2014 Triumph Trophy SE

We were introduced on April 1, 2006, but the story starts a year before that.

On an early spring day in 2005, I suddenly realized I had no choice.  I needed to buy a sport bike.  I already had a Harley Davidson Electraglide, so the sport bike was a significant departure.  I can't explain the logic, but I had no choice in the matter.
A bit of searching showed a lot of sport bikes quickly get beat up pretty bad.  Recalling an in-passing conversation with a coworker the previous fall, I contacted Matt who confirmed he was selling his 2001 Honda VFR.  A few conversations and a test ride later and I bought the low mileage bike for a fair price.
I doubled the mileage on it that summer and loved it.  There were two real problems with it though.  First, I couldn't carry anything outside of my pockets on it.  The lines on the bike were gorgeous and the thought of destroying it with beetle bags or scratching the snot out of the rear end with textile bags was horrifying.
The second problem?  I was always getting into the triple digits on the bike.
Of all the motorcycles I have owned, that VFR had the best voice.  The growl from the exhaust under a heavy throttle at speed combined with just the right amount of whine from the gear-driven cams combined to an intoxicating sound.

The next spring the VFR had to go.  On a glorious April 1, after contacting many Honda dealerships the plan was to start close to home and ride until I found the right combination of price and trade-in.  I sealed the deal at the second dealership I went to and rode home on my new 2006 Honda ST1300.  This was the beginning of a strong friendship.

That ST1300 grew to become my best friend.  I commuted on it most days during three seasons.  I had impromptu trips to see friends or nowhere in particular.  With a humongous gas tank and reasonable mileage, I could leave home and arrive at Terry's house in Northern Michigan without even stopping.  Helibars was about the only modification that the bike needed.
I went through a lot during that friendship, even killing my second deer while on two wheels.  On the good days, we had a constant conversation through throttle, brakes, seat...  On the best days, the bike was an extension of me.
It was not an easy decision, but at some point I knew the friendship needed to come to an end.  I would often find myself far from home with a desperate need to get home fast which would mean long hours on the interstate.  Not having cruise control could make this painful even with the Helibars (I had grown fond of cruise since I also owned a GL1800 which replaced the Electraglide).  A few other reasons helped my eyes move toward new bikes; while an amazing bike, the ST is a bit long in the tooth, and Honda's recent direction of new bikes can generously be described as odd.

There were really two bikes I considered to replace the ST1300, bikes that had the minimum of what I was looking for:  The Triumph Trophy SE and the BMW R1200RT.
The nearest BMW dealerships are almost two hours a way.  Even my born-in-Germany die-hard biker acquaintance described both of them as sub-par (he surprisingly chose Buell until they were folded by Harley Davidson).  And, I'm just not ready to feel that proud of myself and say, "Yeah, I'm a BMW guy."
I had cut my teeth on British cars, working as a line mechanic on aging sports cars descended from the crown.  I paid for college on Lucas electrics, bad gearboxes and questionable front suspensions.  I love British vehicles, quirks and all.  There was no choice.

A few visits to nearby dealerships and a down payment later brought a new 2014 Triumph Trophy SE.
I picked up the new bike on a warm very-early spring day.  The 'wet' in the picture below is melting ice in the shadow of the garage I had to survive.  Interesting friendships almost always start out with a story.

True to British form, there are a few quirks compared to the refined ST1300.  Everything is computer controlled and it takes rolling a few tenths of a mile for the computer to fully sync up.  The most interesting manifestation of this is that after refueling, the bike needs to think and decide if more petrol was put into the tank before displaying the new fuel level.
But, the bike is lighter, faster and more agile than the ST.  Compared to the ST, cornering on the Trophy feels more like the vehicle is right on the balls of its feet, ready to spring where I will it.  The computer is filled with a wealth of information and a quick flick of my left thumb can ease my paranoia toward low tire pressure.  The various combinations of suspension make more difference than I would have expected, and much more difference than the rear preload on the ST1300.  Wind deflection is more pronounced with the windshield up and still free flowing down; I just wish the antenna was stiffer so it didn't violently bounce around when the windshield is set to push air toward it.

It was hard to sell my best friend.  But, I'm starting a new friendship and that is always exciting.  I am on the cusp of creating many new memories with the 2014 Triumph Trophy SE.