Speed Triple, Tuono, S4RS Comparo

[desmoface]

Hey gang, was fortunate enough to ride these today
http://www.pbase.com/desmoface/image/60476636.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/desmoface/image/60476695.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/desmoface/image/60350149.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/desmoface/image/60350134.jpg

The new tuono felt a lot like my 03..great all around bike..great power, brakes, fit/finish. I'm not much into the looks though. Lots of fun, though.

The S4RS is eff'ing amazing. My favorite of the bunch. Most aggressive ergo's and motor...Although I'm sure that all three make similar power, the duc felt more viscious in it's delivery. The sound of the testastretta motor was intoxicating...It's a tasty combination of power, sound and sensation. Don't know how they do it but the Ducati's never cease to amaze me.

The speed triple is another great machine. The overall quality of the parts used is a step down when compared to the other two. The brakes are nissin and the lever feels a bit mushy compared to the others..I've also read a lot of complaints about the brake lever's coming all the way to the bar on the triumph forums. The bike I rode exhibited the excessive brake lever play but they worked fine. I like the ergo's on the speed triple the best of the bunch. The motor is fantastic also. It's also (to me) better looking than the tuono and right up there with the duc.

The duc is probably the best bike I've ever ridden (just my opinion). I was thinking about how my wife was going to react when I came home with one.

I rode the speed triple right after the duc and after a while the ducati's magical powers started to wear off and I regained my sense of reality. Maintenance on the duc is between $550 and $1500 depending on how many valves/rockers need adjusting. And 6k comes along way too soon at those costs..

The trumpet really did tickle me bloody fancy, a little less than the duc, but enough to keep me happy. In the end, I'm still not sure what I will get, but it sure is fun riding all these great bikes :burnout:

Steve

[Beau1K]

You must be getting old :rolleyes: The Tuono is a WAY sexier beast than the competition. That red color scheme sucks though. The black is where it's at. The silver one is cool too.

The bugeyed tripple is just boring looking. And for me the ergo's were garbage...I felt VERY scrunched with a severe lack of room.

The ducati is bad ass but the seat feels too low to me and why anybody would subject themselves to that kind of maintenance is a mystery to me. Plus that frame is weak and played out.

The single sided swingarm on both the Triumph and the Ducati is hot though...I'll have to admit.

I think once you dump the stock cans on the Tuono and get it sorted it'll be a way better bike overall compared to the other two.

(all comments IMO of course)

[desmoface]

Hey Beau, I do agree that the Tuono felt the biggest of the bunch..the ergo's were closer to the speed triple than the ducati...the ducati felt small..matter of fact, I showed my wife this picture and she said "that bike looks too small for you"
http://www.pbase.com/desmoface/image/60350134.jpg

Dunno, what I will get. I think I will wait till later in the season and see what kind of deals pop up. The tuono/aprilia dealer sometimes cut's prices big time near the end of the season. At this point, the duc is my favorite but it's close enough that if a stupid good deal came by on either of the three, I'd probably jump on it.

As far as Ducati maintenance..thats a big point for me. As much as I love the duc, I can't get past that maintenance issue. It's the reason I got rid of my 916 years ago.

Steve

[Arnie]

You look like you fit the Duc really well in that pic, just my two cents. It doesn't look small on ya. I know what you mean about the Duc, I'd love to have one but the maintenance cost scare me.

Also, the first thing I would do if I ever bought a naked bike again is replace the mirrors and go with the bar end type. The stock mirrors on all three of those bikes are just fugly.

[Beau1K]

Plus that cheesey windscreen feels like it's going to fly off on the monster once you get over 80mph.

I'm biased...of course...but anyways...the new Tuono didn't do much for me when I first saw it but now I'm in love!!! Can't wait until used ones start popping up!!

[desmoface]

Hey Arnie, yeah, it felt like it fit like a glove...I loved everything about it..If you get a chance, ride that new s4rs...it's a stunning machine. The first thing it will get will probably be those crg bar end mirrors. I had those on my 03 tuono and I liked them a lot..made the bike look a lot better also.

Steve


You look like you fit the Duc really well in that pic, just my two cents. It doesn't look small on ya. I know what you mean about the Duc, I'd love to have one but the maintenance cost scare me.

Also, the first thing I would do if I ever bought a naked bike again is replace the mirrors and go with the bar end type. The stock mirrors on all three of those bikes are just fugly.

[desmoface]

You must have ridden one because I was just on some twisty back roads and it was kind of bouncing around a bit...I'd actually just remove it as I think the monster looks better totally naked.

Steve


Plus that cheesey windscreen feels like it's going to fly off on the monster once you get over 80mph.

I'm biased...of course...but anyways...the new Tuono didn't do much for me when I first saw it but now I'm in love!!! Can't wait until used ones start popping up!!

[Beau1K]

Ya...I've ridden all three and when I was done it was an EASY choice in my opinion.

The Tuono is just a friggen beast! I just loved everything about it. I am 6'2" so I really liked the riding position and how you were more "on top" of the bike vs. being "in" the bike. If I were to get a new Tuono I'd have to figure out a way to raise the seat height back to the same height of the previous generation.

[T06]

The difference in height isn't really noticeable, well wasn't to me anyways.

[T06]

I'd take the 06Tuono with cans 15t front cog & the updated map in the ecu for a good twist before you made the final decision, the diff is night/day.;) I have to admit though if the S4RS was around when I bought my T6 I would definately have test rode it.Some people don't like the trellis frame look but Duc have a rep in the corners & guess where it comes from. Personally I like the Ducs too.

[TUONOAPE]

buy the duc, they need the sales, and the service guys need the work.

[T06]

you feeling subtle again t'ape:)

[TUONOAPE]

sorry, can't help myself :) , but it's obvious what you want 'desmo', so just do it and save everyone the crap (shit, sorry there I go again!).

[desmoface]

:WTF: I thought this was a forum where we were supposed to discuss these things? What would your response have been if I said the Tuono was the greatest bike ever made? Why even waste the bandwidth with this kind of post?

Steve


sorry, can't help myself :) , but it's obvious what you want 'desmo', so just do it and save everyone the crap (shit, sorry there I go again!).

[desmoface]

Hi T06. Well, I wasn't expecting the duc to make that kind of power...The riding position was a little more aggressive than the rest...Something I could live with..I (personal opinion, tuonoape) think the motor was frickin amazing..

I will probably wind up with the speed triple for a couple of reasons. The aprilia dealership is kind of far away and they are the only one in the area. If they stop dealing in Aprilia I'm in trouble. I'm good friends with the people at the Duc/Triumph dealership and am personal friends with the service manager. In the end the maintenance cost's on the duc are too much for me to swallow. Frickin duc was the shit though.

Steve


I'd take the 06Tuono with cans 15t front cog & the updated map in the ecu for a good twist before you made the final decision, the diff is night/day.;) I have to admit though if the S4RS was around when I bought my T6 I would definately have test rode it.Some people don't like the trellis frame look but Duc have a rep in the corners & guess where it comes from. Personally I like the Ducs too.

[Arnie]

I had an '02 Speed Triple and loved it. Great bike. If you get the new S3 check out the Zard exhaust. It is totally bitchin and gives the bike a really clean look.

[desmoface]

Hey Arnie, yeah that does look pretty good...I'm still kind of up in the air on what I'm gonna do..they were all great bikes...As much as I loved my 03 tuono, the dealership was too far away. All the bikes were so good that it will come down to stuff like how close the dealership is..Thanks again for the pic..

Steve


I had an '02 Speed Triple and loved it. Great bike. If you get the new S3 check out the Zard exhaust. It is totally bitchin and gives the bike a really clean look.

[TUONOAPE]

What would your response have been if I said the Tuono was the greatest bike ever made?
Probably something like why even waste the bandwidth with that kind of post :)

But seriously, buy the duc. It is what you want, and you believe it to be the best bike and the one that you would be happiest with, and I'm a big believer in getting the bike that stirs your heart and your soul, not your head. You only get one go at life. So what's a bit of extra servicing cost in the scheme of things? If it's really what you want, then anything else will be a compromise, and you'll be wishing you'd have got what you really wanted in the first place.

[Beau1K]

the dealership was too far away.
Steve

How far is too far??

[desmoface]

Hey Beau, the nearest aprilia dealership is about 45 minutes away. To be honest, I don't know much about this place...I'm sure you heard of the Starboys...Well, this is the dealership they used to work at..not that that means anything..It is a high volume dealership though..I guess that could be good and bad. I just really don't know much about them other than that... After that, the next nearest would probably be in PA, which is about 100 miles away.

The trumpet/duc dealership is a different story..I know everyone there, bought many bikes from them. I'm good friends with the service manager (knew him before he was the service manager) there and he always takes care of me. They also have a great mechanic there...Which to me is a big deal..I'm anal about who works on my bike..

Funny, I always ask the general manager when they are going to pick up Aprilia...don't look like it's going to happen any time soon though LOL..

We'll see what happens..I'm not in a hurry to get a bike..I will probably wait till the end of the season when all the deals start to happen..I may wind up on a tuono yet..

Steve


How far is too far??

[Arnie]

But seriously, buy the duc. It is what you want, and you believe it to be the best bike and the one that you would be happiest with, and I'm a big believer in getting the bike that stirs your heart and your soul, not your head. You only get one go at life. So what's a bit of extra servicing cost in the scheme of things? If it's really what you want, then anything else will be a compromise, and you'll be wishing you'd have got what you really wanted in the first place.

:plus: Bikes are an emotional purchase. If you don't get the one you really want you'll always be thinking about it.

[Beau1K]

:plus: Bikes are an emotional purchase. If you don't get the one you really want you'll always be thinking about it.

That's EXACTLY why I got the Tuono. :plus:

[splatty]

I think the size issue is of greater importance than the servicing issue tbh.

Desmo, you look like you fit the duc perfect. My mate rides a monster and he fits it perfect, my tuono is too big for him.

As for the rest, it's a matter of taste. My Tono is silver, and personally I don't like the red one like you rode. That's just me though.

The other thing I really like is peoples reaction to the Tuono. I think that most of this is due to you the fact that you can go for miles and miles and miles and not see another one.

You don't in the UK anyway.

Dave

[el flema]

:plus: Bikes are an emotional purchase. If you don't get the one you really want you'll always be thinking about it.
Absolutely right!!!!
I also testdrove these bikes, personally I would choose the speed triple over the duc. I also drove the KTM super duker, also a great bike. Then, the Tuono came along and I followed my heart and bought the black one.

[JP_TUONO]

:plus: Bikes are an emotional purchase. If you don't get the one you really want you'll always be thinking about it.
Totally agree with you but in this case I´ll probably go for the Duc since I don´t like the new Tuno look,and the new Duc has a 130 hp engine that performs great,top suspension and brakes,not tomention the full Termi exhaust system available with ECU and air filter that adds 18 bhp to the beast.The only thing that stops me is the price (16400 euros stock bike):WTF:

[desmoface]

I agree..she's a bit costly, the duc...It is a great time to be a motorcyclist..these bikes are all so good..can't really go wrong with any of them..Thanks for all the advice..still up in the air..but these 3 bikes are at the top of my list...I have a feeling that flat black tuono may change my mind on the looks though..I have to scope it out when the dealership gets one in.

Steve


Totally agree with you but in this case I´ll probably go for the Duc since I don´t like the new Tuno look,and the new Duc has a 130 hp engine that performs great,top suspension and brakes,not tomention the full Termi exhaust system available with ECU and air filter that adds 18 bhp to the beast.The only thing that stops me is the price (16400 euros stock bike):WTF: