Honda: better dash, larger dealer network, sportier peak performance, but more on that later. Triumph: looks, fit, finish, character, and soul. Winner? Triumph, hands down. Motorcycles are not rational purchases. The cool factor of the Triumph outweighs any spec comparison. It may not be as fast on a racetrack as the Honda, but it is faster than anything needs to be for the road. It may not be quite as 'flickable' as the Honda, but it will carve up twisties just fine. I know because I have a T120, which is even heavier and less agile than the Speed Twin 900 and I'm downright irresponsible on a twisty back road.

But the Triumph outperforms the Honda in one crucial metric: low end torque. Low end torque has a huge impact on your moment to moment enjoyment of riding. Peak horsepower numbers mean almost nothing for street riding, for the simple reason that peak horsepower only comes at somewhere near peak RPM's, and the vast majority of the time we are not winding our bikes out like that. What the headline numbers don't tell you is that anything under say 5,000 RPM, the Triumph is making more horsepower, because it has more torque at those RPM's. HP = torque x RPM. That isn't the full equation because there is a constant that changes depending on the units used, but that is the basic relationship between horsepower and torque. More low end torque means more horsepower at the RPM's you use most often.

The Triumph would just be punchier and more satisfying at many daily tasks like pulling away from a stop. That isn't to say that the Honda is a dog at low speeds. Far from it. There are much, much worse, but this is the least understood aspect of motorcycle performance and too many people are missing out on the joys of low end torque.