Triumph Street Cup
£8800 + 900cc parallel twin + 54bhp + 200kg (dry) + 12-litre tank + 780mm + Miles so far: 2999
THE STREET CUP and I were never going to win this, were we? Anyway, a retro-cool bike needs stylish luggage – not lots of luggage.
So while Triumph offer rigid waxed cotton panniers as an official accessory, this full Swmotech Legend Gear set costs more than £100 less, includes a rain cover in the price, has a similar capacity and – in my eyes at least – also looks better.
The universal mounting strap isn’t ideal for the Street Cup due to the domed shape of the seat, but while Sw-motech are in the process of developing a bike-specific system for it, this saddle strap does the job. Albeit with a lot of swearing and second attempts with the straps...
With it all in place, I reckon there’s plenty enough room for both mine and my girlfriend’s stuff for a long weekend (or just four lots of my stuff…) Well, as long as I don’t pack anything like big bottles of water. Because I could only manage one of them per bag, filling the rest up with small ones and fastening the roll-top with a combination of the hook faster and brute force. After all that, it was only an extra 20kg to carry, and considering I’ve done a few long rides with a pillion, this was nothing for the Triumph.
“A retro-cool bike needs stylish luggage”