The Street Triple is arguably the most popular model for those not tempted to reminisce by Triumph’s modern classic range. It’s easy to see why, in essence it is an eager to please engine mounted on a well handling chassis. In the past year I have ridden the Street Triple as a commuter, pushed it in the twisty mountain roads and taken it to Hat Yai in Thailand for a weekend trip. The bike is adept at touring motorways and filtering between rush hour traffic but where this bike really shines is when you point it at turns and twist the throttle.

The Ride

To break down the specs: Triumph claims 105 BHP and max torque of 68Nm from their triple cylinder engine. The 80cm high seat offers enough space to move around but still feel slim when riding. You sit slightly forward in an upright riding position with a good grip on the wide handlebars with all the controls within reach. The clutch and brake levers are adjustable for different hand sizes. Suspension is provided by Kayaba upside down forks and monoshock rear, the rear is adjustable for preload but if you are of a roughly average build, the manufacturer’s recommenced settings will suit you well enough. Twin floating discs paired with two pot Nissin callipers in the front and a single pot Brembo rear provide the stopping power. The dash is well balanced, mixing modern and classic with a digital LCD speedometer and an analogue tachometer nicely separating the two bits of information. Fuel economy is also quite good at an average of 18km/L, the tank stores 17 litres of fuel giving a range of around 300km at mixed riding.

So specs aside, what does it feel like to ride? The Street Triple is pure fun, handling better than some sportier bikes in the corners. The bike is agile, eager to turn and when in the corners, you almost feel as if the bike were on rails. The bike holds its line easily giving you enough confidence to lean over further and get on the throttle faster. The engine is a smooth, not the most powerful in the middleweight segment but it delivers the power predictably and early on in the rev range, from a crack of the throttle onwards to redline, making accelerating out of corners easy work. It will easily keep up with bigger litre bikes in the corners. Not to mention the smile you get from listening to that addictive induction roar as you open the throttle or the lovely burble as you roll off.

Triumph’s triple cylinder engine has been so well received that it has led Yamaha and MV Agusta to launch their own triple cylinder competition. Whilst there are examples of triple cylinder production motorcycles in history such as the Laverda Jota or Triumph’s early foray into triples with the Trident. Triumph’s modern introduction of their triple engine has finally brought this engine configuration into the mainstream and with good reason. Not too long ago you would have had only the option of a two-cylinder or four-cylinder power plant for your bike. Triumph has essentially brought back the triple from obscurity, mixing the low end power associated with a twin and the high revving characteristic of an inline four and us as enthusiasts are all the better for the additional choices.

Conclusion

I only have some minor of criticism for the bike, should you be a keen track enthusiast, the standard version’s suspension won’t be adjustable enough to tweak to your ideal settings nor are the brakes as responsive as they should be for advanced track use. Fortunately, these issues are easily remedied by getting the R version of the Street Triple which comes with fully adjustable Kayaba front and rear suspension. Brakes are also improved with the uprated four piston radially mounted Nissin front callipers and radial master cylinder providing much better feedback and more bite.

The bike as an overall package is hard to fault, it offers a blend of capabilities suited to city riding, mountain roads or track riding. Fun, speedy and agile this is a naked bike that you can ride like a superbike. It will turn heads and have other riders asking you about it.

The only regret I have with this bike is: I didn’t get the R version.