Why I Didn’t Buy the Triumph Trident

I had the Triumph Trident on my short list for a while. It was one of the bikes I mentioned in an earlier video as a serious contender if I ever moved on from my 2018 Honda CB650F. Well, that day is here. I put a down payment on a new motorcycle and the Trident didn’t make the cut. This post is about why I didn’t buy the Triumph Trident, and I think the reasons are worth talking through because on paper this bike looks really good.

Before I get into it, big picture: yes, the CB650F is going away. There’s a new bike coming and if you’re already hanging out in the WaltInPA Discord you already know what it is. That’s one of the perks of being in there. For everyone else, I’m going to make you sweat it out a little longer.

The video is embedded below if you want to watch the full thing. Otherwise keep reading and I’ll walk you through my thinking.

The Triumph Trident Looked Great on Paper

When the Trident came out there was a lot of buzz around it. People thought it was going to shake up the middleweight naked bike segment, maybe even take the crown away from the Yamaha MT-07. I was one of those people.

The specs gave you a lot to get excited about. Three-cylinder engine with strong mid-range torque and good top-end performance. Ten thousand mile service intervals, which is genuinely impressive. A price point that came in right around $8,999. And it launched with a full lineup of Triumph-branded accessories so you could start customizing it immediately without waiting for the aftermarket to catch up.

That’s a strong package. I was paying attention.

Martin Moto Gets the Trident In

My local shop, Martin Moto, was one of the first dealers to get their hands on one. They actually received three of them and sent out a notice that the bikes were on display but not yet for sale. I missed that window. By the time other units came in those sold too. So I ended up waiting for what felt like the second or third round of Tridents before I finally got over there to see one in person.

What Happened When I Saw It in Person

I made a beeline to the Triumph section and took a good long look at the bike. And I was underwhelmed.

That’s not a knock on the Trident as a motorcycle. It’s more about what happened between seeing it in press photos and seeing it sitting there on the showroom floor. In photos and pre-release footage this bike looked sharp. The tail section delete, the fender-mounted license plate holder that some people complained about, I actually liked that. I thought it looked cleaner than the big long tail sections you see on most bikes in this class.

But in person something about the proportions just didn’t work for me. I walked around that bike four or five times. I wanted to like it. It reminded me of a pug. Someone took a standard middleweight and mushed in the nose and now the whole thing looks a little too squat front to back. The stance just didn’t speak to me.

I know that’s completely subjective. I’m not telling you not to buy it because of how I feel about the way it looks. But for a bike purchase looks matter, and I couldn’t get past it.

Why I Didn’t Buy the Triumph Trident Comes Down to Two Things

Styling was one. The other was that buying the Trident felt like a lateral move.

My CB650F is a 648cc four-cylinder. The Trident is 660cc with a three-cylinder. That’s a real difference in character and technically more displacement, more torque, more tech baked in from the factory. On paper it’s a step up. But when I actually thought about what I’d be trading into, it didn’t feel like a leap. It felt like a shuffle.

And the money side of it made that worse. Trade-in value on the CB650F was going to be less than what I paid for it. On top of that I’ve put money into this bike over the past year and a half for service, maintenance, and a few upgrades. So I’d be taking a loss and ending up on something that didn’t feel dramatically different from what I already had. That math didn’t work for me.

I want to be fair to the bike here. If I were starting fresh right now, no CB650F to trade in, just walking into a dealership as a returning rider looking for something in this class, I think I would have bought the Trident. It really is an impressive motorcycle and I could probably get used to the looks in exchange for what you get for the money. But that’s not the situation I was in.

I Still Might Ride One

Martin Moto mentioned they have a Triumph Trident available through their Twisted Road account as a rental. Something like $79 a day. I’m seriously considering renting it for a day, putting 100 to 200 miles on it, and doing a proper first impression video. So there’s a good chance I end up riding one even though I won’t be owning one.

If that ride happens I’ll cover it here. It seems worth doing to close the loop on this whole thing.

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Ride With Me

If you want to follow along as the new bike gets revealed and I start putting miles on it, subscribe to the WaltInPA YouTube channel for more riding content. There’s going to be plenty coming.

If you know someone who’s been going back and forth on the Trident, share this post with a friend who rides. Maybe it helps them think it through.

And come hang out in the WaltInPA Discord where good people talk about riding. The new bike is already a topic in there.