I love it. Bikes a lot of fun so far.
Performance: Engine is plenty responsive and has a nice even and consistent power band. Good torque with strong roll-on. With the six I was always dropping a gear to hit the sweet spot for passing. The Daytona just seems to have power at the ready and wants to go. It's very light and dives into corners sometimes faster then you'd expect. I've found myself standing it up midway through the corner to keep my line. A nice twist of throttle would probably cure that as well. Brakes are excellent with floating front discs and stainless brake lines front and back.
Ergonomics: I've always thought the R6 fairly aggressive, but the 675 is even more so. The seat is a touch taller and the clip-ons a tad lower. The first couple rides I could really feel the pressure on my wrists until I got adjusted to the new position. The seat is very narrow and a little hard so after a couple hours you start wondering if a trip to Corbin's website is next on your list. However after a thousand miles in the saddle I am pretty much accustomed to it and now sitting on the R6 seems almost Laz-Boy-ish. Cushy Fat seat, sitting more upright, seems a bit heavy, etc...
Aesthics: The bike looks like a work of art. Everyone that sees it has so far been impressed. I love the undertail exhaust, the unique can, sculpted swingarm, beautiful instrument cluster is a joy to look at. Tinted windscreen, machined out triple clamp, understated paint job, goldish color on the decals, forks, and brakes give the bike a very consistent appearance, the bike looks phenomenol.
Streetability: Terrible street bike, it should be on the track, plain and simple. Absolutely no storage, none once or ever, not even a place to put the owner's manual. That's my biggest complaint, I had the same complaint about the R6 and this problem is amplified ten-fold on the 675. The only tool it comes with is a 5mm allen. There simply is no room for anything else, this is a bold statment to not include tools on a British bike. However this makes it nice to service because pretty much every bolt is a 5mm allen. No helmet locks would be my next biggest complaint, I am reluctant to take it to work due to lack of ability to lock my helmet and jacket onto the bike while on customer visits. Last complaint would be the solo headlight. On low beam only one light works, on high beam the Right Hand light turns on while the Left Hand light stays on low. So either your lights look like one is blown, or they are not aligned the same. The undertail exhaust is awesome in the cool weather as you can feel the heat roll up your legs and around your seat. My opinion of this will flip flop between June-September and October thru April. If I didn't have the R6, I would definitely be tracking the 675. Part of me is tempted to switch them and put the Six back on the road, but I don't see that happening.
Overall: I think Triumph did their homework and have hit the nail on the head - FINALLY!! They have been doing excellent in all the major magazine shootouts winning top spot many times or a very close 2nd or 3rd to the R6's, GSXR 600's and even to the 750s. Very impressive for a first year bike fresh out of the box. They are 600 class legal, but nobody is racing them. A few teams in UK and Spain which are holding their own, but nobody stateside that I am aware of. It's too bad Triumph is staying out of the racing business and not fronting a team because I think they could really get some good press with some decent finishes. May also be their downfall as serious development and improvement generally is only found at the track. So hopefully they will contine to develop it and she will only get better rather then taper off after her first year. Overall I love the bike and am happy I chose it over the R1, the R1 is also a great machine, but more expensive and really more bike then I would have used on the street.
