2024 TRIUMPH DAYTONA 660

Return of the Daytona

- SIR ALAN OF DOWDS

If you click on the Triumph website, there's a section we've all been waiting on for a long time. Yes - there's now a 'Sport' tab alongside the adventure bikes, modern classics, roadsters and the like. There's only one bike in there when you click through, though the new 2024 Daytona 660. Now, it's great to see the Daytona name back in the Hinckley range after an absence of a few years, since the 675 was dropped. Sadly, it's not a full-beans 140bhp supersport 765, nor is it a 210bhp three-cylinder litre-class superbike but a much more sensible A2-friendly 660cc machine that bears the historic moniker. Ah well, maybe next year (actually, probably not).

A closer look cheers things up a bit because it's got quite a decent spec for the class. It has the maximum power possible in a bike aimed at the A2 market, neat styling, a basic but decent chassis kit, and a sensible price. The key numbers are £8595, 95bhp and 201kg wet, which puts the little Trumpet in a great spot to do battle against the likes of Kawasaki's Ninja 650, Yamaha's R7, Honda's CBR650R, the Aprilia RS660 and the Suzuki GSX-8R. Those are big-selling bikes, and if Triumph can snatch a bit of the action in this 'softer road-sports' market, it'll be trebles all round in the pubs of south-west Leicestershire...