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Cost: about £5500
Insurance: about £500 p.a. comprehensive
Economy: 40-50 miles/gallon
Good points: quick, smooth, reasonable economy, looks nice
Bad points: handlebar angle
The Daytona 900 is an earlier version of the new T595 which has had such a rapturous reception recently. It appears that Triunph, and Daytona 900 owners, thought that the T595 would kill demand for the older Daytonas, but they were wrong. They are increasingly in demand. So buy one now, if you can find one, before prices go up!
Tbe Daytona is excellent in every respect except one: the handlebar angle. The handlebars point too far forwards, and cause wrist discomfort on long jounrneys. I'm not the only person who has said this, and apparently the new T595 has similar problems. But apart from that, there really doesn't seem to be anything to criticize.
The power and torque seem about right for a 900, with useful traction almost from idle speed in almost any gear. This makes it more manageable in traffic than the TDM850, which does not seem to have any low-speed traction at all. It pulls away from rest very smoothly, with no trace of transmission backlash. Although the gearbox is reported to be a problem on some models, mine is fine. The acceleration is not as outrageous as the VMax, it's still impressive, and on corners it would leave a VMax standing.
For use in urban conditions, visibility is not as good as any of the other bikes I've owned, because of the more 'sporty' posture. But this is what one should expect from this type of machine. The posture combined with the reasonably sized screen contrive to keep some of the rain off, at least when you're moving, which is quite useful.
When I bought the Daytona I anticipated keeping it until it fell to bits; as it happens I changed it for a Trophy 1200 after a few months. What happened? Well, Winter happened, and it happened in a big way. The first few days of riding the Daytona in the pouring rain and freezing cold convinced me that it was not going to be fun. The fairing, while adequate for modest rain showers, was no use at all in a downpour; I also felt that a set of hard panniers would be useful for keeping my papers and stuff dry without wrapping everything in plastic bags. What's more, the crouched riding position, while marvellous for the open road in summer, caused me increasingly disagreeable joint stiffness in sub-zero temperatures. All things considered, the Daytona would be an ideal bike for summer-only use.
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