2018 TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE 765 RS
FULL TEST
P90
soon as the engine is spin-
ning north of 3000 rpm, which
is most of the time, there's
torque to absolutely burn.
Equipped with an upshift-
only quickshifter, the 765 will
charge through the revs with
the kind of urgency the old
675 could only dream of. On
the downshift, you still need to
use the clutch—I'd have loved
if the quickshifter went both
ways—but you won't worry
about it after a while because
the gearbox is supremely
smooth and I never had any
miss shifts, regardless of how
light-footed I was when select-
ing cogs.
The ride position is excellent
for quick blasts to work, but
can be tiresome over longer
rides. You cop every ounce of
windblast on the RS, making it
a tiring bike to ride after a few
hours. And the suspension,
while a dream for the track, is
on the hard side for a produc-
tion bike. Now, when I say
"hard," I don't mean "harsh."
They are two very different
feelings and the RS has excel-
lent cornering and braking
poise, it's just that it doesn't
really love some of Southern
California's crappy road sur-
faces.
One thing I loved about the
765 at the intro last year was
the dash. It's a brilliant piece of
computer engineering, offering
six different layouts that range
from full digital to quasi analog.
Ohlins
suspension
on the RS is
beautiful but
can be a touch
hard, but it
sure loves to
be hustled.
Mirrors look great and give
a good view, although they
can make the RS a bit wider
when splitting lanes.
After a bit of faffing around I
went for the digital speedo
with the redline sweeping over
the top. Half and half. And for
the riding modes, considering
I could have had the full gamut
of Rider selectable, I more
often than not found myself
happy with just the Sport
mode, which gave me a larger
intervention of ABS, track set-
tings for the TC and the Sport
setting on the throttle.
The 765 is not a long-
distance bike as the seat gets
pretty hard after an hour, but
the fact the bars are in such
a relaxing position means you
can stand up and stretch out
easily without having to stop.
And when you do stop, you
may get as annoyed as I was
on a few occasions as the
side-stand can be a pain in
the ass to get down with riding
