Triumphant Tt?

TRIUMPHANT TT?

Is the third time ’round a charm for Triumph’s TT600? Despite a year’s worth of updates, the ’02 TT costs the same as it did last year-$8299. The Caspian Blue paint returns, too, though the bike is now also available in yellow or black with color-matched air-intake snorkels. Fuel-injection refinements, internal friction losses and a revised midpipe yield a claimed 10 more peak horsepower. Things still aren’t so cheery down low, however, as journalists discovered during a Triumph press intro at the Streets of Willow Springs. Middleweight sportbikes have never been stump-pullers, but the TT600’s bottom end is flatter than Ally McBeal’s. Otherwise, the TT’s positive traits, such as its excellent brakes, great-steering chassis and comfortable seating position, remain. Verdict? The TT600 is a nice enough bike in its own right, but nice may not be enough in the most piranha-like of sportbike categories. Survival of the fittest, they say. -Mark Cernicky