TRIUMPH SPRINT GT 1050 (2010 - on) Review

Version: SE

Year: 2015

Not a sport tourer by any stretch, plenty of power, loads of baggage space, large tank but really really let down by the riding position and uncomfortable seats

Buying experience: Bought from a dealer, very overpriced and not the quality I expected when I got to see the bike

Year: 2010

Fun to ride, lost of power especially when you get the throttle wide open, the the throttle has a particularly long action, but it's a fun bike with excellent sure-footed handling around the tightest country roads. Seat is all-day comfy, (despite being 65 with arthritis & spondylitis) - just returned from a west-country trip with no issues riding all day; major gripe - the panniers! Small internally, VERYheavy, clumsy & awkward, really guys, take a look at how Givi make panniers! Dash lights could be brighter; but excellent 'ride' which is the most important thing. 48mpg riding in a spirited fashion... Those under-tank rubber strips - that velcro into place, a really stupid idea....

Buying experience: bought second hand from local bike shop. not particularly helpful local dealer LOL....

Year: 2011

The ability to cover long distances in reasonable comfort with a week's worth of stuff in the built-in panniers are the best features. Downside is the weight, it makes riding twisty roads like Alpine hairpins tricky. Overall I would definitely recommend it - 28K miles so far and no intention of replacing it - there isn't anything quite the same.

Year: 2014

Excellent work horse. Good quality finish. Reliable. Economical. Very practical and comfortable bike. I would highly recommend the Triumph, you can tour comfortably or just use it for a weekend blast. It's a great alrounder on a budget.

Version: SE model.

Year: 2014

Bought mine as an ex Triumph press bike in 2017 with only 2500 miles on the clock. I do a bit of Blood bike riding on BMW 1200 RT, Yamaha FJ1300 etc and still love coming back to the Triumphosauras. Girlfriend loves the pillion arrangements and the luggage is superb. An excellent bike and imho, no other sports tourer to match its overall package or abilities. Excellent bike - Triumph - do an updated version as well as all these adventure/retro bikes.

Version: SE

Year: 2016

Superb / Fast With Plenty Of Grunt / Comfy / What More Do You Want

Year: 2012

Annual servicing cost: £300

Has been a brilliant bike, heavier than sportsbikes but when the road is not too smooth they move aside, so stable through bumpy corners, mates can't believe it. Have done 110k now and last official service was 50k (apart from oil/filter). Mechanic is a mate and he listens to it, asks about the fuel economy and does it start first time (everytime) so he sends me away.

Buying experience: Brought brand new for $20k.

Version: SE

Year: 2014

Annual servicing cost: £250

Handlebars are too low and forward - where do you get risers for this model? Triumph has no aftermarket risers and Helibars dont make any for this model.

Buying experience: Dealer. Team Moto at Springwood, Brisbane - excellent service, especially Naomi who knows her stuff and I bought an extra $500 worth of goodies.

Year: 2010

Bought this for one trip to Slovenia - I've still got it four years later. Does everything I want of it, and returns 50 mpg most days.

Version: SE

Year: 2012

Annual servicing cost: £200

I bought this bike for 2 up riding, as my Panigale is torture for a pillion rider. I have to say, I've been very impressed. It's a bit heavy, and lets you know when you're taking the corners a little too quickly, but what a machine for getting anywhere in comfort, at speed and with no fuss.

Buying experience: I bought privately and got a brilliant bike for not a lot.

Year: 2011

I love this bike! Solid on the road, forgiving, predictable and fast. Eats bumpy roads- factory settings probably a bit soft but easy to adjust.

Version: SE

Year: 2015

A very complete package. Just completed a 3000 mile journey ( France,Italy,Sardinia,Austria,Germany ). The bike was faultless, we could ride for 250km/3hours at a time with no problems,cruising the bike was doing 55mpg at @ 80-85mph. Ran a couple of mountain passes and even loaded the bike handled very well. I changed the Bridgestone tyres for Dunlop Roadsmarts after 100 miles and this improved the already good feel and turn in. At £8999 this bike is the bargain of the century !!

Buying experience: The dealer ( Ongar Motorcycles ) was easy to deal with and helpful, no problems at all.

Version: SE

Year: 2016

SE now with gel comfort saddle, touring screen, 3 piece floating high capacity high quality luggage with 12v supply & pillion backrest, centre stand, hugger, Heated grips. Only slight negative is they've discontinued the carbon tank protector BUT Infinite Performance produce one that is slightly more generous and approx £10 cheaper anyway.

Buying experience: JS Gedge have restored my faith in Triumph dealers. Hughenden M40 can rot in hell!

Year: 2013

Highly recommended. This is a cracking combination of the previous 955 and 1050ST (Which I've owned prior to this bike) and is a simple but effective sports tourer. Highly recommended, I just wish that Triumph would release an updated version.

Version: SE

Year: 2015

I had a Sprint ST for 6 years and swapped that for the GT as myself and wife now do more touring. The luggage is better and the pillion arrangement but the exhaust pipe looks worse and its slightly heavier

Buying experience: I have bought several Triumphs from the same dealer, always very friendly and enjoyable to visit.

Version: SE

Year: 2015

Too much weight on your wrist's, handle bar's need to be pulled back. This bike would be no good on a long run.

Buying experience: Dealer, £9,750

Year: 2014

Excellent bike does everything you want out of a sports tourer, the equipment lever is superb, with a 12 volt plug in the top box you can charge up your phone, there is also a 12 volt plug connecter down the side of the left hand side of the fairing for a satnav, excellent if your touring,the seat is a gel seat and is perfect, my only complaint is the handle bars are a little low for me as I am over 6 feet and get aching wrists after 40 minuets or so. Over all a great all round bike.

Buying experience: Bought from a Triumph dealer in Manchester, quibbled a bit but got what I wanted for my trade in plus a scotoiler

Version: GT SE

Year: 2014

Annual servicing cost: £200

Huge luggage enough for two for two weeks. Could do with a higher screen, 3 or 5 inches i,m 6'1 and you get a little bit wind/wind noise. Weather protection from the faring 4 out of 5. Passenger comfort fantostic

Buying experience: Romford Triumph [ask for Ken] 10/10

Version: GTSE

Year: 2015

Annual servicing cost: £200

Outstanding performance, good fuel economy. Ergonomically very comfortable on long journeys.

Buying experience: Both from Youles triumph in Blackburn .Highly recommend this dealer. First class service. Bought using the Tri-Star finance plan.

Bought the se version with heated grips top box gel seat and touring screen in my opinion no other bike comes close for value and quality it's smooth powerful comfortable and loads of luggage space and 50 mpg ! I'm 54 and feel it's perfect now my sports bike days are gone , just does what it says on the tin thank you Triumph for producing a high quality sports tourer for under £9k

Just bought a Sprint GT SE. A peach of an engine. Excellent ride quality. Comfortable riding position. High quality luggage. Can't fault it at the moment. Its everything I want from a motorbike. A good all rounder. I hope Triumph continue to make this type of 'traditional' sports tourer because not everyone wants an adventure styled bike.

Bought this in march 2011 have really enjoyed riding it in all weathers, snow, ice , rain, and occasional sun. This bike is fast, comfortable, economical and fun. It is solid, well built and finished. People mention small numbers on the speedo and no gear indicator! C'mon within a week you know what gear you are in, pushing down with your left foot at the lights is a habit and once you become one with your bike it's no problem. As for the speedo, I and I am sure most riders don't need a massive tv screen to tell them how fast they are going, you pick it up quickly. I believe this is the best bike you can buy for the money, it's as fast as anything 50 to 100 mph, great through town, light clutch, good brakes and a pure riding experience, buy it, you won't regret it, I am 6 ft 1" 17 stone, lluckily the missus isn't!

I took delivery of a new 9-11 model with 1km on the clock and after a gentle 500km, I rode 12,000km in 20 days (3/4 of the 'big lap' around Oz). Having a 2005 Daytona 955i, and a 2004 Sprint RS, this platform was a sweet mix of both. Comfort was a notable improvement, as was the outstanding storage in the large bespoke panniers. Over long milage, the fuel economy was also a significant improvement with the taller top gear - 7% higher than the 'Tony and RS, which returned an average of 5.0 l/100km over 12,000km. With some particularly flat runs, 4.5 l/100km was not uncommon! I did almost the same trip on the RS in 2010 (with less luggage) and recorded 5.9 l/100km. With the GT being around 60kg heavier, it's an impressive result. The pillars of this 'triple package' lies in that sweetly sounding and ever-reliable 1050 mill (although I still believe the 955i has better all 'round performance and that iconic British 'bark'), the improved comfort and very agreeable riding position and the additional storage in the panniers, under seat and the fairing-mounted lockable compartment, which is handy for snax and suncream, but it's not water proof! The new 12v aux charger was also great extra to keep the phone alive. All up, my backside and legs found the GT good for up to 1000km per day. The GT is very stable in cross winds and although the OEM windscreen is adequate, there is plenty of protection. The GT is equally at home flicking through the twisties and with some effort will keep up with the bigger bikes in the curves. On the down-side, there have been 2 issues, which Triumph resolved - from day 1, the fuel sender was a dud and after 3 replacements, they finally fitted one that worked. Secondly, and this was so weird, the bike 'changed its tune' - just prior to the 15,000km service, the engine became sluggish and lumpy low low. It lacked any real enthusiasm under 2000rpm. The Triumph Technician remarked how the current tune was set for a 'non-catalytic converter' (i.e. after-market pipe), which was baffling since the tune had not been touched since delivery! Resetting the tune to the original mode, the bike's low-down performance was immediately restored to normal... how odd?? Oh.. last of all, the analogue speedo is often difficult to read if there is any glare or visor gunk and I will never warm to it. Digital speedo has been the market standard for decade... I wish it was available in Tornado Red or Racing Yellow! Silver and blue is so vanilla.

I bought my Sprint GT new in October 2012. So far I can find nothing to criticise on this bike. Build quality appears to be excellent. The engine is fantastic, smooth but also has that great Triumph triple character. I'm as puzzled as the previous reviewer regarding criticism of the handling reported in one or two road tests in the motorcycle press. I find the ride quality to be very good, glides over road surface imperfections and goes exactly where I point it. Overall I'm really happy with the performance of the Sprint GT. The performance plus the practical aspects like quality panniers, heated grips, and really competitive pricing make it ideal in the real world of using the bike for weekend fun,week day commuting and summer holiday touring. Recommended.

One month on and the Sprint GT is proving to be a great package. I added a couple of options - heated grips, alarm, bigger screen and touring seat - which added a little to the price. It still came in at less than the competition, and to mind it looks better. I have not been able to fault the build quality, and I can attest to the fact that the panniers are waterproof even in monsoon conditions! The bigger screen works well, the seat is all day comfortable. I can't understand some of the reviews that talk about poor handling - sure it's no sports bike, but it's pretty good on the twisties compared to anything else I rode in this class. I have not had to wind up the rear suspension as some reviews suggested, and I'm not a small bloke so the suspension is "real world" fine, even if you can't spend two hours adjusting it to knock a few tenths off your lap time. For communting and touring you need a decent sized bike, and the Sprint GT is plenty big enough to be comfortable and stable, but agile enough to not be a pain around town. The panniers are huge, and I can manage 200 miles to a tank. Overall the Sprint GT is a great touring/commuting package. It lacks the BMW's toys, but it also lacks the price premium. Overall a real bike for the real world at a price a normal bloke can afford.

Had it 2 weeks now - just what I have been looking for in a road bike for a long time now

Just had a demo ride yesterday, had the bike for half a day managed to clock up 130 miles on a good cross section of roads. Now I normally ride a Rocket 3 two up. So I took the wife with me. The bike coped brilliantly with what must have been 30 stone of human luggage. The handling was sweet, the engine and gearbox superb. A fantastic bike for the price - the only cticism was at the standard screen, completely useless for a bike carrying a GT badge. The optional upgrade should prove a worthwhile investment. The standard screen offered no protection on the motorway and would put many off if they were after the bike for serious mile munching. I still rate the bike 5 star overall. The price tag for such a quality machine through it. PS as for the lights, ok I didn't do a night drive but I haven't had as many cars move over for me in a long time - they must have made some improvement!