Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 49 DECEMBER 10, 2013 Lean, lithe and potent, the Street Tracker is a torque twin that stays true to its Café Racer traditions. power is strong and muscular, but from 3500-4000 rpm upwards as the exhaust note hardens, the Tracker really takes off and builds speed very forcefully. Hold on tight and you can feel the handlebars waggling lazily in your hands as the ultra-flat torque curve peaks and holds - it's only just over 7200 rpm where the rev-limiter would normally cut in that you can feel the Triumph motor start to tail off a little. Shift at 8000 and you're right back in the fat part of the power curve again, accelerating hard once more. Five speeds in the gearbox are quite enough for a motor this mighty - especially when it's so easy to access those liters of long-stroke torque, even with such tall overall gearing. "It's a tractor!" says Matt Capri. Actually, it's a totally authentic flat-tracker streetrod that's practical as well as fun to ride, although the lack of leverage on the stiffaction clutch thanks to the barend mirror that stops you sliding your hand further down the grip to get a better fistful is a minor gripe. Apparently, the beefedup Barnett clutch gained a more progressive action after Capri soaked its Kevlar clutch plates in ATF fluid overnight - see, the old ways are sometimes still the best. Just one thing that really needs a cure - the lower of the two exhaust megaphones is set much too low, and grounds right out at even moderate angles of lean. "We got it fixed – we can lift it up an inch," said Matt Capri when confronted with evidence of this in the form of a ground-in flat on my return to his store after a day of total enjoyment aboard what may very well be the finest British twin-cylinder motorcycle I've ever ridden. I guess ground clearance isn't so much of an issue when backing the rear tire in on a dirt track – but the good grip from the Avon Storm tires invites you to crank P79 the Triumph hard over to keep up turn speed on the hard stuff, which results in you decking the pipe. In doing so, you must take account of the fact that it's relatively easy to go off the edge of the skinny 170/60 rear Avon, though if you do so the extra leverage from the wide, flat handlebar will help you save it to resulting slide. The left footpeg will also touch down, but since this is of the flip-up variety it makes no difference. The single 310m front disc produces more than acceptable power for such a light bike, even with the mega performance from that bored and stroked motor, while also helping deliver the precise, easy steering that's pinpoint sharp (without being heavied up by the extra gyroscopic weight of a twin-disc setup). The Beringer six-piston caliper helps deliver that good stopping power while also looking trick. Available at prices starting at $30,000 upwards, depending on specification, the South Bay Triumph Street Tracker is a classic California Hotrod endowed with serious attitude. It's lean, lithe, accelerative and potent, with few concessions to civility, staying true to its café racer traditions. It's addictively entertaining to ride - Yesterday Once More, but in a 21st century context, with Capri's traditional power-up tuning strategies combined with modern brakes and suspension. CN

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