian Parrot blue. BOTAFOT#63 BOMB#5

'Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand'.
Homer (Simpson).

 

of TT600 opinions and advice...

Thanks everyone for your help and advice I will print all the replies and
pass them on.

 

Also worth looking at Yam Thundercat. Very underrated and an excellent
return to biking machine. Good user forum at
http://groups.msn.com/yamahathundercats

 

IIRC Bike thinks well of it.

As Motorcyclist Magazine put it:

"Two years and 13 fuel-injection maps later,
Triumph's 600 is as good as it should've been
two years and 13 maps ago."

Which is a bit like saying Des is not the most popular guy on
UKRM.

In plain yellow, it looks shite. There was one on sale in Colin
Collins, and every time I walked past my mind boggled at how
terrible it looked.

But then one day I spotted one in a yellow-and-black colour
scheme, like this:
http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld/issues/may00/tt600.htm
and it's amazing how much better it looks.

And in blue, it doesn't look too bad, not in these pics anyway:
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/features/2002TT600/

--
<8P Wizard
Suzuki GS550 "I like that. Nicely shite" - TOG
Golf GTi 16v
ANORAK#17b BOMB#19 BOTAFOT#138 BREast#5 COFF#24
COSOC#8 DFV#11 STG#1
Remove location from email address to reply

 

I rode one, ok so it was for only a few miles, but the glitch was
over-hyped.

 

a little more from me... I had one when my 595 went in for some work.
I hated it, but that could be more because of I had to work far harder
to get it to go anywhere than its older brother.

couldn't wait to give it back. Take into account I don't like revvy
bikes.

--
Adie
(replace spam with nickname to reply)

UKRM FAQ: http://www.ukrm.net/faq/

Triumph 955iSS / GSF1200 bandit / CG125
MRO#11 BOTAFOF#7 BOTAFOT#130 DIAABTCOD#17 MIB#24 YTC#16 BOB#15 ex-UKRMMA#22 BOMB#11

 

Cheers Adie

 

gash. gash. gash.

Triumph haven't designed a decent-looking bike since the
single-headlight speed triple.

 

*Ding*

 

I rather like the Daytona 600, in a Future-stylee.