It may not have moved my soul with its sound, but I was blown away by its massive liquid-cooled, 1,699-cc, parallel-twin motor – the biggest motorcycle engine of its type in the world. If it’s massive you are thinking about, then this engine has it all. Generous amount of chrome on every visible highlight of the engine like the crank cover, cylinder-head and even on the intake manifold. But what left me awestruck was the torque, a whopping 151 Newton metres of it. Even small petrol cars in India don’t have so much of it. The power output is 94 PS, but it’s the torque that eclipses the power output. It’s available from as low as 3,550 revolutions per minute, and, thanks to this great low-end grunt and the superb throttle response, riding this big bike in town becomes an effortless and enjoyable task. Acceleration is smooth as I found out. Just a slight input from my right hand was enough to send this monster on a speed frenzy in a rather civil manner. Slick six-speed gearbox is superb with its positive shifts and a light clutch. And it didn’t sink my heart with a thunderous crunch every time I shifted, very unlike the Americans.
On the highway, I was cruising at 120 km/h in the sixth gear without feeling the sensation or the vibration of a parallel twin. It’s that smooth. There were vibrations that crept in when I twisted the throttle hard, but it hardly bothered me.
The LT surges ahead with great might, thanks to its 151 Nm of torque, which endows it with great performance. I worked my right hand a bit and before I knew it, I was cruising down the Gurgaon-Faridabad road at a good 150 km/h. Overtaking was also very easy thanks to the bike’s strong roll-on performance. Braking duties are divided between the twin, four-pot Nissin callipers up front and two-pot single Brembo calliper at the rear.
Very nicely written. I have the same bike and I loved it over Harley mainly for the sound as i dont like cruisers to make thundering noise as the long touring gets uncomfy with the sound ripping apart the ears. Also the seats were very comfy and then the pick up and braking is far more superior than any other cruiser in India as it gives a lot of confidence while riding this heavy machine.
I’ve had the LT in the U.S. for a year, with 6,000 miles on it and it’s a superb machine. If you want more sound (I did) put on the Triumph Off Road Silencers (TORS) with the Stage 1 Download. That will make it a more proper sounding bike…not obnoxious, but loud enough to rumble and give you a 5-6 extra HP to move this beast even more quickly. As the review stated, the ride and handling (and the retro style, fit and finish) are worth the price of admission for a cruiser. And if you tour, you’ll keep going in comfort. I’ve ridden many cruisers but have had none that combined the power and handling like this one–especially for an impressively large machine.