With the great weather in July and Chris undecided as to whether to ditch his Blackbird, we headed off to Bulldog Triumph to try out some of their bikes.

Out with the old?

I was primarily interested in the Tiger 1050 Sport. I’d heard a lot about the differences that I’d find between the new model and my “old” 2006 bike. First impressions were good, the solid feel of the Tiger, a little quiet for my liking but I’m sure that wouldn’t be to difficult to fix. The brakes are awesome! Just pulling up outside the dealer before heading off gave an indication as to how much better a new set of brakes can feel over a 25k mile set. Same with the suspension. This bike doesn’t wallow around corners (!) – maybe I should invest some money in a suspension refresh…

It was 30°C and 3pm on a Friday afternoon so didn’t get a chance to try the headlights. I’d be interested to see how they compare to mine [HID dip and standard “candle” main]

After half an hour or so we swapped bikes.

This Daytona is a bit different!

After wafting along in the arm-chair comfort of the Tiger, the Daytona was a bit of a shock. It is absolutely tiny.I’m looking straight at the road about 10 feet in front of the bike. To look down the road I have to crane my neck into a very uncomfortable position – and then I can’t look through the lenses of my glasses so the view is all blurred!

The bike goes like a rocket and hits the rev limiter in every gear that I use. I just can’t change gear fast enough. And what a great sound comes from the Arrow slip-on exhaust. Conclusions:

• Chris loved the Daytona and hated the Tiger
• It was as fast (in real life) as his Blackbird, was so much lighter and flickable and just more fun.
• He’s not sure he could ride one to Wales and back in a weekend…

• I loved the Tiger but sportsbikes are not my cup of tea (glad I tried it though)

And then there was this sitting in the car park back at Bulldog…

It was hot though…