Triumph Street Triple 765
With the Street Triple’s nimble handling and power-to-weight ratio to play around with, what more could one ask for at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona?
Much-loved naked now even more powerful
AM WAITING
at the pits of the iconic Circuit de Catalunya as the Triumph crew warm up the Pirelli SuperCorsa tyres and preps the 2017 Street Triple RS for the racetrack. It’s the same track where legendary MotoGP riders like Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez will be scraping their knee-sliders (and elbows) later this year. The idea is still sinking in, as the tyre warmers are stripped off the bike and I roll it off the paddock stand astride the bike.
There are a million things playing on my mind. Had Triumph mixed up the bikes? Maybe, they should have handed over the track-focused Daytona instead of a naked street bike. All the thoughts vamoose as soon as I leave the pit-lane and hit the very first sharp right-hand corner. To my surprise, the 2017 Street Triple RS leaned in so naturally, as if that’s what it was designed to do. It’s one of those bikes that never intimidates. In fact, as I went around the track the bike started to feel lighter than it actually is. The credit for this goes to the excellent weight distribution and inspiring grip from the front of the bike. By now my mind was crystal-clear and my entire focus was on the new Triumph and the beautiful track.
Shifting my weight to the other side for the next turn and then back, I realised that I was carrying more pace than usual on an unfamiliar bike. And before I could soak this in, I was twisting the throttle on the never-ending straight stretch of the circuit, ducking down and holding on to the handlebar with all my might. There’s no arguing that the 2017 Street Triple RS, in terms of performance and agility, makes the older model look like a relic.
The new Street Triple line-up comes with a new engine which is based on the Daytona 675, with its capacity increased
to 765 cc. The bore and stroke are bigger and the engine has no less than 80 new parts, including a new crank, pistons, con-rods and balancer shaft. With these changes it produces 123 PS and 77 Nm, and makes 16 per cent more peak power at the same revs with a 13 per cent increase in torque over the outgoing Street Triple.
In spite of the larger capacity engine, the new Street is about two kg lighter than the outgoing model. There are five riding modes to pick from: Rain, Road, Sport, Track and Rider. Which means one can tweak the throttle response and ABS and traction control settings, although the power output remains unchanged. It’s sharpest in Track mode, while the electronic intervention increases as you go down the modes all the way to Rain. The Rider mode allows one to adjust the settings as per one’s liking.
Having ridden the older Street, I could clearly feel the leap in performance and the refinement level of the three-pot engine on the track. But more importantly, I felt the improvements on this naked street bike while riding from our hotel in Madrid through the small village roads and scenic twisties, which led to the Catalunya circuit. There’s a lot more usable torque and stronger low-end and mid-range power. So even if I shortshift, there’s still plenty of torque available at lower revs to make the Triumph sail ahead. The shorter first and second gear ratios are perfect for city and quick overtaking manoeuvres.
On the racetrack, the new Street Triple kept growing on me with every passing lap, nudging me to speed up. And I was happy to oblige. The new ride-by-wire throttle felt so intuitive and there’s no struggle even when it reaches the redline. So one can keep it pinned down throughout the fast C3 and, on the short straight before C4, use the slick sixspeed’s quickshifter to shift up without bothering to engage the clutch. Approaching the sharp C5 hairpin, I jam on the range-topping Brembo disc brakes and shed two gears without a worry. The slipper clutch eliminates any drama from the rear wheel, helping me gain time and, at the same time, prepare the bike for the next few fast turns.
Then there’s the exhaust note. Past
the 6,000-rpm mark there’s a hike in performance and the Street Triple RS roars like a beast. This war call is enough for its competitors to take a step back. This becomes more evident in ‘Track’ riding mode, where the Triumph keeps getting meaner, beast-like and addictive. It’s really fast to breach the 8,000 rpm mark and enter the sweet spot in its powerband, giving you the feel of a sports bike.
A vital change in the 2017 version of the Street Triple is agility which it gets from the new chassis and swingarm, which claims to have increased torsional stiffness. Along with its improvised pivot, it’s a lot more stable during hard acceleration and that helps in achieving tighter corner exits.
Another reason for the improved dynamics is the new suspension setup. The USD Showa 41-mm front suspension has been developed specifically for the RS. The Showa piggyback reservoir monoshock is completely adjustable. And to back this up, there’s the extremely sticky and topof-the-line Pirelli tyres, fit to be used on roads or on a racetrack like this. The setup was perfect for the flat surface of the MotoGP racetrack and, being completely adjustable, can be easily
softened for our Indian roads.
Since most Indians are obsessed with faired bikes, the naked street design may not appeal to the masses. But the target audience will appreciate the attention to detail and find the design more desirable than the older model. It definitely looks appealing with a pair of new LED bugeye headlights, accompanied by a cool bikini fairing, very similar to the one on the larger Triumph Speed Triple.
The curvaceous tank and sportier rear design of the 2017 Street Triple seems to be carried over from the Triumph Daytona. The rider geometry, unlike on the Daytona, seems more relaxed and road-friendly. The front seat is large and comfortable, and the RS comes covered with an extremely well-finished cowl at the rear.
Plenty of useful features include auto cancelling LED indicators, LED daytime running lights and a five-inch colour TFT instrument cluster. At a glance you get the usual speedo and tacho, gear position indicator, time, fuel-gauge, and ambient temperature. Using the five-way joystick one can navigate through the dials to get fuel economy figures, trip meter, distance to empty, and (my favourite) onboard lap timer. The overall finish and quality of cycle parts has also gone up a notch, staying in tune with Triumph’s premium motorcycle market positioning.
Around June this year, when the new Triumph Street Triple 765 comes to India, it will cost a little over the existing Street Triple which currently retails around Rs 8.5 lakh (ex-showroom). There will be three variants: the base Triumph Street Triple S, the intermediate ‘R’ version and the top-spec ‘RS’. So, expect the 2017 range to cost between Rs 9.9 lakh and Rs 11 lakh (estimated), which isn’t a bad bargain for the exotic design, explosive performance, nimble handling and amazing power-to-weight ratio.