I haven’t gained confidence in my nice new(ish) Trimuph Sprint. Now I have a nice new battery, fully charged on my new Optimate charger (battery and Optimate – another £100). So it starts beautifully now and sounds great. But I cut what was going to be a quick blast into the country into a short circle around town because the engine management warning light is now on. The little symbol is a diagram of an engine but I wonder whether it ought to be a pound sign. Luckily the bike is booked in next week for a service and other sort out, so I will add this to the list. What’s the betting its some obscure part that needs ordering from Triumph and will take 6 weeks? (Now, I am just being a pessimist here.) Or maybe something just needs resetting after being batteryless for a couple of days… Its strange when things start off with niggles before there’s a chance to feel settled into a confidence. Funnily, when this light comes on, the handbook says, the engine goes into ‘limp-home’ mode. I must say I didn’t notice much limping. In my usual inept riding style when I turned on the lights I opened up the throttle unexpectedly and the bike shot forward with impressive eagerness. It is as if the bike is saying to me ‘ride me properly’. On the hope side my Bandit is going up nicely on ebay so hopefully paying for all this work on my limping beauty.

Hmmm. After the initial euphoria of riding this lovely bike, some reality is dawning – an expensive reality. I’ve noticed that the front fork oil seal isn’t doing its job and oil is leaking right almost down to the brake discs, so that needs replacing – probably £100. It may be low mileage but it hasn’t been serviced in 4 years so a major service is due – price unknown so far, and today I got dressed up for a quick ride and the battery is absolutely flat – another £40 or so. So this beauty is booked in for a sort out next week at Cambridge Motorcycles in Cheddars Lane – but a trip up there by foot is called for to get a new battery so that I can actually get the bike up there. My enthusiasm is definitely on hold until the end of next week. What I hopefully get for the sale of the maligned but reliable Bandit will pay for this and some luggage and GPS with any luck. Oh by the way, also when I picked it up I realised it wasn’t taxed so there went £60 in the local post office to ride it home legally….

While this machine is still strange to me, comparisons with the Bandit 600 are very clear. This bike feels SOLID and in some ways its what I expected from a big bike and what the Bandit doesn’t deliver. I never really got used to the Bandit’s high revving motor. One touch on its throttle for example and the engine whines at high speed and first gear is just for getting going and many times I tried to move up into an imaginary 7th gear. Riding on the Sprint and you are aware that there are pistons going up and down and creating a great deal of power and forward motion. The throttle isn’t on some hair trigger. The clutch and gear change are both much heavier and this can lead to a tired hand in traffic. Out on the motorway, there is just so much willing power to spare. Cruising at 80 is entirely comfortable and 90 feels no different at all. Getting up to 100 which I think I did just feels like driving – on the Bandit it felt like a real event and not very comfortable. Riding all day? Hmm. My shoulder was hurting after 45 minutes but eased off. There seem to be more riding positions than available on the Bandit: you can ride with bent or straight arms and that helps. Other nice things: it has a fuel gauge and an auxiliary power socket. What I don’t like: as one review said, the mirrors give you a great view of your shoulders, and I noticed that the the fork oil is leaking when I arrived home. What next? A service, new fork oil seal, a luggage rack and a tank bag, a Scottoiler and maybe get the headlights rewired so that they both come on.