TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE RS
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… “Mileage hunting...”
Isigned off last month with a promise to furnish the RS with a number of tasteful additions from the Triumph aftermarket catalogue. My request, which has included over £1,000 worth of accessories was dutifully accepted, though a number of the parts are already on back order which means that I won’t be able to get anything fitted to the RS until mid-September. That said, I have managed to procure a Street Triple R for the duration of the RS’s visit home to the Triumph site in Hinckley which is a very welcome result indeed.
The RS is the daddy of course, Triumph themselves describe it to be the “most explosive and adrenalincharged Street Triple we’ve ever built”. I personally have no problemwith that statement – get it in the higher levels of the rev range and it is certainly explosive, and the adrenalin rush you feel at the controls is tough to beat; you just need to be in the right place to give it the appropriate beans. What I am looking forward to is getting hold of the triple one model down by means of comparison. The R is priced £1,000 less than the RS, offers five less bhp and has no bellypan or track riding mode, though it sports the same impressive screen and on-board computer. There is also a slight downgrade in callipers running the Brembo M4.32 monoblocs, as opposed to the M50s on the RS.
The downgrade in brakes is of little concern, the Brembo M50s are almost overkill on the RS but very welcome of course dependent on your usage. What is interesting though is the tuning of the 765 engine where according to Triumph, the RS will reach peak torque of 77Nm at 10,800rpm. For the R you will be there earlier at 9,400rpm. The numbers suggest you are going to get a triple that is far more road focussed, the self-cancelling indicators and lack of a track mode make this pretty bloody obvious to be fair, but I look forward to investigate it further all the same.
I have been road bound again this month, failing to take the opportunity to track again due to the inevitable family holidays and absentees in the office to cover me while I am out enjoying myself. That said, I have upped my road mileage this month with a few trips, one such being to just south of the Yorkshire Dales and riding one of my favourite passes – the Old Skipton Road. Far reaching tarmac stretching out before you across beautiful countryside and for once no pigging rain. The motorway journey from Bath gave me the opportunity to test the range of the RS, which is impressive. The electronic dash will tell you a brimmed tank will get you to around 165 miles, but theoretically I worked this out to be more like 190. Having completed 139 miles from a brimmed 17.4 litre tank to the light, I brimmed it again, a total of 12.5 litres of fuel used, roughly translating to 11.13 miles per litre. Times that by capacity and you are looking at a whopping 196 miles, potentially.
Maths may not be my strongest point but that was the evidence I had and even if I am 20 miles out it’s still an impressive total.
Motorway miles munched, and country roads leading into Skipton were an absolute blast. The RS was comfortable at speed, despite the low front aided only by a minor bikini fairing. The OE Pirelli Supercorsas work perfectly with the setup, gluing the bike to the road and giving so much confidence in the corners that the dry stone walls framing the Skipton Road were a pleasant addition to the landscape, not the looming danger they can potentially be. Though I have to admit, despite the sunshine, the altitude and speed did mean I had to pop the heated grips on for a time. It may be the height of summer but if you got them, you use them, yeah? Much more in the next issue...