The ultimate Triumph Daytona road bike was announced at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone last weekend. Sadly, you'll need to be quick, because the bike will only be produced in limited quantities and will cost £15,765 (US$19,250) for those lucky enough to get their money down before the list is full. Two batches of 765 machines will be produced: 765 for North America, and 765 for the rest of the world.
It's the first ever officially licensed Moto2 motorcycle and uses the same engine and very similar frame geometry (rake/trail/wheelbase) as the majority of Moto2 machinery currently on the grid. In short, the new Daytona Moto2 765 is the closest you can get to a genuine Moto2 factory ride for the road, and given the specifications, incredibly cheap.
The engine in the new Daytona 765cc triple is derived from Triumph becoming the exclusive engine supplier to the Moto2 World Championship in 2019, and offers peak power of 130 PS (128.2 hp) at 12,250 rpm, and peak torque of 80 Nm (59 lb-ft) at 9,750 rpm.
That's not quite as good as Suzuki’s GSX-R750 (148 hp @ 12,800 rpm and 86.3 Nm @ 11,200 rpm) but Triumph claims the Daytona will weigh less than the previous Daytona's 185 kg (408 lb) wet weight, which should give it a marginal saving over the Suzuki GSX-R750's 190 kg (419 lb) wet weight.
Those output claims are a fair bit better than the current unfaired Triumph Street Triple RS though, which produces 122.9 PS (121.2 hp) @ 11,700 rpm and 77 Nm (57 lb-ft) @ 10,800 rpm, and it should be noted that peak torque is made 1,050 rpm lower on the Daytona.
Finally, the Moto2 bikes don't make that much more power anyway. They are supplied sealed to the Moto2 teams with 138 hp and from there the teams can play with the electronics, gearing and frame, but the engine's internals stay the same.
So although it might be 10 hp down on the Moto2 bikes, it should be remembered that Moto2 lap records have been falling all year, and Nicolo Bulega's Kalex-framed Triumph was clocked at 300.6 km/h (186.8 mph) at Mugello during practice for the Italian Grand Prix on June 1 this year.
The new Moto2-derived engine benefits from a number of component and performance upgrades, including titanium inlet valves, stronger pistons, MotoGP-spec DLC coated gudgeon pins, new cam profiles, new intake trumpets, modified con rods, modified intake port, modified crank and modified barrels, and a higher (12.9:1) compression ratio.
Despite making more torque across the range, and with peak torque more than 1,000 rpm lower than the Street Triple RS engine, it also revs harder, with the red line increased by 600 rpm to 13,250 rpm.
Where the Daytona 765 Moto2 Limited Edition will win the most fans though, is in the specification of the components used in suspension and braking.
The brakes are superbike-spec Brembo Stylema rotors and calipers and Brembo's unique (and awesome) MCS radial master cylinder. The Multiple Click System enables you to adjust the braking pressure and the point where it bites in the lever travel.
The tires are track-ready, high performance Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP items.
The Öhlins front and rear suspension units are racetrack ready, too, being 43mm NIX30 front forks, and TTX36 rear shocks, with both ends fully adjustable for compression and rebound.
Each bike will come with a billet-machined, Moto2-branded aluminum top yoke displaying its laser-etched unique limited edition number.
Finally, the bike is fully decked out in carbon fiber bodywork, fairing, hugger, front mudguard, and upper chain guard, so it will look fantastic but will be very expensive to repair if you insist on pushing past its limits.
By the time you read this, it will most likely be too late to get your money down on one, but it might be worth a try if you have a lazy $20K and a few decades to wait. Limited edition motorcycles tend to appreciate rather than depreciate like nearly every other bike on the road.
They also depreciate if you ride them, and with the ultra sharp handling and that punchy motor, we suspect that most of the 1,530 motorcycles produced will be spending a lot of time clocking up miles.
Source: Triumph