Good looking and cool with it
tilt the rider’s upper body gently and mildly forward, and feet settle into the same footpeg positions as the Street Twin. It’s a comfy riding possie if you’re of short-toaverage height, however taller riders will find the more rearset footpegs of a Thruxton don’t cramp their legs as much.
At 178cm tall, I felt right at home aboard the SC, and enjoying memories of both the Yamaha RD350 I added clubman-style bars to in the 1970s, and the similarlyequipped Moto Guzzi V7 Cafe Classic that carried me through a lot of the late-noughties.
Subtle are the differences between the riding experiences of the Street Twin and the Cup, but they’re still discernable from the slightly higher seat (780mm) of the latter. It’s all found in the handling of the bike, as the powertrain performance is identical given that both Triumphs possess the same 270 degree-cranked single-overheadcam 900 parallel twin with the same easy-going yet willing power delivery. Same V-twin sound effects from similar megaphonemimicking mufflers too.
Ditto, same rider-friendly fivespeed transmission with its precise clutch engagement, exemplary gear shifting, and lack of chain snatch during on/off throttle transitions. Similar frugality gives an ability to stretch 250km of travel from a single fill of the 12-litre tank.
It’s the 8mm-longer rear shocks and the slightly more racy riding position that make the difference. Both put more weight onto the front tyre, quickening the alreadyagile steering of the bike to allow it to live up to its sportier appearance. A nice side benefit of the longer shocks (which don’t offer any more wheel travel than the Street Twin’s) is that there’s now a couple of degrees of extra cornering lean available before the footpegs touch down. This makes the Street Cup a more exploitable motorcycle whenever the chosen Sunday morning road starts to turn back on itself.
If said road gets a bit rambunctious with its surfaces, the basic suspension of the Street Twin can handle it, provided you keep the pace appropriate. Push harder, and the un-adjustable forks will begin to pogo on their soft spring rates, and the rear shocks will also show their displeasure at repeated bump abuse. Triumph will offer a better set of Fox shocks as accessories for the Street Cup, and I’d be teaming these up with firmer fork springs if the bike was mine.
There’s little need for an upgrade in the braking department, however, as the twopiston Brembo caliper puts plenty of clamp on the 310mm floating disc. Grab a big squeeze of the right-hand lever and you’ll quickly trigger the standard ABS system of the Street Cup. With 20 less kilograms to stop that the previous-generation 865cc Thruxton and the better front disc doing the arresting, the Street Cup has all the stopping power it requires, negating the need to add the unsprung mass of a second front disc.
This is a bike to be admired, not only for the way it shades the previous Thruxton dynamically, but also for its cleaner design, better engineering, and classier finishing. And there’s enough opportunity left for owners to enjoy further satisfaction through their own well-targeted improvements.
Buy a Thruxton 1200 if you must have the extra power and torque, but a Street Cup has the potential to be a more rewarding bike to own.