Triumph enter budget battle
Triumph’s new budget middleweight Trident looks set to cause bother for Yamaha’s MT-07 and the like
This concept bike is the new Triumph Trident, an entrylevel middleweight aimed at tempting buyers away from Yamaha’s MT-07 (£6695), Kawasaki’s Z650 (£6495) and Honda’s CB650R (£6999). In Triumph’s 2021 range it will slot in below the Street Twin and Street Triple S – both currently priced at £8100.
‘This bike is going to be aimed at people who have been riding a while but this is their first, new large-capacity machine,’ says Steve Sargent, Triumph’s Chief Product Officer. ‘It’s going to be competitively priced but we’re sticking with Triumph’s roots to maintain a premium presence in that market.’ Bike’s translation: around £7000.
The new three-cylinder naked will have ‘class leading technology as standard’ according to Triumph. That presumably means riding modes, cornering ABS and lean sensitive traction control. The concept has LED lights and new switchgear.
Triumph have not released power figures but the engine looks almost identical to the Street Triple S’s – same crankcases and cylinders and only one different engine cover – so we’re expecting similar performance.
That means 47bhp from 660cc in restricted form and around 80bhp when derestricted (the derestricted Street Triple S makes 94bhp, but we’re betting the Trident sacrifices power for more midrange torque).
So where are Triumph saving the money necessary to slash an estimated £1000 off the Street Triple S’s price? The concept’s suspension looks like decent budget kit – upsidedown forks with no damping adjustment – so a few quid saved there, but the frame is significantly different. Instead of the Street Triple’s tasty cast beam, the concept uses a simple tube with plates bolting it to the engine.