England's Swingin' New 600

ENGLAND'S SWINGIN’ NEW 600

Nice bike, Triumph’s TT600, but never a contender for top supersport status. Well, how ’bout this, then? New for ’03 is the Daytona 600, a sharply styled, stem-tostern rethink that looks to be a serious player in what is rapidly becoming the “Year of the 600.” Triumph goes up against Japan’s Big Four with a thoroughly massaged motor boasting twin-butterfly fuel-injection, head-work and grams of weight shaved from many components. The claim is 110 bhp, which should be in the hunt. Tweaks to the aluminum chassis include lighter beams, a quickened 24.6-degree rake and a shorter 54.7-inch wheelbase. Fork is a conventional cartridge unit, but with all-alloy internals good for a 2.2-pound savings in unsprung weight. Dry weight, says Hinckley, is a feathery 363 pounds, again on par with the rest of the class. No word on price, or if we’ll finally see a Triumph return to top-level roadracing with the bike.