Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1388078
P114 RIDE REVIEW I 2022 TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE 1200 RS really come in handy if it allows you simply to look down at your gauges to keep an eye on such an important thing. Finally, I think most owners would opt for the painted flyscreen and its accom- panying visor—I know I would. It might even be cool if the likes of Puig or Zero Gravity soon offered some taller aftermarket options. I'm a big fan of my personally owned Aprilia Tuono but with one hand over my heart, I could own one of these 1200 RSs. It's got all the Ohlins and Brembo bits that I require to help me stay alive on a daily basis—I ride the living crap out of my local canyon roads a few times a week, and these top-shelf high-performance bits really can help to keep everything reigned in once the pace increas- es. It's safer and I'm still here. (Knock on wood.) I was impressed with how well Triumph's newest state-of-the-art Speed Triple 1200 RS worked as a piece of high-performing, highly refined weaponry. I guess prog- ress, just because we can, can be a good thing. I'd be perfectly happy bringing one of these to the next track day or a Rock Store Sunday breakfast. I t'd been two years since I'd sat on a Speed Triple, then one sud- denly appeared in my driveway for an impromptu couple of days of road testing. It was far different than I remember. For starters, it's noticeably taller in the back end. The spec sheet says it's only 0.3 inches taller in seat height, but it feels a full inch simply due to the angle of the seat padding. You're in a much more aggressive attack ride position on the new RS, with your weight angled over the front more. It's also much skinnier. The new RS feels like its lost about a quarter of its mid-section girth, giving it the kind of sporty, snappy feeling reminiscent of Ducati's Streetfighter. Straight away you can tell the intentions of the new Triumph before you ride it—it's firmly got bikes like the Streetfighter, Super Duke and Tuono in its sights— these feelings are confirmed about 30 seconds after thumbing the starter. This is a much faster, freer rev- ving engine than before. It picks up revs like a 750, not a 1200, the lightness of the crank evident as the motor rushes through the revs. It's an addictive engine, that noise, that attitude, it's like the original Speed Triple on a diet of elephant- level steroids. The ride is stiff. Seriously stiff. When compared to the previous it- eration, the new RS feels like a su- perbike with a high handlebar. The Ohlins NIX30 fork and TTX36 shock (proper racetrack stuff) is right on the very edge of what I can handle in a road bike in terms of stiffness vs comfort. Mark's assertion that the Speed Triple makes a great track bike is undeniable, simply because it's come at the expense of some real-world usability. Go fast, and the RS will happily play along. It hates potholed, crap- py roads and you'll know all about it via the repeated kicks from the seat. You need to peg the RS fast up your favorite backroad and in this guise it's every bit a match for the Super Duke or Tuono. Part of what makes the ride so good is how it stops. The Brembo RCS master-cylinder is a gem of a thing and gives such excellent feel and braking power at the lever— again, this is racetrack-level stuff. See what I'm getting at here? Rennie's Week With The RS cont. on next page