1997 Triumph Daytona review from New Zealand

3500kms; Gearbox locked up. warranty replacement of 4th and 6th gear.

4000kms; Rear tail-light fell out.

10000kms; Fuel hose came adrift inside fuel tank.

22000kms; Wires shorted out in loom preventing starting.

32000kms; Gearbox lunched itself again. 2 gears replaced and selector forks.

33000kms; Starter clutch broke.

The bike handles very well with the right tyres. A nice rounded profile on the front works best; I use Pirelli Supercorsas.

The engine is great.. great sound.. good power that's distributed well throughout the range.

Comfort is no good for me. Get very sore wrists and numb hands at anything like legal speed. Go faster and keep busier is a remedy.

Reliability is horrendous. This bike stranded me 5 times in 34000k from new. The mechanical design is obviously deficient. To replace a starter clutch for instance, requires removal of the engine from frame, and bottom end disassembly!?

The local dealer was as poor as the reliability. After going to another dealer, their service was worse.

I could live with all the little foibles with this bike. But I can't live with a bike that will randomly break down every 6000 kms or so. Unreliability is just not an option when buying brand new goods.

The bike cost me $NZ18,000, and I have spent over $7000 on mechanical repairs. The warranty repair would have made it over $10,000 if I had paid for that. And obviously this doesn't include the standard running costs of servicing and tyres.