My first ride on the Triumph Street Triple RS did not go well. The suspension felt harsh, the riding position was all wrong, and the quick shifter was fighting me more than it was helping me.
Fast forward a few days, and I now don’t want to give the Street Triple back to Triumph.
Sadly, arriving back from a sneaky lunchtime ride, the first email I read was from Triumph confirming their collection of the Street Triple. I’ve spent the last hour scheming how I might extend my time with Triumph’s exquisite motorcycle. Annoyingly, I came up with nothing.
The dramatic change of heart has come from learning to ride it. It may be something that sports bike riders don’t have to adjust to, but for someone who spends most of their time on adventure bikes, riding the Street Triple requires a different approach.
What Changed
Whereas you can ride the Street Triple any way you want to, for me, there was a distinctive style that brings it to life.
The Triumph is an easy bike to work too hard at riding. The more I tried to command the Street Triple, the slower I went. The slower I went, the more I tried harder to go faster.
The engineers at Triumph are much more sophisticated than that. The Street Triple has been refined over the years and doesn’t need me to tell it what to do.
The secret was not to hustle the bike. Let the Triumph Street Triple do most of the work and gently guide the Street Triple to do what you want it to do. Smooth short-shifting between bends, rather than maximising the RPM, proved to be the most effective style. The more relaxed I was, the faster the Street Triple went.
Finding that groove is intoxicating. Everything comes together in a continual fluid motion that makes it all look so easy.
Braking firmly into a tight 90-degree bend required only the briefest release of the brakes for the Street Triple to settle before rolling into the corner. Just enough time to tap on the gear lever and let the quick shifter move me down through the gears.
Add throttle as the limit point as it starts to escape into the distance, and the Street Triple smoothly chases after it.
The Street Triple is an excellent way of effortlessly transport yourself where ever you want to go. Just settle back and let the bike do most of the work.
The Engine
Now Euro 5 compliant, the 2020 Triumph Street Triple produces 123PS (121 BHP) at 11,500 RPM, along with 79Nm of torque at 9,350RPM. Weighing only 166Kg dry, and with that amount of power, a more straightforward way of explaining the power and torque is to simply say, “Damn, that’s quick.”
Statistically, the 2020 Triumph Street Triple makes 9% more torque and 9% more power in the mid-range. Engine mass has been reduced, resulting in a more responsive throttle thanks to the 7% reduction in rotational inertia.
As I say, I’ll stick with “Damn, that’s quick” and leave it there.
Riding Position
Nothing is stopping you from riding the Triumph Street Triple to Spain or the Austrian Mountain passes, but a certain amount of joint flexibility is required.
The lower half of your body is curled up in a sports bike-esque crouch. Your knees bent, and your feet tucked up onto the high footrests to keep them from caressing the tarmac while you are enjoying the exquisite handling.
While the lower half of your body may be a little compact, the upper half will be enjoying the lightly raised bars that tilt your body forward perfectly for any speed over 40mph. Under that speed, there is light pressure on your wrists, which disappears when the wind gives you something to balance against.
I put in a 200-mile day riding to the bike-friendly café on the seafront at Withernsea. Other than the odd knee stretch, I had a comfortable day’s riding.
Quick Shifter
If I had one niggle it would be the quick shifter. The majority of the time, we got on fine. Running between a series of roundabouts on my way to the coast, the quick shifter was a dream to use.
I was braking without changing down and then block changing two or three gears depending on the traffic. Short shift up one gear as I accelerated out of the roundabout and then sneak in two more upshifts just so that I could downshift with the auto-blipper for the next roundabout.
I will grant you my behaviour could be considered childish, but it was a highly effective way of dispatching the traffic without drawing any unwanted attention. That and it is fun too.
Where the quick-shifter and I would occasionally argue would be when I’d left the downshift late, and there was little RPM difference between the gears. The auto-blipper wouldn’t blip, resulting in the downshift being a resounding clunk rather than a smooth click.
Despite the occasional argument, the quick shifter is a wonderful enhancement to the Street Triple, and yes, you absolutely want one.
Fuel Range
A tank range of anything less than 200 miles in the Adventure Bike world is seen as a fatal flaw.
Seeing the Triumph’s fuel warning come on at 140 miles was still disappointing, if not unexpected, considering the 17-litre (3.7 imperial gallons) tank capacity.
According to the Street Triple, I was averaging 47 miles to the gallon, and 140 miles would have burnt almost three gallons, leaving me a thirty-mile reserve.
That is all simple maths, so why mention it?
During one of my more invigorating rides, I did glance down at the fuel display. Now, it was only a glance because my concentration was needed elsewhere, but I’m sure that the current fuel consumption figure on the TFT display started with a two.
If you intend to explore the more excitable areas of the Street Triple RS’ performance, then you might want to keep the space between petrol stations to 100-miles.
The Triumph is one of the lightest, if not the lightest, bike in its class. All the same, you don’t want to find yourself pushing it to a petrol station.
The Brembo Brakes
Twin Brembo M50 4-piston monobloc calipers grabbing on to 310mm floating discs certainly do stop you extremely quickly when you ask them to. I’d like to claim I did one stoppie, and if I did, it was all of 2mm off the ground. But, Yes … The brakes work every bit as well as you imagine they do.
Assisting the front is an effective single-piston Brembo rear caliper gripping onto a 220mm disc.
Complaints
The front upsidedown Showa 41mm forks and the Ohlins STX40 rear shock give a firm ride. For the average British B road, the case could be made for the Street Triple R, which has slightly less sophisticated suspension and gives a less harsh ride as standard.
You could soften up the RS’ suspension, but where is the point in that. Buying the latest generation of Street Triple R also means losing the gorgeous TFT display for the more standard Triumph offering.
The bar end mirrors, which provide an excellent view of people behind you (which is where most are likely to be), blur at 63mph, and stay blurred until 70+MPH. It is a tiny inconsequential complaint, but once I’d seen it, it was something I kept noticing.
And my final complaint is the lack of exhaust burble on overrun. Every time I closed the throttle, I’d lament the absence of an engaging soundtrack as the triple engine cleared its throat.
I’m sure making enjoyable noises from the exhaust is inefficient, but it would add some character to the otherwise perfectly mannered exhaust note.
As standard, the Triumph Street Triple RS comes with five riding modes: Road, Rain, Sport, Track, and Rider Configurable. I wonder if Rider Configurable could be programmed to give an exhaust burble?
Bottom Line
I’m heavily in lust with the Triumph Street Triple RS. It is a class act from start to finish. If you have any space in your garage, the Street Triple has to be high on the list of bikes to fill that void.
Clarity
Triumph Motorcycles were kind enough to provide a Street Triple RS for us to review, and sadly they made me give it back.
