Triumph Daytona 675 - History and Development

History and Development

Triumph Daytona 675 development started in 2000 following the launch of the TT600. The TT600 represented Triumph's first modern middle weight sports motorcycle. A decision was made to manufacture a machine closer aligned with traditional Triumph values. A notable technical decision was the selection of a three cylinder engine as the power plant, instead of the four cylinder used by the TT600 and the other 600 cc supersport motorcycles.

In 2001, soon after the completion of the similarly three cylinder powered Triumph Daytona 955i, Triumph began engineering analysis to work out weight, engine performance in horsepower and torque. Pleased with the figures, the project moved to the full concept phase in March 2002.

Initial chassis development work was done using a chopped Daytona 600 chassis. Triumph moved the wheelbase, adjusted the head angle, and modified the tank. This new configuration exhibited better performance than the original Daytona 600, forming a basis to compare against competitive bikes such as the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R and Honda CBR600RR. While engine development had not been completed, computer aided chassis development continued with the data collected from these tests.

Design work for the Daytona 675 proceeded, producing a primarily black design based on the Daytona 600. However, this initial design was discarded as great British designs of the 1960s had "a flowing curved design - no sharp angular aggressive edges". A member of the engineering team produced a concept drawing of the 675 as a naked bike. Styling was based upon this concept drawing and that of the earlier T595 model. Styling development continued in house, staying close to spirit of earlier Triumph design. Market research groups made up of a variety of different classes of sportbike riders chose the latter design of bike which was refined and adopted for production.

The newly developed engine was first tested on a dynamometer in May 2003. Final development combining styling, engine, chassis into a prototype quickly followed. Prototype testing started in late 2004.

The Daytona 675 was officially launched at the NEC International Motorcycle and Scooter Show in 2005. UK-based Bike was given an exclusive test ride prior to the official launch, impressing the magazine test rider. The magazine declared it "the best British sportsbike ever" and "possibly one of the greatest sportsbikes of all time".

The Daytona 675 won the Supersport category for the Masterbike 2006 (finishing third overall), and won again in 2007.

A 24 hour race track test by Performance Bikes Magazine in the February 2007 edition placed a Daytona 675 against a Suzuki GSX-R750 over a 24 hour period which did not yield a positive result for the Daytona. The Daytona 675 did not complete the race test due to a severe mechanical failure. Later analysis indicated that the engine had suffered a broken valve which is thought to have occurred due to incorrect servicing. Prior to the failure the Daytona had been consistently outpacing the Suzuki on the course, averaging 0.7 seconds a lap faster (despite lower engine capacity and horsepower). The magazine concludes (as suggested by Triumph) that this appeared to be an isolated case attributable most likely to incorrect assembly during pre-race servicing.