Well, the GT is definitely a more European style of sport tourer. At 590 pounds wet it's a bit heavier than an NT but much lighter than the larger sport touring bikes like the FJR, ST1300 or Concours. After 600 miles I'm quite pleased; it is one of those bikes where you just give it a suggestion and off it goes. A light hand on the throttle is a must, but the power comes on very smoothly, so I am not having any trouble keeping it under control. Twist it hard, though, and you zip past 100 mph quicker than you can soil your undies.
The suspension is spot-on for touring and eats up road imperfections beautifully; expansion joints on the freeway give just a hint that they were there at all. It handles a lot like a sportbike, with the steering quick and light, but also very stable at speed and through sweepers. I'd say Triumph did a great job with it. Fork dive when braking hard is non-existent. The brakes are quite powerful and equipped with ABS.
Seating position is definitely sportier than the NT, but the seat is much improved over the Sprint ST and gives a lot more room to move around. Legroom could be better, but I was looking for a bike I could ride on the balls of my feet so that worked out well. My first farkle, installed yesterday, was a pair of 30 mm lowered pegs, though! The GT doesn't have an adjustable windshield, so I will probably end up with three or four in the garage that I can swap out as the weather and ride dictates. The stock shield is pretty good, with a smooth airflow that hits me around mid-chest. The downside is having to clean the bugs off of my helmet a lot more often.
On the slab 4300 rpm yields a very smooth cruise at 80 mph in sixth gear. Range is good; she has a 5.2 gallon tank, the same as the NT, and I'm getting right around 49 mpg, so I have been filling up with about 4.4 gallons of 89 octane or better at the 210 - 220 mile mark. I'm pretty sure that I could get up around 55 mpg if I tried. One of the things I missed is having a really good fuel gauge, and this one seems accurate throughout the range
The stock luggage is very good and HUGE. The side cases are 31 liters each and the topbox is 55 liters. Each sidecase can hold an XL full face helmet and the topbox can accomodate two. Grocery run anybody? One feature I like is being able to unlock a lid and take the key out. The lid will still close and latch but not lock, which may come in handy when camping.
The lights are so-so. The low beams are better than the projectors on the Sprint ST, but the high beam may as well not be there. I'll be adding some Denalis for sure.
I like having a chain again. It's an x-ring that should last for 25,000 miles or more without much hassle, and not having a shaft makes the bike a lot easier to push around the garage. I hadn't realized how much effort the NT took to push until the first time I backed the GT out.
Overall, the Triumph Sprint GT gives me a lot to be happy about with very few quibbles. It hits a 9 out of 10 in most areas, and really rules in one big one: you can pick up a good, low mileage example for well under $10,000. I scored an exceptional deal on mine; I could have bought the Sprint and Mellow's V-strom for less than a new FJR.
I'm pretty happy!