Note: By clicking the picture on the left you will be magically transported to an another dimension where you will be treated to an optical feast that will dazzle your mind.

In other words:

Click the pic and head to our gallery section where you can view the Speed Triple Comic Book. Make sure you click on the first picture and then keep clicking "next" until the end or you won't get the full comic book affect.







 
Action photo guest rider: Carlos Barrera

Moto-journalists are all alike; we think we know it all when it comes to bikes. Take me picking-up the 2009 Triumph Speed Triple that was used for this article. Since I was swapping out the 2009 Triumph Bonneville SE that I had just finished testing, Triumph Media Guru, Jim Callahan tried to give me some helpful advice. “Don't forget this isn't a Bonneville”, he said. “It's got a LOT more power”, he added. Good advice since I just spent a month on a bike that, while completely enjoyable to ride, wouldn't wheelie (at least in my hands) without a 500 pound passenger jumping up and down on the rear seat; and maybe not even then.

So how did I respond to this gem of information? I should have said “hey thanks for the reminder Jim. I'll keep that in mind and take it easy the first few miles”. That would have been responsible. What I did was laugh and said yeah, yeah got it covered. No worries mate. Tally-ho. Jolly good and a bunch of other things that we Yanks think all the British blokes say that sound so cool. Sometimes I'm an idiot.

Luckily my moment of idiocy didn't result in any physical damage to myself or the bike although parts of my psyche are still warped and scarred.

My first taste of what the Speed Triple was about happened at the first light I came to on A1A. Green light. Roll on the throttle, roll on some more throttle...and suddenly my will power and self control were trampled, crushed and left for dead by a 130 horsepower freight train that will pull the front wheel off the ground from about 1500 rpm to redline just on throttle alone. The 77 lbs ft of torque and short 56.2 in wheelbase contribute to this lunacy as well. The Speed Triple begs, cajoles and almost forces you into the kinds of raw, wanton acts of pure hooligan silliness that your adult, responsible brain just isn't designed to cope with.

Two lights later I was having some big worries about spending time with the Speed Triple; I was going to get a huge ticket. I was going to lose my license. I was going to go to jail and be in a cell with Bubba. I was going to have to call my wife to bail me out and pick me up. The last thought made me realize that maybe Bubba wasn't such a bad option.

Nevertheless, I struggled (sometimes in vain) to be a good law abiding citizen and eventually made it home without any additional weight being taken out of my wallet (not that there is much there to begin with). This was my first real introduction to the Triumph Speed Triple. Welcome to Hooliganism 101.