2019 TRIUMPH SPEED T WIN
FIRST REVIEW
P76
the performance, with a lovely
throbbing beat that's the closest
thing yet on a modern generation
Bonneville let's-pretend-I'm-a-V
twin engine with its 270° crank
to a trad-Dad 360° parallel-twin
Triumph of yesteryear.
But the result is a motor with
real mumbo, and presumably
aided by the lighter weight, ac-
celeration is definitely impressive
all the way through the revband
in Sport mode, the most zest-
ful out of the three available via
the Keihin ECU's RBW throttle
program. But it's not so bad in
Road, either, which you'll want
to use if the pretty aggressive
throttle response in Sport isn't to
your liking given prevailing road
and traffic conditions. Though
we had glorious winter sunshine
throughout our chilly 59° riding
day I found Rain really good for
town work, as well as coping with
slippery surfaces faintly coated
with green on roads up in the hills
that are lightly used in the tourist
off-season.
Each mode delivers full power,
but with different throttle and
fuel maps, and features varying
degrees of ABS (developed in
conjunction with Continental)
and TC intervention—I could feel
both those rider aids cutting in
nice and early in Rain mode on
the slippery green stretches of
Majorcan tarmac. You can easily
switch between modes on the
move by thumbing the M-button
on the left control pod, and there
is indeed quite a noticeable differ-
ence between the three. How-
ever, you have to really peer at
the small marking in the speedo's
digital panel to decipher which
mode you're in—and, yes, I had
my glasses on! Make it bigger
please, Triumph.
There's really great top gear
roll-on between 5000-7500 rpm
when, even at higher revs, the
Speed Twin just keeps on pull-
ing. Ton-up (100 mph) cruising
Grey isn't as
flashy as the red
but still a looker.
