Triumph Speed Triple

You have to hand it to Triumph Motorcycles for staying true to its soul with the Speed Triple. Triumph has always had a certain sense of attitude and allure surrounding it. For me, it was its classic Bonneville twin from the early seventies that fueled my imagination about motorcycling. The first of the modern Triumph models to become a neoclassic was the Speed Triple, which first appeared in 1994. That bike ushered in a whole new era of enthusiasm for Triumph that is still going strong today. Some may have forgotten that Triumph made a triple back in the pre-John-Bloor era, the Trident, which was very similar in appearance and design to the twins of the time and nothing like the triple that powers modern bikes the Speed Triple.

Ever since Triumphʼs resurgence back in the early ’90s, the company has produced a wide range of bikes that are style-oriented and practical but still retain the character and charisma that make Triumphs truly unique. Since ’94, the Speed Triple’s core design principles have remained intact. A brutish up-bar cafe-style motorcycle. The term Streetfighter was coined from that bike and has stuck ever since. Sales of supersport 600 and 1000cc bikes have declined sharply in past decade. Triumph’s focus is now on developing motorcycles that are less about racing pedigree and more about all around usability and street performance. Even though the Speed Triple R is less sophisticated than the glamourous 1000cc superbikes, it possess its fair share of high-tech electronics, allowing a wider variety of riders to enjoy the bike in more places (street, track, or commuting).

The new 2016 Speed Triple S and R models may seem similar to their predecessors, but they have evolved quite a bit. A redesigned 1050cc three cylinder power plant incorporates 104 design changes. The result is an increase in torque across the entire rev range and peaking at 83 pound-feet at 7,850 rpm. Peak power output is up as well, now measuring 140 horsepower at 9,500 rpm. Key changes to the liquid-cooled, inline-three include new pistons, crankshaft, a redesigned cylinder head complete with a new combustion chamber and better flowing intake ports, new balancer gears, new gear ratios for the transmission, and a new slipper clutch.

Equally important, is the new Ride-by-Wire throttle system and ECU that’s borrowed straight from the Daytona 675 R supersport model. The system features five Rider modes with interchangeable ABS, and Traction Control settings. New throttle bodies are fed by a redesigned airbox, which has a new, more direct air-intake inlet positioned between the redesigned dual headlights. A lighter and better flowing (a claimed 70 percent) exhaust system completes the equation, resulting in enhanced throttle response, better emissions control, and a 10-percent increase in fuel efficiency. Even the tone of the exhaust has been amplified to show off that signature sound.

The introduction for the 2016 Speed Triple took place just outside of Barcelona, Spain. Greeted by sunshine but cold temperatures, we focused the R model, which has the same power output as the S model, but features Öhlins suspension components front and rear. First up, we hit the motorway, which is important because at some point everyone will do time on the freeway. Triumphʼs big triple never hesitated or coughed while modulating the throttle, simply providing smooth and steady fuel delivery. Roll-on performance is quite good with plenty of useable grunt across the rev range.

Lucky for me, the Speed Triple was comfortable and accessible. At first, I thought that the bike felt smaller than the previous Speed Triple, which got me wondering if it had new chassis? But no, I was wrong, the engineers told me that the chassis was the same but that the seating position had been modified. The redesigned seat has a smaller central pad and is 20mm narrower at the front with sloping sides, complemented by a tank that is narrower at the back between your knees. This change moves the rider further forward and more over the front of the bike, helping to provide better weight transfer to the front tire.



Triumph also focused on fine tuning the gear ratios in the transmission. On the motorway, the Speed Triple rolls along at 70 mph in sixth gear at around 6,500 rpm. On twisty mountain roads, where precise gear shifting is mandatory, the Speed Trip’s tranny was very smooth and tight lacking any jerkiness or notchy feel between ratios. Downshifts were equally smooth, with the new slipper clutch providing just the right amount of give to match rear wheel speed to engine RPM. Gear ratios were well suited to the speeds for the roads I was on.

Giving the bike a good thrashing, it handled it well, too. The 43mm Öhlins NIX30 fork provides excellent feel and feedback, and the damping controlled the unpredictable road surfaces nicely. Out back, the Öhlins TTX 36 RSU shock helped keep the bike in line and only allowed unwanted movement under extreme conditions. Attacking the road is what this bike is made for, but it has limits which I got close to, but never exceeded. Lucky for me, the bike is responsive with the upright handlebars positioned for good leverage to help maintain control and get you out of trouble when needed. The R is easy enough to turn and pretty stable at speed, but on some of the tighter sections you will have to put more effort into the bars to finish off the corner. The same goes for transitioning between corners, more effort equals a better result. The good thing is that there is plenty of feel for what is going on underneath you.

At some point you will need to slow down, so how about a set of Brembo 320mm semi-floating rotors with four-piston, radial-mounted monobloc calipers fed by a Brembo master cylinder. These are standard issue for both the Speed Triple S and R models, and I had the pleasure of applying the brakes aggressively on several occasions. Fortunately, front-brake feel is not grabby but very linear with great braking power.

On the street, the Speed Triple performed exceptionally well. All the controls are easy to access with a single right side handlebar switch for start, stop, and startup functions. The left side cluster has all the usual switches such as turn indicators, headlight switch, horn, passing light plus the new Ride Mode switch. Once you press the Ride Mode button you then access the menus through two buttons on the left side of the dash. These allow you to scroll through the four pre-set Ride Modes: Rain, Road, Sport, and Track. With a special fifth Rider mode, which is customizable, you can select any combo of the four maps, throttle response, power output, ABS, and TC. You can also choose to turn off the ABS and Traction control if you prefer. The dash also features an analog tachometer, digital speedometer, mileage trips, fuel gauge, water temperature, and gear-position indicator.

The Speed Triple was a pleasure on the street but an afternoon track session at the Calafat Circuit would tell the whole story. This tight track features a little bit of everything, some slow turns, esses, and a couple of fast sections. In general, the bike stayed composed with both ends fairly planted. Turn-in and trail braking were very predictable and mid-corner stability was excellent. When you’re really on it, however, the Speed Triple puts up some resistance. Going through the esses at speed and trying to get the bike to change direction quickly was difficult. It takes a lot of effort to flick it from side to side. Finishing off corners while pushing at a quick pace also took plenty of muscle, but the high bars help.

Braking extra hard on track caused the fork to bottom out using Triumph’s recommended setup, which in turn made it somewhat difficult to get it turned. But the slipper clutch was working well, with the rear end staying inline and stutter free. The ride modes were easier to distinguish on track. In one session, I tried my own custom map with the Track throttle setting, which was quite abrupt, but the bike had excellent torque and was faster. The Track setting has the least amount of TC interference, and with the ABS turned off it was about as unruly as possible, which I enjoyed. The rear end was hooking up nicely and pushing me out of the corners with only a slight hesitation when TC kicked in.

The bike comes standard with Pirelli Diablo Corsa III rubber standard, so traction was quite good. At the end of the day, I tried the Sport Mode and found response smoother with slightly less power but equally fun to ride. In the end, the Speed Triple held its own, and considering it isn’t a proper supersport racer, it performed well and was really fun to ride. The thing I enjoy the most about the new new Triumph Speed Triple is the fact that it is a well rounded bike capable of performing excellent on street or track. It’s no longer the most potent bike in the class, having to go head to head with KTM’s Super Duke R, and BMW’s S1000R, but it’s very enjoyable to ride and will always put a smile on your face.