2013 Speed Triple R | Doin’ Time

Wrist: Ari Henning

MSRP (2013): $15,999

Miles: 614

MPG: 42

Mods: None

I'aaaaaam back on the bike! You already know about the rear-ender accident and the wait to get a replacement Speed Triple R, but what I haven't mentioned—except in passing in the CBR600RR First Ride in the July issue and in a blog on motorcyclistonline.com—is that a knee injury has kept me off bikes for more than a month now.

If riding less powerful and versatile motorcycles made me miss the Triumph in the weeks following the traffic accident, riding a 400cc scooter and—gasp—driving to work for several weeks after knee surgery really made me miss the big Speed.

Well, that brand-new Triumph sitting in the garage was just the thing to motivate me to get better, and as I ease back into the saddle, I’ll also be easing the Speed’s tach needle through its arc. Triumph’s recommendation for break-in is impossible to ignore because it’s right there in black and white on the tank: keep the revs below 3500 rpm for the first 100 miles, below 5000 rpm until 300 miles, below 6000 rpm until 600 miles, and so on and so forth.

Basically, I can't let it rip until there's 1000 miles on the odometer. [We all offered to put miles on Ari's bike while he was healing. He politely but assertively declined.—Ed.] That really shouldn't be a problem, though, since I rarely rev the bike very high anyway. On that initial 1500-mile trip I took on the previous bike, I recall marveling at how much time I spent in top gear, riding the big triple's massive torque wave, which rises to 65 lb.-ft. right off idle and then peaks at about 72 lb.-ft. around 6000 rpm. Redline resides at an indicated 10,500 rpm, but there's really no need to rev it that high: 5000 rpm in top gear gets you 80 mph.

I expect these initial break-in miles to go by quickly, and then I intend to slap the Ventura pack on and head for the horizon for some much needed one-on-one time with this great bike.