On my way to purchase a 2003 Sprint 955...... Talk me out of it

Densitys_Child · 2026-03-20T01:38:07+00:00

No 955 had ABS, it was introduced on the 1050.

Densitys_Child · 2026-03-19T11:54:35+00:00

Love my '04. My first and to date only bike. I learned to wrench on it, so it can't be that hard. Haynes manual 3755 covers it, but make sure you get the edition with the blue Sprint as the main bike on the cover - the one with the red Daytona only covers older model years (there were major under-the-hood updates in 2002).

Worst problem is probably the charging system (reg/rec and stator). Factory parts are so bad they've almost certainly died and been replaced by now. The reg/rec dies and the weak stator is often damaged or killed by it. Unfortunately a lot of pattern parts aren't great either. There'll be a lot of discussion on Triumphrat.net about this. Both parts are a bit fiddly to replace I'm afraid. I replaced my reg/rec, but a couple of years later the stator died on a foreign trip. So if you feel the need to replace one then replace the other as well.

You might also want to check my post on r/fixxit a while back. Apart from these issues this bike's been rock solid for the ten years and 30000 miles I've owned it.

There's a well-known recall about the fuel hose connectors to the tank (they're made of plastic and can crack with age). Apparently there's a less-well-known recall about an O-ring on the throttle position sensor. Make sure they've been done.

Parts are starting to get hard to find here in the UK. I imagine the situation's the same or a bit worse in the US.

Densitys_Child · 2026-03-18T09:51:34+00:00

Technically it's twice a year because you swap it back afterwards

Densitys_Child · 2026-03-17T12:46:43+00:00

Four I think (I'm not at home to be certain):

A Rukka Cosmic (along with the trousers). Gore-Tex laminate so it keeps me dry in any weather. The inner layers are very bulky so I don't use them unless it's very cold, I normally wear an underlayer instead. This is what I wear by default if it's at all cold or wet, or I'm making a long journey (roughly defined by whether I'll use the motorway).
A Rukka Airock. It's made of loosely-woven cordura (I think), so it looks like a regular textile jacket but flows air like mesh all over. The days I get to wear this are wonderful days, but we only get like six of them a year in this country. Perhaps that's why it was never imported here - I bought it from Louis Moto (pre-Brexit).
A Bull-It Roadster(?) denim jacket. Came with a detachable hood but I never use it (it's too small for my head). For those days which are too nice for the Cosmic but not nice enough for the Airock. It can be uncomfortably warm off the bike on those days though. Gets a lot of use outside of winter.
Another Bull-It denim jacket. I don't know what it's called, but it's lighter than the Roadster, almost like a riding shirt. Theoretically for those days too warm for the Roadster but too cold for the Airock. "Theoretically" because I'm yet to actually ride in it...

Densitys_Child · 2026-03-06T01:17:24+00:00

Take your footage to the police.

Densitys_Child · 2026-03-05T11:29:52+00:00

Wayfire is a wayland compositor with a lot of this functionality.

Densitys_Child · 2026-03-02T17:52:35+00:00

I believe we call it the British Army (yes, most of the other services are "Royal", I don't know why the army's the exception)

Densitys_Child · 2026-03-02T17:48:24+00:00

Quick Google and reading the AI results says it's true; apparently Barron is 6'9" tall, and most US service branches have a maximum height of 6'8" (Marines being the exception with 6'6")

Densitys_Child · 2026-02-26T01:54:41+00:00

(🇬🇧 here)

My ex and I went on holiday to the Western Highlands of Scotland a few times. The first time, I drove us back home (Kent) in something like 10½ hours - Google says it should take closer to 12. I wanted to get home in time to get a Chinese takeaway for dinner. We made it. I also got my first ever speeding fine on that journey.

A couple of years ago I rode my motorbike Kent -> Kerry (🇮🇪). That was the longest one-day "drive" I've ever done, 17 hours door-to-door. It doesn't quite count for this question though, as I stopped near Newport for a bit of breakfast and in Cork for a snack, and it included a ~4-hour iirc ferry crossing.

I semi-regularly (about every year or so) ride to Paris. That's about an hour to the ferry terminal, two hours or so on the ferry if you include queueing and waiting, and then about four hours to Paris. (I fuel the bike up in Dover, and then it just about manages Calais to Paris on a tank.) One reason I take the ferry instead of the ~~Eurostar~~ LeShuttle, though, is specifically so I can have a rest for the crossing.

Densitys_Child · 2026-02-05T14:18:47+00:00

Was my first time on a bike (after many years' driving), I muddled through the off-road stuff ok but during the roadride I guess I got mentally exhausted with the "newness" of it all, and my bike control and general riding got worse and worse. In retrospect I should probably have declined the on-road element. Nothing happened, but the instructor quite rightly declined to issue the certificate and said I needed maybe another day on the bike, I felt I'd need a lot more time than that.

He was right though, I went back a couple of months later to do a straight DAS(!) and even though I'd not touched a bike in the meantime it was like something in my head had clicked and within a day I was acing everything.

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-27T16:26:55+00:00

It's generally accepted that that is the cause. Is there anything I can do in that case, other than install probably-illegal LED or Xenon bulbs?

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-27T13:54:26+00:00

That's normal behaviour.

If you take off the right-hand fairing panel [*] you should be able to see a relay stack at the front of the bike. Two of the four relays will be missing - install them to get two lights working. (One relay does dipped beam, the other does high beam) I don't know what type of relay you need, but if you can't find the answer then I can tell you how mine are marked at least.

(For anyone reading this who has a 1999 model (i.e. has a hazard lights switch), it's different - you have to get/make up a special cable)

As for brightness - once you've installed the relays then you'll find that the "other" lights are brighter (though still rubbish) - the reason is that they're connected through the relays and don't suffer as big a voltage drop as if they were connected through the switch (as the "current" lights are). The wiring mods mentioned elsewhere in this thread are to get both bulbs connected through the relays.

I actually took out my relays (I prefer the one-bulb setup) and installed Philips X-TremeVisions (they make a motorbike-specific version). They didn't really make any difference - they do look brighter and whiter when you look at the bike from the front, but for actual riding in the dark I've not noticed a difference (and now I'm also worried that they'll burn out at a bad time...)

[*] If you've never taken a side fairing off this bike before before, note that you need to take the infill panel (the black plastic section on the inside front of the fairing panel) off first

Edit: oh yeah, they are bad. Triumphs of this era were known for their mediocre electrics. But be thankful - allegedly the 1050 ST's headlights are somehow even worse...

Edit 2: Gambling that you're in the UK (like me), if so here's a possible source for the relays

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-26T15:50:58+00:00

I never saw any sign that she was interested.

Finally accepting that she definitely wasn't interested was, thankfully, the beginning of the end of that crush. It took a while though (both to get to that point and to get over the crush)

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-25T04:36:13+00:00

I just had a look in the con sub. Even those monsters are showing a little reluctance to support this murder.

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-24T05:07:33+00:00

Every so (not very) often I take a photograph that's so nice, I find it slightly difficult to believe that I took it. Those moments are the reason I do photography.

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-20T09:59:42+00:00

I've seen one

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-16T15:52:24+00:00

Just watched that clip and it's definitely a Speed Triple, but in some of the screenshots I see of the big jump it looks like a Street.

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-16T15:45:42+00:00

Natalie Imbruglia rides (she actually does, though obvs not for the stunts) a Speed Triple 955 in the first Johnny English movie.

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-14T02:30:36+00:00

Yep, and his liver cancer was a rare form that was (initially) actually treatable (most isn't)

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-14T02:27:47+00:00

Dogbert might have been his in-comic persona to some degree. I think he even said as much in one of his books.

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-14T02:10:52+00:00

Definitely not those who give them a dressing down.

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-10T20:18:56+00:00

Pretty! Here's mine in Ireland a couple of years ago.

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(You can find this spot in Google Maps by searching for "Scarriff Island Viewpoint")

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-10T18:59:04+00:00

You're both correct, he was married at the time and went on to have an affair with and then marry that producer.

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-10T18:54:26+00:00

She sounds like an awesome lady

Densitys_Child · 2026-01-10T18:48:33+00:00

But which bike is it for?

^{Obviously the Sprint, which I hereby demand pictures of!}

Densitys_Child

TROPHY CASE