I went into the Triumph dealer in May, planning to trade my '98 VFR800 in on the new Sprint, but when I saw the Scrambler ... I had to have it. I kept my Interceptor for the times I feel the need for speed and for long trips. The Scrambler seemed perfect from day one for my daily commute from the suburbs to downtown DC. It is really agile and fun riding around the crowded crappy roads of our capital that I pretty much ride it to work 8 times out of 10. After two months of riding 6 miles to work and back, I decided to strap my soft luggage to it, along with the Triumph tank bag, and take it for a real ride. I headed north up into Canada, around Lake Huron, back into Michigan and west to Montana and south through Yellowstone National Park, Jackson Hole, Arches NP in Utah, then east through Colorado, Kansas ... At almost EVERY gas stop someone would comment about the bike. A lot of people thought it was an old one.
At the end of the first day of the trip I was wondering if I'd made a mistake, taking it instead of the VFR, but two weeks later when I returned it to my garage, I was glad I had taken it. I had taken advantage of its capabilities and explored dirt roads and trails a strictly-street bike couldn't (I actually got a little crazy on a trail in the Utah mountains and laid it over once ... it's not really a dirt bike). I also took the smaller highways instead of the main interstates where I could.
I found that the fully expanded tank bag acts as a windscreen. I'm pleased with how well the bike sticks to the road at 70 in pouring rain; how well it climbs and corners on tight, rough canyon roads. This is one bike I may keep forever.
Upgrades/Accessories: The Triumph tank bag, first-rate quality and I came to appreciate its built-in rain cover.
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