Hi all,

Looks like a great forum here. I'm from Surrey and just south of London UK. I currently ride a 2008 matte graphite Triumph Street Triple R. Loads of mods, and ridden within an inch of it's life. The bike is excellent, but after 18months and 14K miles I'm getting itchy for a change and a touch more of the hooligan vibe!



I've been looking at all the super nakeds, Triumph Speed Triple 1050 R, Honda CB1000R, Ducati Streetfighter 848 and 1000S. I've test ridden the standard Speed and CB1000R so. The Speed was good, just as I expected a bigger version of my current Street, a little heavier but still very nimble. The CB1000R was woefully boring and had no flare about it, very bland!

I'm test riding a Super Duke 990R this Saturday, with a view to potentially trading my Street Triple R in for it. I have a few general queries about the Super Duke if you guys could help me out?

What revisions have been make to the Super Duke since it's release? I see the R version came out with revised suspension, ride height and some engine internals, does it put out more horse power? Was there a revision to the R in 2008? I read something about the throttle response being improved.

How bad is the throttle response on the SD? Everyone was whining about the jerky throttle on the Street Triple when I first bought one. It took a little getting used to, but was never really an issue for me and now it's just the norm. I love the instant power when the throttle is whacked open. I'm hoping the SD will be more of the same, but still useable around town on occasion.most reviews I've read say the SD is great out on the open road but awful around town.

I know the SD is not one for fuel economy, but what's the best you can get out of a tank of fuel? My STR will go to about 140miles before running out of fuel and the low fuel warning light comes on about 120miles.

Is reliability an issue with the SD? I'll be looking at some Euro tours this year and of course I would like to be able to rely on the bike I take not breaking down on me. I've read things about expanding fuel tank that won't refit etc. anything else which goes wrong with them?

I love the looks of the SD 990, and the new 1290 for that matter, but £14K is a stupid amount of money and out of my budget. I'm hoping the Super Duke R will be an improvement over the Street Triple R with regard to blasting about like a nutter and still be a very usable bike. All your thoughts on the above would be appreciated.

Cheers

Change…… you won't regret it……………

the SDR is everything you love about your STR just, in the words of Spinal Tap, turned up to eleven. Lots of people whinge about throttle response and jerkiness but like your experience with the triumph - its just what you get used to - an IL4 it is not….. Agricultural, exhilarating, visceral, spine tingling and an absof&ckinglute hoot to ride is what it is……

reliability - just talk to No.47 -he's up in the 80k mark i think now - Colonel Klincks went to 55k before it detonated, but a few too many of those miles were done flat out! and No.47's was a battle bike before the road. They have some issue but they are well documented on this forum and so many here are thrashed round the track that a few niggles are bound to show….

In this house we like them so much we had 2….. until the duchess produced the little one….. now she say she's just happy to track mine!

PS….. welcome aboard by the way!

Nice Trumpet! From your post, it sounds like you have done your homework, time to find a local SD and ride it

I haven't had my bike long enough to give you a very informed response, but my 2007 does suffer from the herky jerky throttle, although that is a problem that is easily solved with a couple of inexpensive mods. Just have not had time yet.

Regarding reliability, it is a KTM, so you will have to get to know many of the aspects of owning/maintaining the machine, things you wouldn't have to worry about on that bland Honda. Probably the same is true with your Triumph. All the problems are well documented. But the bikes are extremely well made, pure thoroughbreds, and "ready to race" right out of the box. Most of us will never leave the brand. Lots of owners of the LC8 based bikes get 80-100k miles with good maintenance habits.

Others on this forum know everything there is to know about the Super Duke, and you will find a vast resource of info here. One of the best things about owning an SD is the community of other hot-tempered mavericks that ride them.

Hope you find one to ride, tell us what you think!

Welcome to the nuthouse.

Have a read of thread for any questions you have .

Like Gin said the SD (especially the R) is like your Street Trip, but on 'roids!

As for the jerky throttle, I've never really had a problem. Bought it standard and there was a little bit, but learnt to deal with it quickly. You will probably need to feather the clutch at low speeds but thats about it.