James Whitham spends our cash on a Street Triple R
2013-2016 Triumph Street Triple R
James Whitham has spent a lifetime fiddling with some sort of motorcycle or another. From the age of six he has been obsessed with two wheels and currently has “20-odd bikes” in his garage and a YZF-R6 race bike parked in his house. From a reasonably unhealthy obsession with 50cc 1970s mopeds and a love of two-strokes to a career on sportsbikes and a dabbling with modern retros, James has owned them all. So, given £5000, what would he go out and buy?
“I’d be tempted to go down the nostalgia route and look for a Suzuki GSX-R750 M, which I won the BSB title on in 1991, or a Yamaha YZF750R, which I took my first WSB podium on in 1993, or even a Ducati 916 as that secured me my one and only WSB race win,” muses James. “Or even Suzuki GSX600F ‘teapot’ which was a bit crap but indestructible. However, if I was buying a bike to ride and have fun on it would be a Triumph Street Triple R.
“I love sportsbikes but like a lot of riders I’ve now reached an age where I understand I don’t need 200bhp, which is why retros and nakeds really appeal. They suit my riding, which is generally shorter distances, and they are brilliant fun.
“I’ve always loved the Street Triple and I’d go for the updated model as it is a bit more refined than the first generation – and an R, just because it’s always nice to have the bling. We have riders who turn up on my trackdays on a Street Triple and they rattle around really well, so I could use it on circuit, but I’d mainly use it on the road – although I’d have to be careful because nothing wheelies as well as a Street Triple. “Aside from the Triumph, a fuel-injected GSX-R750 from the 2000s would be tempting. They are the last of the ‘analogue’ sportsbikes with amazing handling. I love them.”