you are, King of the Road. There are few peers.
The T120 provokes the most loyal of followings.
After just two days riding, mine named itself. I
was trying to describe the huge depths of riding
pleasure to be had from this bike. Whether idling,
cruising or seeing off noisy continental boys, the cat-
like poise was constant. It was magnificently polite.
A fast, powerful, card sharping, lover (of prodigious
talents), wrapped up in a tailor-made suit and tie,
with coat and casual cravat. Gloves. A gentleman.
Gentleman Jack.
Alternating between Jack, the 2016, and this
2017 version, I noted a very slight difference in
the mid range rev, from 3000 to 4500. The ’17 was
slightly swifter. A widely experienced motorcycling
friend was conscripted to ride alongside and
compare. “Yep. The new one’s quicker”.
I went online. Triumph said there is no change.
The stroppy community of ‘Triumph Rat’
agreed, “No difference. Same configs.”
I talked to the oracle at the factory. No changes.
Hmm. My bike was definitely slower. Was it
a new map perhaps? We installed the latest
map. Nup. Same. Then it dawned, my bike was
in need of its first service - was a bit overdue
actually – and sure enough. Clean filters and
oil and the zap matched the newcomer. So,
Triumph appears to think - if it aint broke don’t
fix it. Well, it very definitely ain’t broke.
When I first bought Jack, I looked at the front
end. Having ridden some of the Street models
plumbed with Brembos, I was a trifle disappointed
that Triumph did not carry that marque across.
However, the twin Nissin units deliver powerful
linear braking, without the nose-wheelie-inducing
anchoring fear you can sometimes find with big
Brembos. Some owners have reported a whine
or squeal in some kind of ‘harmonic’ to the forks,
and in fact mine did that for about a week, before
bedding in. But since then I have had no further
occurrence of it. The Kayaba front suspension with
the rubber fork gaiters, work well in cleaning up
bumps and ripples, and tracking is solid and true.
Originally fitted with Pirelli Sportscomp Phantom
tyres, I did notice a slight tendency to wander
around, caused by longitudinal cracks and ripples
in the road surface, but having replaced these with
Pirelli Angel GT’s, that has all but disappeared.
The standard offering for the T120 delivers some
78 KIWI RIDER
Boundless torque; great retro looks;
You may never want to sell it