Month: November 2020

The Triumph Trident Makes a Return

Posted on | by Salli Griffith

New look for an established name. Triumph’s middleweight for Spring 2021.

This is the first look at the full features of a bike which has been under wraps for the last few months, with few teasers to reveal its size, spec and pricing. October 30th was marked as the reveal date and I was signed up to get the rundown of this new model to compete against my Yamaha MT07 and the Honda CBR and the like and steal some of the Japanese market in middleweight motorcycles.

The Triumph Trident 660 has now been unveiled as a new entry-level triple that by Triumph’s own admission is designed to knock Yamaha’s MT-07 off the middleweight top spot. Many were thinking it would be a re-worked Street Triple S but for a start the engine is completely different and while they might share the same capacity, the bore and stroke are different as are the rest of the integral parts, so new piston, new crank, new cylinder head, new cases, new clutch, new liners, new camshafts…

We have the great combination of low down torque, a reasonably fat mid-range and a decent bit of top end. The chassis is all new, with Triumph saying that it delivers the typical ‘roadster’ handling we’ve come to expect from them. What’s especially nice is that even for the price point, it’s got nice bits of kit as standard, including 41mm Showa Separate Function forks, Nissin calipers and Michelin Road 5 tyres.

Where it really begins to look special is in the tech department. The Trident comes with a ride by wire throttle, so it’s got two riding modes – Road and Rain, that change the characteristics of both the throttle map and the traction control. ABS is standard. There’s some optional extra tech too, including a quickshifter/autoblipper and even tyre pressure monitors.

All of the tech is controlled through Triumph’s colour TFT display. Unlike other colour dashes that just give funky colours to the tacho, the dash on the Trident can be paired with a smartphone (if you buy the connectivity module) unlocking phonecalls, music and a satnav if that’s your bag and you don’t already have it set up as I do with a TomTom and Sena Bluetooth.

To keep running costs down the service intervals are every 10,000 miles, which is a fair bit higher than most of the competition. Then when it does go in for a service, Triumph have made an effort to reduce the time it spends in the workshop, with a service time nearly half that of some competitors. Lastly the Trident comes with a two year, unlimited mileage warranty. And all this for a basic £7,199. I’m very impressed and have my test ride booked when Bulldog Triumph get their test bike in January, and perhaps before, as December was muted as an earlier date but with the new lockdown who knows!

Now for the important stuff – it comes in 4 colour variants, personally I favour the silver grey and diablo red with a large Triumph logo on either side of the tank. There are plenty of extras already listed for whichever model you choose, with heated grips, tank and tail packs, tracking devices, engine protectors, lasered valve caps etc which certainly mount up the price as I specced what I would like, reaching nearer £8,000.

If you want to see more, head over to the Triumph website – www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk/motorcycles/roadsters/trident and have a look for yourself.

Salli G – Editor

First published in Slipstream November 2020

Information from Triumph Motorcycles, MCN and Jason at Bulldog Triumph.

All images © Triumph Motorcycles 2020

AGM With A Difference

Posted on | by Salli Griffith

We all know that 2020 has been a very different year and the AGM is no different. As TVAM’s financial year draws to a close we have to plan for the Club’s AGM in January. As many of you know, this is normally held at St Crispin’s School after the MotoJumble and usual ride outs. However, as it looks unlikely that we will all be able to meet up in person by then (groan), the Committee have decided to hold the AGM virtually but on the same day: Sunday 17th January 2021 at 10:30am, straight after the virtual St Crispin’s.

What hasn’t changed is the importance of the AGM. Please do join in. Not only will we have the usual business of presenting the Annual Report and Accounts and electing Officers and members of the Committee, this is your chance to have a say in the running of your club.

Andy Slater and Paul Taylor have both indicated that they are stepping down, so we will need to elect a new Chair Person and Treasurer.

To help us plan for the virtual AGM, it would really be useful if you would register an interest. You can use the form here: https://bit.ly/3odgbdz

Don’t worry, this doesn’t compel you to attend at this stage but it allows me to make sure you get an invite to the virtual event.

All the papers for the AGM including the Agenda, draft Annual Report and Accounts, the minutes of the previous meeting, Nomination forms and full details of all the Resolutions, will be published on Groups.io on or before 21st December. Any Special Resolutions proposed by the membership must be submitted in writing to the Secretary by 3rd January. All completed Nomination Forms will need to be sent, also to the Secretary, no later than 10th January. If you have any questions about the AGM please get in touch, otherwise looking forward to “seeing you” there (virtually)!

Adrian Ellison
Secretary
secretary@tvam.org

And here’s the necessary legal bit…

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by order of the Committee that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Thames Vale Advanced Motorcyclists (TVAM; Company Number: 3556042; Charity Number: 1069767) will be held at 10.30am on Sunday 17th January 2021 via Teams to enable the Officers to present their Annual Report and Accounts for the year ending 31st October 2020, to conduct an election of Officers and Committee Members as per the Articles of the Company, and to vote on Ordinary and Special Resolutions. All Members, Associates and Friends are invited to attend.

Why I Bought a KTM 790 Duke

Posted on | by Salli Griffith

I’d had my Suzuki SV650N for 8 years and it was time for a change. I now own a KTM Duke 790 which is fantastic – though not the usual choice for a step up from an SV. What led me to the KTM?

I had been pondering a new bike for a while, as I had outgrown my elderly SV and needed more power. The decider for me was a 250 mile TVAM ride in August in the wind and rain on my underpowered SV650…. time for a new bike.

I wanted a bike with a bit of spirit that I wouldn’t outgrow quickly, yet calm and stable, light [not more than 170kg], upright and flickable but would double up as a tourer with a bit of kit on it. I also wanted riding modes, abs, traction control and an up and down quick-shifter, and it had to be narrow and light enough to squeeze through the alleyway to my back garden.

Initially I looked at the F900XR, Shiver 900, Tracer 900GT, Tiger 900GT pro, MT07 and the Street Triple. Although these are great bikes, none of them actually fitted me or my requirements, and I had to be quite disciplined in turning away from them. This was hard.

So what did I need? Well, what mattered most of all [after the squeeze] was that I needed an upright seating position – less stress on the joints. Looking up Cycle-ergo.com and using my SV as a comparison, I was able to see what it would be like sitting on different bikes. I know this sounds rather mechanical but it was actually very helpful, further proven from visiting dealerships to sit on bikes. It was fun going in with my list of what I NEEDED not what have you got, and helped me see through the marketing blurb.

Cycle-ergo.com indicated the KTM naked sports bike Duke range. Power-wise for me, this meant either the 690 or 790.  Anything bigger was wider and therefore irrelevant – I know you can get narrow bars for any bike but this was a mod too far for me. I wanted to keep it simple.

So it was down to the KTM Duke 690 or 790. A spin on Chris Brownlee’s 690R single was delightful – I came back saying, it’s really light I must have said it about 3 times, I was astonished at how quick and nippy it was yet stable and solid. However I wanted more technical gadgets and a twin, so this led me to the 790 and Alan Bradford who gave me loads of helpful tips on his, thank you.

I had first seen the KTM Duke 790 aka ‘The Scalpel’ in a ‘Ride’ magazine a couple of years back in 2018. The mere name of it put me right off. Who rides a bike called a scalpel? But two years on I saw it in a different light, looking closely at its features and found that it ticked all my boxes. I was ready to book in a test ride.

I loved it from the start. It was amazing. Light, powerful, flexible and equally at home filtering through town or out on the twisties. A little windy at high speeds and the original seat was like a plank but this was sorted with a touring screen and their comfort ergo seat. A parallel twin and 105bhp but only 169kg – perfect. Great price at £7,500 new for the 2020 version which I recommend, as they have re-designed and fixed some issues prevalent in the earlier version.

A second test ride confirmed my selection and I was ready to buy.

Early days were spent on local roads, learning all the technology – I had never had anything like this before, not even ABS on the SV. The emissions requirements make it a bit twitchy at low speed but I adapted and it doesn’t bother me now – choosing a lower riding mode helps. It is also a bit vibey at higher speeds but not excessive. Everything else is fabulous!

The first 600 miles were running it in so I was careful not to over-rev it. It felt like learning to ride all over again which was a surprise [only my second middle-weight bike]. A little ‘red mist’ was quickly eradicated by my advanced rider training.

At 1,000 miles, what do I like about it so far? It has had its first service, oil change and the full rev range has been unleashed. This bike just keeps giving and giving, right through the rev range. It accelerates really quickly, is light and fun through the twisties yet stable and not intimidating. I don’t feel overpowered by it and love the different riding modes, abs and lean-sensitive traction control. I’m loving the quick-shifter and auto-blipper. Narrow for filtering and lovely sounding – bangs and pops through the exhaust. The suspension, though not adjustable on the forks, feels well set up, and the preload is adjustable. I have it on the comfort setting and it is great. This bike gives me the potential to grow with it. I currently ride in the ‘street’ mode but am looking forward to exploring the sport and track modes. Would I recommend it? Absolutely! Check it out, what have you got to lose?

Catherine Russell

First published in Slipstream November 2020

National Road Rally 2020

Posted on | by Salli Griffith

On 12th September 2020, Stef Bellon, Hev & Barrie Smith (me 😊) took part in the National Road Rally (NRR).

Stef and I have completed the rally on previous occasions, on our own and with other people, and we completed the 20hr rally in 2017 with Andy McWalter. This was Hev’s first time riding in the event. I appreciate that many of our members have also taken part as individuals or formed small teams of between 2 & 4 people. TVAM members have traditionally done well in the rally with ‘Thame Village Idiots’, AKA Si Rawlins, Chris Bowler and Martin Cragg, regularly winning the overall team event for many years. Si also tells me that a TVAM member won the overall individual award a few years ago.

I should explain what the NNR entails. The quote direct from the NRR website is, “the National Road Rally is a navigational scatter rally organised in conjunction with ACU and the BMF. The event is not a race and each rider follows their own route, visiting different controls around the country, the only time stipulation is that riders complete their route in the allotted time. The number of controls each rider visits will depend on the award that they are competing for.”

Traditionally there are thirteen award categories that riders could compete for: five daytime awards; three night-time awards; three 20hr awards; and two 20hr awards with special assessments involved at the start of the rally. The different awards were calculated based on start times and total points or distance travelled between controls. The matrix gives you a number of points between each control, ranging from 20 to 50 points and these are what you’re credited despite how far you actually travel. It’s worthy of note that you can only arrive at a control that is linked by the matrix to your previous control. For example, we could travel from Sherfield On Loddon to Winchester to Horndean because they were linked, however we couldn’t go direct from Sherfield On Loddon to Horndean because they’re not linked on the matrix.

Due to Covid-19, this year the NRR was reduced to an 11hr rally and it ran from 09:00 until 20:00 on the day. The reduced hours did not appear to put riders off. The awards page of the NRR website shows that 590 riders took part this year, compared to 600 in 2019 and 576 in 2018. This is across the whole of England.

As a team, we decided that we would go for the Gold Award, which meant that we had to start between 09:00 and 10:00, finish by 20:00 and visit 12 controls obtaining a minimum of 265 points and a maximum of 280 points.

We arrived at Reading Harley Davidson at Winnersh Triangle at 08:45 ready to get on the road and have a fun day out riding motorcycles around the countryside. Stef had already plotted the route, using the matrix to create a circular route, meaning that our first and twelfth controls would be Winnersh. Leaving Harley Davidson at 09:00 we knew that we had an unpressured 11hrs ahead of us. The stops that you have to comply with, a minimum of 45mins, happen naturally with re-fuelling and eating so the biggest challenge of the day was avoiding the largest roads whilst still meeting our target of finishing by 8pm.

Stef led us on the first leg to Sherfield On Loddon, a lovely, twisty, typical-Stef road, with the odd emergency stop to avoid him going past the goat track he intended to take next! Plenty of gravel on the road but at least no fords on this occasion. We arrived at the control postcode to find that the old garage had been turned into a hair salon. No use at all to Stef and I and even Hev didn’t appear that impressed. On consulting the control details in our rider packs, we found that the garage was still in operation at the back of the salon. A quick walk down the side road and we found it.

In previous years each control was clearly visible, often with a gazebo and people gently beckoning you over to them with the concern that the average rider cannot see a huge tent in the middle of a car park! This year, due to the current restrictions, each control consisted of an A4 size fluorescent piece of paper with the NRR logo and a six-figure control number written on it with a black permanent marker. Unfortunately, not all of these pieces of paper were located in the most obvious position.

We advanced sort of people with our sharpness of observation should have found these easy to spot, or so you would have thought! Ok, we got there in the end and noted the control number and time on our control cards. We were awarded 20 points for the first leg.

We switched leaders and I led the next leg to Winchester, taking in the A33 to Basingstoke and then the B3046 through the Candovers before picking up the A31 to Winnall, Winchester. Stef and I knew this control well, as it’s a regular on the rally.

After a short stop we continued south-west to Totton, which is as far south as we went before heading north-west to Amesbury and Countess Services. Yes, the controls are often in the most beautiful locations! We made this our lunch stop, with a baguette from Subway, and spent about 45mins chatting whilst sat on a nice grassy spot at the back of the services. As I said, there was no real pressure on time and we needed to ensure that we remained fresh throughout the full day’s riding.

Our next leg took us west to Warminster and, as the A303 was congested and uninspiring, we headed north to Durrington before turning west through Larkhill, Shrewton, Chitterne and then picked up the A36 to Warminster. The control was in the services and, struggling to find it, we headed around to the filling station to fill the bikes. Sure enough there was the control poster, stuck on the filling station window.

From here our route took us north through Devizes, another control, and on to Cricklade our 8th Control point. The controls and points were ticking by nicely. From Cricklade the route went through some of the nicest countryside the west of England has to offer, the Cotswolds. We went west through Ashton Keynes and past the Cotswold Airport on our way to Nailsworth, our next control. The control here was at the Weighbridge Inn, the regular place for the control point for the rally and a lovely little pub that I could imagine was heavily frequented by locals eating and drinking in normal times. From here we turned north to pick up the Cirencester road (A419), bypassing Cirencester and crossing the A417 at Quarry Junction. We worked our way east until we picked up the B4425, a fantastic road that cuts through the Cotswolds to the beautiful village of Bibury. We continued north-east along the B4425, through Aldsworth and up to join the A40 at Burford.

The A40 was busy, as we were now late afternoon, and Stef decided to take a short detour, basically the wrong exit, off the roundabout with the A361 that landed him up a dead-end. He realised as he looked to his right to see myself and Hev riding slowly along the A40 laughing! A kind couple stopped to let him across the path to re-join the A40 heading towards Oxford. It wasn’t long before we turned down to Carterton our 10th control point. We couldn’t avoid a few extra minutes laughing at Stef’s error a few miles before! We only had two control points to go now and plenty of time on our side.

We headed south past Brize Norton and down to pick up the A417 at Stanford in the Vale. At Challow we picked up the B4001 and headed down to Lambourn and on to Chilton Foliat before picking up the A4 at Hungerford. We had to head towards Marlborough on the A4, as the control point was at Froxfield. With about an hour and a half left, we set out east to return to our original control point in Winnersh, taking the A4 for much of the route to Theale before heading across to Burghfield, Grazeley, Three Mile Cross and Shinfield. We arrived at Winnersh shortly after 7pm and, having completed all twelve control points, accumulated 270 points and done it all within the 11hr timeframe, we achieved the gold award. Our total mileage was just under 300 miles for the day.

We then had to log the controls we visited, the six figure control numbers and the points between the controls onto the NRR website in order to gain our award.

The day worked well because we had three riders that worked well together. We changed the leader for each stage and made sure that we rode to the standard we’re known for in TVAM. We stopped regularly to refuel ourselves and the bikes and generally kept the day light-hearted and relaxed. We didn’t push beyond our comfort zone and, if one of us saw something from another rider that we weren’t happy with, we stopped.

Hopefully the 2021 event will be back to the more normal event with manned controls and plenty of fun interaction with the great people that look after those points across the country.

If anyone is looking for a fun day’s riding, then the 2021 event is planned for Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th July.

Barrie Smith

First published in Slipstream November 2020

From The Chair (November 2020)

Posted on | by Andy Slater

For some, November signals the last few weeks of the biking season.  However, putting the clocks back at the end of October means that those early runs down to the coast for a Full English can continue to set off reasonably early but it won’t be long before even they become ‘Brunch’ rather than ‘Breakfast’ runs.

Many of us of course will continue to ride right through the winter and I’m sure it won’t be long before we start seeing questions about the merits of using ACF-50 or Scottoiler FS 365 posed in the All-Members message area. Riding in cold weather means taking a few extra precautions for yourself though. Clearly the summer airflow jacket and pants are no longer going to be the best option as an outer layer. Retaining body heat becomes vital to ensure you stay alert when riding, so heavy textiles with thermal layers underneath seem a better option. Just ensure you’ve still got good movement with all the warm kit on so you can actually ride the bike safely.

The other big change you’ll notice is the reduction in tyre grip as the temperature drops and road surfaces become less grippy. Tyres don’t warm up the same in winter so are less ‘sticky’ and wet or salt-treated roads, let alone any ice that might be about, means you probably won’t be troubling the edges of your tyres over the next few months – unless you’re very brave.

Light levels may also be lower under heavy skies and you may find yourself riding in the dark so make doubly sure all your lights are working and are clean and bright. Bikes are often lost in the confusion of headlights on busy roads at night so give other road users extra time to see you, and for you to take avoiding action if necessary.

However, riding during the winter can be rewarding on those bright sunny clear days when you can see for miles, the coffee and burger taste so much better at the halfway stop, and you get to spend time with your mates. All valuable things for your mental health in these difficult lockdown days.

Of course, many will choose to lay-up their bike for these colder months. There are multiple guides on the best ways to do this as simply throwing a cover over it after the last autumn ride and then expecting it to come out all clean and shiny next spring is probably being a bit optimistic. Look out for a guide to laying-up your bike in Slipstream next month.

As a Club we continue to be active at all levels despite not being able to meet as a Club. The Local Teams are doing a great job organising social runs on a regular basis and also Observer swaps for Associates. We’re also having a rush of test passes as Associates complete the Advanced Rider Course. Chris Brownlee is making test pass announcements on the St Crispin’s Zoom call each month. Last month he announced 6 test passes, 1 Masters and 4 Observer validations. Also we had 131 riders participate on 24 social runs that were reported using the Social Run form on the website.

Finally, after five years on the TVAM Committee, the last four as Chairman, it’s time for me to step down at January’s AGM. This of course is only possible if there’s a volunteer willing to take up the reins of Chair so I’m pleased that we already have a member who’s stepped forward agreeing to be nominated. If anyone else feels they would like to consider the role do please feel free to contact me at chairman@tvam.org for some background to what’s involved.

Keep safe in these difficult times

Andy Slater
Chairman