The New Triumph Speed Triple Is Here With 148bhp And Carbonfibre Bits
We don’t often find ourselves broaching the subject of two-wheeled vehicles on Car Throttle (the first bit of our name should be a clue as to why), but a new version of the Triumph Speed Triple is something we really can’t ignore.
The original Speed Triple sparked something of a naked bike revolution upon its release, so it’s kind of a big deal. And Triumph has been mighty busy having a damn good fiddle with the new bike’s 1050cc inline-three cylinder engine.
The triple gets no less than 105 new parts including a redesigned crankshaft, new Nikasil-plated aluminium cylinder liners, new pistons and a freer-flowing cylinder head. It produces 148bhp and 86lb ft of torque, improvements of seven and four per cent respectively when compared to the outgoing unit.
Not the kind of increases you’re likely to notice, but what should be more obvious is the engine’s newfound responsiveness. The changes have been aimed at making the triple spin up faster, and higher - the redline is 1000rpm higher than before. Triumph also reckons it’s the best sounding Speed Triple ever, thanks in part to a shoutier new silencer.
The aluminium frame and single-sided swingarm have been carried over from the old Speed Triple without any significant changes. You also still get five riding modes, cruise control, standard-fit ABS and traction control.
The new five-inch TFT display is new though, while the ABS and traction control systems have been fiddled with to ensure “optimum distribution of brake force, slip rate and torque control, improving both straight line riding and cornering.” It’s all thanks to the clever ‘Inertial Measurement Unit’ (IMU) which measures things like pitch, yaw, lean angle and acceleration, any adjusts the electronic rider aids to suit.
There are now two flavours of Speed Triple to choose from: the S, and the RS. The S is the base model, while the RS is the posher one with fancier Öhlins suspension in place of the Showa setup in the S, keyless steering lock and ignition, a smattering of carbonfibre body panels, the aforementioned IMU, and Arrow silencers.
This, or a Ducati Monster 1200S?
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Beautiful
Just wishing the approach to bikers was more forgiving locally
HN elite
Thanks for that 👍
Oops wrong website
Thought I came on car throttle.
OMG LOL GOOD ONE
Carbon fibre!?
On a Motor bike!?
What the hell is use for that!?
The damn thing already weighs less than 300kg! What’s the point of this…….
I swear this stuff is just getting ridiculous
As is usually the case when it’s used on cars, it’s more about form than function - pretty bits of trim to make the buyers feel like they’re getting something sportier. After all, a heavy lunch is going to counteract the extent of the weight-saving…
300kg is a harley, nakeds weights less than 200kg
It’s even more interesting. The physics are the same, it’s interesting for exemple to lower the gravity center, make a stiff frame, light wheels, all of that will make a bike cornering, braking faster, with a better feeling, and better accelerations. 10 kilos on a bike represent 6/7% of it weight, so compare to a car and you will understand how much it can be interesting
AKCHUALLLY!!! Mathematically the weight saving on a bike using carbon fibre would have a larger impact on overall performance as you’d be shedding a larger percentage of the overall weight.
I’m glad to see some motorcycle content from CT staff, nice work
Glad to see some Motorcycle content…
Well, this looks pretty nice, but the price is probably going to be pretty high. I’ll get a Monster for less, plus you can’t go wrong with a legend.
Except for the horrendous shop bills. And yes, there are some that are needed to be done by an authorized dealer.
But that’s not just a Monster thing, it’s brand wide
All bikes look identical
With that logic, all cars look identical as well lol. How can you seriously say that a Harley Davidson street glide looks identical to a Yamaha R1? Smh
My race bike uses naked carbon fiber so everyone knows how much of a race bike it is
I always thought one of these motors should go into the MCM mira