Fit For A (Future) King

Triumph’s final foray into the inline four supersport world was – and still is – actually a bit of a cracker…

- Jon Urry

To many, Fast Bikes included, there’s a certain quirky charm to Triumph’s often overlooked inline four Daytona models. These bikes not only helped the British manufacturer recover some super sport credibility after the debacle that was the firm’s first effort, the TT600, but these machines also broke Triumph’s TT drought, took a British super sport race win, made the Japanese sit up and pay attention and even tempted a future king to part with his cash – now there’s a seal of approval. That’s not bad going at all when you think about it.

It’s hard to believe it, but the Daytona models are actually very closely related to the horrible TT600. The chassis and engine are pretty much the same, but there are two fundamental differences. Triumph swapped out the horrific Sagem fuel injection system that plagued the TT for far more accomplished Keihin 38mm twin throttle bodies, and then gave the whole bike a much-needed facelift. The result was a bit of a surprise hit.

When the Daytona 600 arrived in 2003 it proved a very competent super sport bike. Despite being slightly behind the game in terms of technology when compared to the likes of the new ZX-6R with its inverted forks, radial brakes and slipper clutch and the CBR600RR with RCV-heritage, the Daytona still acquitted itself well.