Another Newb...

[FLTRI]

Hello All, Newbie here.

I'm currently riding a brand new 2016 Harley Davidson Road Glide Ultra. It's my 4th Road Glide, and I'm loving the improvements. I've also owned a 2005 BMW R1200RT, but sold it several years ago. So, what in the world am I posting on a Triumph forum for anyway, right? 

Well, I have a friend that is looking for a Sport Touring bike and she wanted my advise. Knowing her riding style, I took her to the Beemer dealer. She was interested in the F800 GT. We looked at it, and it was too much sport and not enough tour for her, so she looked at the current RT. It was a *maybe* bike for her, and so we headed over to the local Triumph dealer. They had two, new and unsold, 2013 Trophy SE's on hand, and were very motivated to move them.

She currently has a broken foot, so she couldn't take a test ride. She asked me to ride it, and give her an opinion. I took out their demo bike and did about 40 miles. As I rolled back into the lot, she was waiting anxiously for my opinion. I flipped up my helmet chin bar and said, "Write 'em a check!"

Wow, what an impressive machine. Torque down low like my HD, and a top end that never seems to run out! Extremely neutral handling, light and so flickable. Much more so than I remember my BMW being. She made the deal, and had a Tour Pac (er, top box I believe it's called outside of the Harley circles) and heated grips thrown into the deal. I'm going to pick it up for her Wednesday, and she asked me if I'd put the break in miles on it. I actually thought she was kidding, but she was dead serious. What a treat, I can hardly wait for next weekend! My shiny new Harley is gonna stay parked for a bit, I'm thinking...

So, being a total TTSE noob (found that abbreviation lurking on this fine forum) any advise on pitfalls, break in technique, issues with this model or year (read something about noisy heads, and VIN number?) or anything else I or she should be aware of?

Thanks in advance, and looking forward to getting some miles on her bike. They have one more unsold 2013, so advise on convincing my wife that we need two bikes also appreciated... 

[trophied]

  to the forum.  I did the factory recommended procedure, but there are some out there that think that a new bike should have the snot ridden out of it right away.  Just not my personal preference.  I think you have already discovered the really strong points, but then there is the good fuel mileage, comparatively speaking, and all the adjustability and features that make it comfortable and fun.  My bet is she is gonna love it!  What great confidence on her part to let you to be so heavily involved in the process.  What was her latest ride?   Members here may be able to advise as to some of the differences she may not realize immediately, since we've come from varied brands to the Trophy.

[FLTRI]

Thanks for the welcome!

I think her last bike was a Ducati of some sort, but it was 10 plus years ago. She and her husband want to ride with us, the wife and I do mostly long distance two-up touring. That discounted the sport bike riding position, and lack of luggage capacity. And yes, I was humbled a bit when she wanted my input, and especially honored that she decided to buy, based on my ride review. She'd been eyeballing it for a couple of years, and finally took the leap.

I've been reading most of the afternoon, and it appears her bikes VIN falls into the range of the "loud heads". What am I listening for to see if her bike is affected? Or is it pretty obvious?

[cropbiker]

Hello and welcome albeit vicariously!

 

Your friend has made a wise choice with your help.

Biggest advice I would say is watch the weight on the really slow handling and confirm that any and all updates have been carried out by the dealership and that definitely ncludes the latest software to avoid issues with battery drain

[dsinned]

Congrats to your friend.  There are not hardly any female TTSE riders in our midst.  I think there is at least one in Florida that is a forum member, but I forgot her user name here.

Being a woman, your friend's height and inseam length, will likely be a factor in how well she adapts to the bike.  Even many TTSE male riders find the seat height a bit of a challenge when they need to come to a complete stop on this bike.  The stock seat is supposedly classified as a "low" rider's seat, but it is still over 30 inches off the ground even in its lowest position.  If she is a rather tall gal, it should be okay, but if she is shorter than 5'-8", it could be an issue as it is for male riders.  She may have to get a custom fitted (lowered) seat to be able to manage sitting on the bike as well as getting it on and off the center stand.  If she has problems with these kind of things, she would be well advised to have you around to help her if God forbid she can't keep it upright.

[GarminDave]

  and 

Previous posts have been about the bike but my area of expertise is 42 years of happy marriage and my advice on getting two bikes in the garage is it is easier to gain forgiveness than gain approval.

Later

Dave

[silverstripes]

Hi and welcome. Be warned my friend when you get back to your Harley you will still want to be on the TTSE. You will end up with one I am sure 

[Coconut]

Your firend is obviously placing a lot of trust in you - so let's help validate that :

The Noisy Cylinder Head has been described as a sort of "Chirping" sound !

Bikes falling into the VIN range were offered ( in the UK ) an upgraded replacement Cylinder Head,
while outside the UK, these were provided if the owner complaiined of "excessive noise".

For the Software there was a BIG issue with US Markey Trophy's - fitted with the XM Radio,
where the batteries were being drained when the XM Radio did not shut down properly
at Ignition switch off, and continued to draw power flattening the battery.
Not all US Trophys suffered from the problem, but I don't there have been any at all f
ater the software update was correctly applied, so it's worth making sure it has been done.

Version 1.04E is the latest version, and the one you should have,
but as the bike is a 2013 model, it may still have Version 1.04A or earlier,
if the Dealership has not updated it. ( Some Dealer's seem to be unaware of this Update ! )

To check which Software version is installed is very easy :

With the Ignition ON, and the Radio turned OFF ( Volume all the way down to Minimum, Mute and Off ),
Press and hold the "P" button until the "DIAGNOSTICS" menu is displayed.
Scroll to the S/W VERSION item, and press Select.

Cheers