STREET TRIPLE 765 V Z900
Triumph’s all-new 765cc Street Triple RS is a brilliant sub-£10k naked but the Z900 is up for the fight
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MCN tested the new-generation 765cc Street Triple last month at its world launch in Barcelona, at the Catalunya MotoGP circuit and on the road. We were blown away, but then it was never going to disappoint, was it? It’s been a decade since that original Street Triple rocked our world and in that time Triumph have sold over 50,000. It’s won every MCN comparison test, too – MT-09s, Z800s, MV Brutales and any number of Japanese identikit mid-capacity roadsters never got close. Triumph steadily polished and refined the Street Triple. The original doey-eyed twin headlights made way for fox eyes in 2012 and a year later it got a full makeover, sporting a new chassis and the underseat exhaust was swapped for a side-exit pipe. It also spawned R versions with funky chassis parts and latterly an RX fitted with a quickshifter. Now the Street Triple moves into a new chapter. It’s available in a dizzying number of versions with varying levels of equipment, engine performance and price tags. There’s a base model £8000 Street Triple S (also available as a £7700, 660cc, A2 licence-friendly machine) and a high-spec £8900 Street Triple R, which also comes as a ‘Low Ride Height’ version, for the same price, with a 780mm seat. At the top of the tree is this £9900 RS – the lightest, most powerful Street Triple ever. A new ride-by-wire system facilitates traction control for the first time (hooray), anti-wheelie (boo), a quickshifter, five riding modes and a full colour, joyskick-operated dash with a choice of six display layouts. We’ll be testing it against its rivals in all its different guises, but to kick the Street Triple 765 hunting season off this is its strongest challenger: Kawasaki’s new Z900.
Z900: so easy to ride
Replacing the old Z800 (a bike that actually ran the 675cc Street Triple close when it was launched in 2013) the Z900 is also new for 2017 and has already taken its first scalp, beating the updated Yamaha MT-09 a few weeks ago in MCN. Both bikes have near-identical power,
with the Kawasaki’s creamy 123bhp inline-four just acing the triple’s 121bhp. But the Z900 has the most cubes (only 5cc and 2bhp down on the original 2003 Z1000’s) and is cheaper, a chunky £1651 cheaper. That said, this particular Z900 Performance model, with its Akrapovic pipe brings that gap down to 900 quid, so there’s not much between the two nakeds, especially if you’re buying on PCP (see over). The Street Triple RS has a far higher level of equipment and weighs less, although it’s hard to say exactly by how much when Triumph claims dry figures O (166kg) and the Kawasaki wet (210kg). On paper the Kawasaki could be just another one of those identikit Japanese nakeds, but it’s so much more than that. It’s incredibly easy to ride, has balanced handling, plush suspension, a buttery power curve and a perfect throttle response. You’re sat low in the machine, cocooned by bodywork with bars and pegs set to ache-free perfection. Fellow tester Chad agrees, saying: “The engine is a real surprise with really nice smooth power, a lovely gearbox and so much torque you rarely need to change down from sixth gear for overtaking. It’s really refined and doesn’t feel budget at all. I’m impressed with the ride quality, love the H2-style green trellis frame and it has the best turning circle. It’s really fast and the smoother, more relaxed of the two bikes.” The Z900 had it all its own way against the new MT-09 a few weeks ago, but the bar is set higher when you pitch it against the Street Triple RS and small cracks appear in the Zed’s make-up. “It’s missing a lot of the Triumph’s refinements,” Chad adds. “It’s a shame there’s no quickshifter and the dash is basic. There’s no function button on the switchgear and it’s hard to see the black and white LCD display in the sunlight. The standard Dunlop D214 tyres are poor, the ABS chimes in early when you brake hard and the engine runs out of revs, hitting an early rev-limiter when you’re chasing down the Triumph.” Like jumping from a road to a race bike, the Street Triple RS has a tougher feel than the Z900 and sits poised ready to do business. The Öhlins rear/Showa front suspension set-up is firm, but still plush, the Brembos have more power and the Brit Pop three-cylinder engine has a louder, more ear-piercing roar and harder acceleration past 8000rpm. But the motor is still docile and lowspeed tractable when you want it to be
‘An ear-piercing roar and harder acceleration past 8000rpm’
and, like the Z900, has a lovely pick-up from a closed throttle. It’s more airy and there’s less wind protection than on the Zed, but it’s still all-day roomy. And just like the naked supersport bike it is, the chassis feedback offers sensory overload and crisp steering. Pirelli Diablo Super Corsa SP tyres are the sticky cherry on top. The Street Triple’s gearbox, clutch and throttle are arcade-game light and the quickshifter allows clutchless changes even at low speeds, but an autoblipper is conspicuous by its absence. Turn the electronics off and the Triumph floats off rises and performs full-lock wheelies out of thirdgear corners. “I love the colour dash,” Chad says, fiddling with the Triumph’s new switchgear. “It looks complicated at first, but you quickly get used to it. The engine has more over-rev than the Kawasaki, but doesn’t quite have the grunt, so you need to go down one or two gears to overtake. It has better brakes, more compliant suspension and I love the looks. The back end has more than a hint of MV Agusta to it.” On a spirited blast the Triumph can stretch a gap with its crispier handling, more urgent-revving engine and superior tyres, not to mention the piece of mind you get from traction control. Triumph have gone the extra mile to make the Street Triple absolutely perfect and it just edges the Z900 to top spot. But the new Kawasaki is so remarkably fast, smooth and refined, so there’s not as much in it as you’d think.