Yesterday was my mother’s 84th birthday and I rode down the 65 mile journey to Ruislip to see her. Last year on her birthday I did exactly the same and I had just picked up the bike I’m riding now so, one year of riding it, what do I think of it – and how is it running?

I remember that it felt so much like a real bike and made the Bandit 600 that I owned previously feel rather tinny in comparison. The Triumph feels much more solid, sophisticated (it has a radiator and a fuel gauge!), and has what people call grunt. Now that I’ve ridden for a year and 2000 miles, including two brief continental trips I can confirm that this is a comfortable and capable bike. In Germany, about 8 hours riding one day left me with a tired right hand but no back ache, sore bottom or any other debilitating pain. The bike can also achieve some nice speeds with little drama. Its wind noise and blast that limit speed, apart from nerve and the law. The speedo has read over 100 on occasions, once for longer than a few seconds, but my GPS has showed me that the speedo consistently over estimates speed by 6mph. It is, so far, reliable and has never stopped or refused to start. And having spent a year, many hours on ebay and a few hundred pounds, on Triumph luggage, it is sorted for more tours. So, is there anything I would change? Well, the colour – I would never have chosen a blue bike; maybe a taller winsdscreen – which I can do anyway. And it is rather top heavy. In a slow sharp turn I’ve often felt that I was going to topple inwards. The only reason to change would be to try something different – like a big trail type bike.