After winning numerous magazine middleweight shootouts and European national Supersport racing titles since its debut in 2005, one might consider the objective of Triumph's R&D team in making the Daytona 675 better still for 2009 a challenging task. The most evident change is the subtle restyling job carried out by Chris Hennegan, the Triumph factory technician-turned-stylist who designed the original bike. He's replaced the slightly pinched appearance of the previous model's face with a more aggressive and modern appearance to the broader-looking fairing nose, incorporating a revised headlamp and cockpit. But beneath that is an equally uprated performance package, demonstrated by lapping at the tight and twisting Cartagena circuit and on the hillside highways of the rugged Cabo Cope region of Spain. Available in a fetching shade of Tornado Red alongside the Jet Black livery that's topped the sales charts ever since the Daytona was introduced, the '09 Daytona 675 retails for about three percent more than the older model at $9799.
The new model feels identical to the old one when you throw a leg over it; the Triumph sits quite tall thanks to the unchanged 32.5-inch seat height, but the midsection is very slim, similar to how you'd expect a V-twin to be, and the rider is packaged in the Triumph nicely. These are ergos that will suit many different statures, except for the very shortest. There's lots of room for a six-footer like me, so I didn't feel cramped aboard it, in spite of the footrests being set fairly high. The handlebars are angled downward and pulled back a bit, so despite its racy riding position the Triumph doesn't prove to be as tiring on your arms and wrists as you might expect. The small instrument panel is unchanged, with seven adjustable shifter lights on the right of the analog tach with a digital LCD panel displaying a multitude of functions including speedometer, mileage/dual tripmeter, 99-lap timer, maximum speed, engine temp, fuel consumption, average speed, etc.