Triumph’s venerable Sprint 1050 is probably one of the best value sports tourers in its class,and a popular used buy too.
A pretty solid build quality, decent looks and very practical to live with, they are also great fun to ride.
They’re well priced too, and they are regularly snapped up by riders who get out pretty much all year round.
One Sprint ST owner is Bike Magazine’s John Westlake, who fitted a set of Michelin’s latest Road 5 sport touring tyres to his Triumph as we headed into winter.
Michelin Road 5
The successor to the hugely popular Pilot Road 4, pushing the boundaries of wet weather performance once again.
Michelin engineers used 3D printing technology when designing the tread pattern, to create grooves which widen as the tyre wears in order to maintain optimum drainage on wet roads.
In the previous issue of Bike Magazine, John had this to say after 2,500 miles on the Road 5:
“Technically, these aren’t winter tyres, they’re Michelin’s premium sports tourers, but never mind that – Michelin could easily market these as the ultimate rubber for year round riders. They are outrageously good in the cold and wet. I fitted them to my Triumph Sprint 1050 in October and if the temperature is above 5 degrees or so they let you have a feisty ride, wet or dry. They might be able to pull this trick off below 5 degrees nut when its that cold I can’t muster the bravery to find out. A relatively sporty profile means they feel lively compared with my previous sports touring tyres and the rear is showing no signs of squaring off so far, despite a pounding on the A14. Highly recommended (the tyres, not the A14).”
