My Triumph Connectivity Review

This is an update on the My Triumph Connectivity section of my original review of the Triumph Trident 660 motorcycle. 

Here's my setup:

• Triumph Trident 660 with My Triumph Connectivity module (dealer install)
• Sena SMH10D-10 Motorcycle Bluetooth Headset/Intercom headset mounted on a white SHOEI RF-1200 helmet
• iPhone 13 with latest iOS version and My Triumph app
• iPhone is paired to both Sena headset and Trident

Issues I highlighted in previous review:

• Frequent (once a week) disconnection to whatever I was listening
• Navigation (setup via My Triumph app on iPhone) frequently gets stuck
• Volume controls on bike don't work (others do: next/forward, track info, play/pause)
• Not an operational issue, but unit cost $250-ish + dealer install of $300 = $550 is a bit high. 

Here's the solution I figured out:

• Disconnects: Don't pair the phone to both Sena headset and bike. Here's the recommended pairing
• Pair the phone to just the bike; do not pair/connect it to the Sena headset (remove/unpair the headset from Settings > Bluetooth)
• The bike is paired to both the iPhone and Sena headset; it serves as the "hub"
• Note: once your bike is on/ignition (engine does not have to be on) and headset is on... it takes about 5 seconds for them to all find/connect to each other. 
• Navigation: 
• Set the My Triumph app to have "Always On" location access, instead of only when using the app. 
• Bad part of this is that the app has location access even when you're not using the app. (iPhone > Settings > Privacy > Location Services > My Triumph). Obviously this is bad for privacy and potentially drains the battery, and the iPhone will warn you about it. 
• UPDATE: this seems to have been fixed so you can use "While Using" only. 
• Volume control from bike is still a problem. It works from my Sena headset but only upto the max setting of the phone... so I have to remember to crank it up before starting the ride. iPhone somehow does not seem to use a Bluetooth device specific volume for the bike/Sena. 

Triumph Trident 660 Review

Personal experience of a mid-experience casual rider of the new Triumph Trident 660 after six months of riding over 3500 miles (March 2021 onwards). A few things about myself:

• Riding experience: 5 years
• Age: Early-40s
• Previous (first) bike: Kawasaki Vulcan Cafe Racer (660 cc, 47 hp) - rode it for 4 years... excellent, confidence building, starter bike with enough power to ride on highways. 
• First sporty upgrade: Triumph Trident 660 - MATT JET BLACK AND SILVER ICE with accessories:
• Triumph engine guards
• Triumph wheel rear wheel bobbins (front ones are not available!)
• Triumph Connectivity module
• TEC parts brake and clutch levers to replace the originals
• Personal gear:
• iPhone 11 running the latest iOS
• Sena SMH10D-10 Motorcycle Bluetooth Headset/Intercom mounted on a white SHOEI RF-1200 helmet.
• Dainese leather jacket
• Aerostitch pants or Dainese jeans
• Helite Turtle 2 airvest (hi-viz)

Overall

• Just a whole lot of fun, the sound, the styling and the power.
• Perfect upgrade for my first serious mid-end bike. 
• etc: Their marketing and research is spot on for the target customer... plus I like their product managers in all the interviews I've seen... they know their stuff. I'll definitely consider a Triumph for a future upgrade if the Triple does not look so bug-eyed Transformer-like. 
• My other option was the new 2022 Indian FTR or the new Ducati Monster but both weren't going to be available for a few more months and I got tired of waiting. I know they are not in the same range as the Trident... but that's how much I liked it. 

Pros

• Sound - Super sexy sound of the triple engine.
• Peppy pickup in gears 1-4, 5 for highway cruising. Don't know what to do with the 6th.
• Moves like a fun beast as my first juicy upgrade from my Kawi
• Confidence inspiring engine
• Update: Gear 1 seems too low... but guess that's for the nice pickup. Riding in mid-20 mph is always a bit annoying when 2nd gear is too high and 3rd doesn't quite like it. 
• Riding geometry is excellent
• Perfectly aligned footpegs, handlebars
• Easy to straddle and maneuver around the seat,  comfortable to move back-n-forth on long rides. 
• Can nicely hug the moto to feel one with the machine especially on curves
• Nifty electronics
• Clear TFT display works well in the California sun
• Relevant info always visible with the left-side toggle switches
• Triumph Connectivity module (with a few glitches, see Cons) is decent.  
• play music, audiobooks etc from your phone or 
• to take that rare phone call if you really want/need to
• get directions (text and arrows) via the Triumph app on your mobile since Apple does NOT recommend/support mounting the phone on "high-powered" motorcycles. 
• Promise of low maintenance costs
• I dabble a bit on small fixes but am not a gearhead so a low maintenance would be nice to avoid the crazy dealership costs
• Tires - 
• Looks - Looks different and brings a solid roadster beauty
• Seat height
• The 805 height and narrow setup near the tank allows me (5' 7", 1.68m) to easily reach one foot flat foot, or paws on both sides. And I'm experienced enough to not have problems with this. 

Cons

• Triumph Connectivity module needs bug fixes/updates
• Crazy total cost: unit cost $250-ish + dealer install of $300 = $550!!! You can't install it yourself as they need to update software/firmware and activate it. Blech!
• Can't control volume up/down.
• Sometimes (every 2-4 weeks) loses connectivity with my Sena SMH10D-10 helmet set... dunno who's fault it is... probably the Sena since it will shutdown randomly after a few weeks and needs a reset via the pinhole in the back.  
• Despite this, I love having the controls on the handle bar and not having to touch the helmet controls of the Sena. 
• Traffic directions will occasionally get stuck... freeze and stop updating next set of directions. A restart of the moto usually solves it, but pretty annoying. 
• UPDATED review here.
• Clutch levers
• Just plain weird in terms of reach and pull (got finger cramps after every ride), even with all the clutch adjustments and the silver/steel color looks odd. 
• Ended up buying sleek black machined brake & clutch levers from TEC.
• Fuel tank - wish it was a full 4 gallons instead of the 3.6.
• Suspension sometimes feels a bit wonky, sometimes a bit too soft.
• Storage
• Storage options are limited to small stuff... I guess they meant it only to be an urban/suburban roadster for 150 miles max range (see fuel tank). So no panniers and not easy to mount any decently priced third-party accessories. 
• Oil level monitor
• Really wish they had a directly visible glass level thingy... having to pull out a black colored dipstick, wiping it and rechecking is so 1970s. 

Odds & Ends

• Sometimes do get problems going from 1st to 2nd and do land in neutral... have to make sure to give it a bit of a stiff pull up sometimes.
• Took me 3+ months to get used to the positioning of the left-side controls for the Triumph Connectivity module. The 4 way buttons are too close to the other button. 
• I love that the high beam and dipper are one button... easy to reach and switch with one flick. 

YouTube Channels and Vlogs for Motorcycle Riding & Reviews

Most magazines do manufacturer influenced reviews with loads of genuine feedback. Some have sections/playlists/channels for technical stuff and skills too. Independent reviewers vary but some are just too good while others are noisy. Almost all of the independents and magazines are often very oriented to big/powerful, sporty bikes and for advanced riding skills. Very few cover stuff that noobies need to learn. A few do feature channels/playlists on skills and technical stuff. As someone who started riding more seriously 4 years ago, I found a lot of these helpful in building my skills and learning about the machines.

If there are channels you really like, please share them in the comments.

Vloggers/YoutTubers

• FortNine - One of the best, very fun, channels from an independent reviewer (who works for a Canadian gear seller) overing accessories, (sometimes) bikes and lots of topics around biking. Ryan does lots of nearly scientific tests covering tires, helmets, engine oil, chains etc. And the snark is good enough to attract even non-riders; proper Canadian without the “aye”. 
• MCrider - a little pedantic in style but good to learn some of the fundamental skills 
• YammieNoob - flashy, busy, noisy videos but sometimes does cover good fundamentals
• Itchy Boots - Dutch girl on a bike travels around the world
• English Biker Dan - name says it all... trying to get his name out there
• Ride & Roll - German lady, balanced, not noisy

Magazines

• Bike World - Brits who love everything Triumph, big bikes and other things. Chris Northcut is the star. 
• Motorcyclist Magazine - has a nice “MC Garage” section for a lot of technical bike things... but the chap who did them has moved over to Revzilla?
• Brake Magazine - off roading focussed but loads of good basic skills even for roads
• Cycle World - Americano with a very nice older series (Ask Kevin) about the machines themselves. Also run most review bikes on their dynamometers (dyno’s) for power and torque curve tests. 
• Revzilla - gear seller is now also featuring video reviews

Back to Mac 2010 Predictions

Since the hacks are putting out really lame predictions for the Apple's October 2010 'Back to Mac' event, I'll give a few good ones (in no particular order):

Mac

• eSATA - atleast Mac Pro's should get this, preferably the entire lineup (perhaps the laptops will not get them for a longtime or ever). But desktops should. 3 Gbps (and 6 Gbps later) is pretty useful for backups and transfer of large files to external harddisks.

Lion / Mac OS X 10.7

• FaceTime + iChat (fairly obvious, also FaceTime API for others)
• Apple TV / FrontRow update - make FrontRow on Mac's run just like the new Apple TV.

Others:

• Less sharp laptop edges! All Mac laptops have really sharp edges where the hands rest on the keyboard and it hurts after a while. Be nice to get them slightly curved.
• Black MacBook Pro. The white and aluminium are nice, but the black one was very cool.
• 7 inch iPad is also very welcome. Beware, I may get a manpurse if this happens, or really baggy jeans atleast.

Product Design

I'll continue to write about this over time as a way to jot my thoughts on product design as a way to learn and improve myself in this area.

Design Rants (easy to do, I'll try to be constructive also)

• Phones Handsets/Cradles

Everybody's got the new fancy VoIP phones with a jillion features. The main complaint is how the handset sits on the cradle. In the old timey phones you can close your eyes and just place it on the cradle, or you can slam it, and the baby will stay in there. Also the old timey cradles were horizontal so you didn't have to turn your wrist in an unnatural way, the new timey ones are 'vertical'. In the new shamncy phones its like a ballet to place the handset back: if you don't delicately place it in the right way... the damn thing will fall off (done it way too many times!). Plus you can't slam it after an annoying person calls you. If you slam, the whole phone goes flying because the cradle is on the right or left edge! And your IT guy's not going to be happy about that either.

• Car Keyfobs

Please just make it of a shape that I can hold properly and not drop it. Not round or oblong things, but cylindrical or narrow things that can be easily gripped by fingers and held in the palm.

• Software (there's just too much in there... lets wait a while)

Sales Tax on Unbundled Price of iPhone 4

Most people who tried to check for the iPhone 4 upgrade eligibility must have seen the following message : "In CA, MA, and RI, sales tax is collected on the unbundled price of iPhone."

It means that you have to pay a 9.75% (in CA) sales tax on the unbundled price of iPhone 4 ($599 for 16GB version) even though you'll be paying only the $199 upgrade fee. That is $57.xx instead of $19.xx.

The reason given is that the state of California should not lose sales tax revenue because the actual price is $599 and AT&T is subsidizing $400 of the price that it will make up by having us pay the monthly service charges.

Fair enough. But consumers also pay a sales tax (among other things) on the service taxes! Seems like double taxation.

Any better ideas, explanation...

• and why are CA, MA and RI the only ones?).
• What if I (as a CA consumer) purchased my iPhone 4 from an Apple store in Arizona? Would they pull up my ATT record (which they will to verify credit & eligibility) and ask me to pay the extra/CA sales taxes? Don't think they can because the sales tax would have to go to AZ. They can't split it and say $19 goes to AZ and the rest to CA!

iPad

A few thoughts:

• The positioning of the device between a mobile/smartphone and PC, and better at music, video, web,... are key to explaining its intended usage. Thinking of it as a bigger version of iPhone/iPod Touch is too simplifying. The experience of a larger touch screen in reading and watching video is enormous. That said, it still feels primarily like a "media consumption" device. The creation parts will depend on well developed custom apps like iWork.
• The iPad keynote did not show a more than a few seconds of editing or typing. For a lot of potential users, the iPad is likely to replace their notepad/folio where they take meeting notes, jot down thoughts, make lists etc. So ability type fast and comfortably will be key. And the true test for this will come during the in-store tests. I know a few people who are aching to do so!
• Women, large man purse carriers and those with messenger bags will love the ability to whip it out and quickly look up something (what time's my flight, check a map, read a document or book...). Ofcourse, you can do all of this with an iPhone/iPod Touch, its just better now.
• Apple should really think a way to physically secure it to the owner. If not a Kensington slot, something else to attach a lanyard (or Velcro strap) that can be wrapped around the wrist or tied somewhere (don't know if you want to hang 1.5 lbs from your neck). I am always paranoid about dropping my iPhone or having it swiped away in crowed places. Same will happen with the iPad. Imagine dropping your sleek $800 iPad on a pavement.

Other thoughts:

• If the iPad were a little smaller in XY size you could almost wear it on one hand's palm with a strap and use it with the other hand! The first commercial wearable computer.
• Industry specific usage, like healthcare, sales, insurance, and any mobile work environment, is going to be enormous. And, when can I get this integrated into my car's entertainment console?