2013 Triumph

2013 TRIUMPH

ROUNDUP

Daytona 675 or something far bigger?

WHILE THE 2012 ITERATION OF OUR FAVORITE BRITISH middleweight got minimal changes, spy shots from across the pond (that looked a lot like this illustration) revealed what’s purportedly a heavily revised Triumph Daytona 675 for ’ 13. They could be right. Then again, the bike in the aforementioned photos appeared to have the bigger 320mm front brake discs and 6-inch-wide rear wheel/190-section tire

that Triumph fits to its awesome, new-for-2011 Speed Triple. And what little we could see of the spy bike’s frame also appeared to be more along Speed Triple lines. Was the clutch cover a little bigger than what’s on the current 675? The whole Englishchilada looked just a tad broader of beam than the lithe little 675 we’ve

come to love—like it’s been hitting the gym. All we know is when some were complaining about the Speed Triple’s new headlights a while ago, a Triumph insider winked when he said, “Looks like they belong in a fairing, huh?” Re-contacted, the same source claims to have no knowledge of a liter-sized Daytona; our official Triumph spokesperson alleges to know nothing about any of it, and the British press seems pretty convinced that what you’re looking at re0ally is an early-days ’13 Daytona 675. Visible changes include a new low-mount exhaust and a new swingarm to clear it, also a cast aluminum subframe in place of the tubular one. Pity, really. The 675 Daytona is a great bike, but Triumph hasn’t had a full-on sporting literbike in its lineup since the 2006 Daytona 955i. And we hear there is money to be made in that segment of today’s upscale marketplace.John Burns