Blackbird / Sprint 1050 ST?

[vanman]

I think I'm on the way back...............:-0)

I had my first Blackbird (96 P Titanium) back in 97 and my second (2001 01 Silver) in 2003. At that time I bought an old Triumph Tiger (K reg) to commute on, to save the miles and depreciation on the Blackbird, the trouble is I enjoyed the upright riding position and general throwaroundaroundaboutability! (you know what I mean........)!!
Since then I've owned 5 Tigers up to and including the last 955i style (56 plate ) and a 1050 - couldn't get on with the 1050 (just a bit too boring and very bad headlight) Bought a KTM 990 Adventure last September and whilst it is great fun charging down country lanes and upsetting sports bike riders,it's just too extreme and the vibrations and rusty spokes after just 3 months,have worn me down...........It has been sold...
I quite fancy a Sprint 1050 ST- but hanker after another Blackbird,
Any one here owned / ridden both long term? Any feed back welcome, I ride every day 50 mile round trip all year long...
I'm going to buy one or another this weekend.....
Cheers All

 

[martin]

Yer done both.

Sprint handles better than a barge by a country mile. 1050 engine is a screamer as well.

I found the bird better for motorway / borng A road, but the ST for eveything else.

Pound for pound the Bird would just have it in my book.

Oh and I also found the 1050 tiger good at slaying blades :-0) But I had one before they were on the marketd34l

 

[andy102]

When I was looking for a new bike I tried both the 'Bird' and the Sprint (oh and the ZX12R and a 'Busa :-0) )

Obviously I plumped for the 'Bird'. A mate has the Sprint (dropped his first 'un and now has the ABS version) and I've had a few goes on that too, gotta be honest it's just too 'soft' for me, don't get me wrong it's got a bloody fantastic engine but I prefer the sportier riding position and the sheer grunt of the 'Bird', also my bike uses no oil between services, his uses about a litre or so, mines been faultless, his has been back to the dealers three or four times for various niggling problems, mine starts every time, every time we stopped in France anywhere near a phone transmitter we had to push his bloody bike about a mile away from it before the damn thing would start h1t1t

 

[marcusfordus]

Oh what a subject !

Right, the Bird is heavy and cumbersome, unless it is moving at 140+. The leg position isn't the best. It's a long reach to those bars and helps if you dont like the position by fitting v-tec bars.
The 1050 sprint is tons lighter to push around the garage, it has no underseat storage, but has a little cubbyhole in the fairing for it's toolkit and enough room for a autocom.
Both bikes have crap lighting patterns, bright enough, but spread all wrong, HID cures both bikes.
The 1050 brakes are far better, with the option of ABS if you require it.

Add ons the triumph is fields ahead, 3 handlebars, three screens for different shaped riders, three seat options, standard 2005-2007 (changed in 08) single gel and a twin gel. Panniers and fitting rails STANDARD, rack, mounting plate top box is the third option.
Genuine heated grips, sat-nav connection, 12v lighter socket for heated gear, etc.
Only two exhaust options, standard and the TOR. For me the std is loud enough.
Fuel and tank range same for both bikes, 1050 has all the touring goodies on the computer, range, twin trips, fuel average speed and av. mpg.


I've had two Bird's, carbed and catted Fi, my money went on the Triumph, and I still think it's the better bike, but it's not a 165mph tourer that the Blackbird was. Honda might get me back if a new one arrives with 21st century technology included.

 

[svxistentialist]

It's interesting you ask this question, and I'm watching the responses carefully.

I'm more than pleased with my Bird, with just the small proviso that I'm a shortarse jockey sized person, and for sure it's a heavy B for pushing round the yard. Aside from that it's plenty powerful, plenty nimble, plenty everything in fact.

Both my brother, who rides a VFR, and I are looking hard at changing to the ST 1050.

What we like in the Triumph are the weight and general size, the engine, the riding position, the brakes, the handling and the styling. And did I mention the engine?

Essentially the ST seems to be like a higher powered VFR, though without the Honda finish and build quality. The dynamics seem to be just right for an all-rounder. If the price is right I'll probably go one, though not this year just yet.

 

[Red Mick]

I hesitated to reply to this thread in case I get charged with ST bashing, but...

I had an ST for less than a year ('05 model) so many problems with poor workmanship, poor design, poor dealer help and service. Final straw was rear wheel seizure%$fan mega bottom clenching moment that let me tell you. Triumph said 'lack of maintenance'... on a 8,000 mile bike with full dealer service??? They did do the repair, 'as a good will gesture :wank:

I was bikeless for six weeks of that season, never any offer of a loaner.

When I got it back, both SWMBO and I decided we didn't trust the bike to take us anywhere, so we took it to a Honda dealer and bought the 'bird :bow: We both love it still after 22,000 miles.

 

[bishbosh]

I commute on 97 Bird, have had a Cat Fi as a loaner but found it was rubbish at filtering. The old girl has done nearly 130k miles now and apart from a recent loom problem and the odd stator wearing out has been very reliable.

 

[svxistentialist]

Mick, thanks for the overview, it sounds like you had a bad experience, and then some!
[I had a rear bearing go on a VFR on the motorway near Bristol, that was no fun at all!!]

Any idea how typical your experience may have been? Last year's Rider Power survey puts the ST at #78 and earning 80.5% on points, while the BB comes in at #14 [99>] and #16 [96>98] with 87% and 86.7% on points resp.

The strange thing is one of the comments, that half of the Triumph riders got a courtesy bike from their dealer.

Not exactly your experience.

Reliability for the 'Birds comes in at 5 out of 5, while with the Triumphs in the top 100, reliability cames at 3 or 4, depending on model. The ST 1050 gets a 3. -(

Do you reckon there are any good STs out there giving good service to their owners?

Interestingly a certain Jaws Motorcycles came in first place for internet suppliers, with 100%! k1ap

R#?

 

[marcusfordus]

Red Mick

What should you never do with motors ??

Never buy the first of a brand new range, be it either a car or a bike, they just aren't fully developed. Give them 18 months and they work just fine.

Each dealer is different, look what Ride mag say about Rainbow in S.Yorks, top super dealer. Load of bollox, I won't even go through their door again tossers !

My local Triumph dealer (Nottingham, not Chesterfield) could not do any more for me. I dropped in on a Friday wanting to know when the bike could be serviced, " How about 1st thing tomorrow" Brill. "want a loan bike" er no thanks, soon as it's done I'm out on it thanks.
When I traded the CB1300 in they offered me ?1500 MORE than the other Triumph dealer I'd taken the test ride on.
Would I buy another new bike from them....... Oh Yes.

Went a few weeks ago into S.Yorks to check out the other Triumph dealer up there. Same again, couldn't do enough for you. I walked out with all sorts of goodies I had no intention of buying, but they deserve credit where it's due. If you don't spend money at places like this, they go out of business.

1700 miles of full wet winter riding has caused two pieces of corrosion on the bike. The ABS mounting spigot has tarnished, and the autosol brought that ally back to new, and the front wheel spindle rusted on the end where the plastic bung didn't cover it. That's yer lot. FS365 and the ACF-50 used after every bike wash, just as the BIRD was and this has less corrosion than the Honda.

 

[scribbler]

Interesting match up

I think I'm on the way back...............:-0)

I had my first Blackbird (96 P Titanium) back in 97 and my second (2001 01 Silver) in 2003. At that time I bought an old Triumph Tiger (K reg) to commute on, to save the miles and depreciation on the Blackbird, the trouble is I enjoyed the upright riding position and general throwaroundaroundaboutability! (you know what I mean........)!!
Since then I've owned 5 Tigers up to and including the last 955i style (56 plate ) and a 1050 - couldn't get on with the 1050 (just a bit too boring and very bad headlight) Bought a KTM 990 Adventure last September and whilst it is great fun charging down country lanes and upsetting sports bike riders,it's just too extreme and the vibrations and rusty spokes after just 3 months,have worn me down...........It has been sold...
I quite fancy a Sprint 1050 ST- but hanker after another Blackbird,
Any one here owned / ridden both long term? Any feed back welcome, I ride every day 50 mile round trip all year long...
I'm going to buy one or another this weekend.....
Cheers All

I reckon you are in for a tough decision with this one....

I bought a brand new Sprint ABS when they came out in 2005 after previously owning two VFRs..thought the Sprint was a great bike once you get used to the soft suspension - front tends to dive more than you might expect..but as everyone else has said the motor is awesome, handling is excellent but reliability is not up to Honda standards. I had a few little niggles nothing serious..sold it to my nephew who loves it, rides it to work every day and is taking it to France and Spain with me this May. Rear bearing went shortly after being serviced and even though it was out of warrantly Triumph dealer in York sorted it without any quibbles.

You may find riding position more comfortable on the Sprint but fitting bar risers to the Bird makes a big difference.


Bought my first bird last September and overall I prefer it to the Sprint..the Bird oozes quality, its a little heavy but once you are moving the weight is no problem... it is such a stable, confidence inspring bike. While it will turn the world into a blur with the flick of a wrist it is also extremely civilised and will quite happy bimble about on back roads..and don't believe any of the shit from certain sections of the bike press..the bird handles backroads beautifully.

If you are taking a pillion SWMBO reckons the bird is much more comfy but then it does have a givi top box with back rest.. like I said at the start difficult decision but whichever way you go you will end up with a great bike...

 

[marcusfordus]

Two-up

Here's something I've found, the Bird pulls really well carrying a pillion, the Sprint has to be used via the gearbox up and down to give it drive. Handling is not affected on the Triumph with my lad on the back, but I could always tell he was on the back on the Bird, it just didn't feel planted, maybe it is all the extra power that upset it ?

 

[Rob Morris]

Was loaned a Triumph for a day by the local dealer, found that whilst the engine had a good bottom end it needed far more work on the gearbox than the Bird due to having shorter ratios. When I forgot which bike I was on I found that I kept hitting the rev limiter. Bottom end quite simiular, but top end very lacking running out of steam far ealier than Bird.

Birds are old, but I would not trade down to 1050, however, I could see that compared to a VFR they could seem to be quite powerful. Couple of friends have traded their ZZR11's for BM 800's and love them.......not possible to keep with them around the tight country bends, however, tried one last year and again pulled well and then ran out of puff....!

Have you thought of the Speed Triple, engine and ridding position you like and low depreciation?

 

[vanman]

Thanks for all the imput - very interesting points, will keep you posted.........

Cheers:-0)