This year one of our favourite bikes, the Triumph Street Triple, will bow out of the motorcycling arena. We should have been sad, but we are not for the replacement might just be better!
Words: Aninda Sardar
Even a controversy around its peak power output couldn’t dent our enthusiasm around the old Triumph Street Triple 675. It was that good. It was nimble, easy to ride and had more than enough grunt (certainly so for our Indian riding environment). Yes, it was a shade expensive but as a product it was thoroughly enjoyable. So, Triumph’s announcement of discontinuing the Street Triple 675 should have had us dissolve in tears. But guess what? The party hats are out instead because the Street Triple is now going to come back in three variants and, more importantly, with a larger and more powerful 765 cc engine! Here are half a dozen things you should know about the bike that we are already looking forward to riding at some point this year.
The Variants
The Street Triple will be available in three variants – S, R and RS, with S being the tamer (relatively) base variant. Each of the three will feature riding modes, but while the S variant has to make do with just Rain and Road, the R variant gets Sport and Rider programmable modes in addition. The top-of-the-line RS gets all four plus a Track mode.
All new engine
The liquid cooled 765cc three-pot unit with 12 valves and DOHC is derived from the engine of the Daytona (so that bit hasn’t changed) and now produces between 111bhp and 121bhp, depending on which version of the Street Triple you choose to own. Peak torque ranges from 73 to 77 Nm.
| Street Triple S | Street Triple R | Street Triple RS | |
| Liquid cooled 765cc in-line triple | 111 bhp @ 11,250rpm | 116 bhp @ 12,000rpm | 121 bhp @ 11,700rpm |
| 73 Nm @ 9,100rpm | 77 Nm @ 9,400rpm | 77 Nm @ 9,400rpm |
Ride-by-wire
A standard feature of all new bikes from Hinckley, the ride-by-wire throttle allows crisper and more accurate response from the throttle since the transition from open to closed and back becomes smoother. The feature also allows for the earlier mentioned riding modes since different throttle maps can be combined with ABS and traction control settings.
New swingarm
If you thought the older Street Triple’s handling was sublime then according to Triumph you should be delighted. The new bike gets a brand new gullwing swingarm with increased torsional rigidity but with lower lateral stiffness. As a result stability is improved at higher speeds since there is less squat at the rear under hard acceleration. Triumph also claims a tighter corner exit ability and improved (more precise) road and track manners. Yummy!
Full colour adjustable TFT instrumentation
Out goes the old digi-analogue clocks and in comes this new age angle adjustable five-inch TFT screen with readouts from the on-board computer. Over and above that, you can also adjust contrast so that the info is accessible irrespective of light and weather conditions. The S variant however has to make do with an LCD screen (similar to what’s on the new gen Speed Triple).
Improved suspension
The S gets 41mm dia Showa USD separate function forks with 110mm of travel and a stepped preload adjustable monoshock with piggyback reservoir. The R gets Showa 41mm USD separate function big piston forks with 115mm of travel and Showa monoshock with piggyback reservoir. Naturally, the RS gets the cutting edge stuff – in this case, higher spec Showa 41mm USD big piston forks with preload adjust and compression and rebound damping. Rear suspension duties are managed by an Öhlins STX40 monoshock with piggyback reservoir.