VOL. 53 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 23, 2016 P65
I HISTORY LESSON I I I
From being a somewhat
crude stripped-out sport-
bike when first concocted
by the simple expedient
of deleting the bodywork
from the Daytona 900, the
Triumph Speed Triple meta-
morphosed into a serious
street rod with the introduc-
tion two years later in 1996
of the T509, complete with
John Mockett's so-distinc-
tive goggle-eyed styling and
a fuel-injected 885cc motor.
This was replaced in 1999
by a new-generation 955cc
engine producing the same
108 bhp dyno readings, but
with much improved torque.
In 2005 Triumph then
delivered heaps more
power as well as acres
more grunt by stroking the
engine to produce 79 x
71.4mm dimensions and a
claimed 128 bhp from the
resultant 1050cc motor,
as well as a hefty increase
in torque to 74 lb-ft Then
in 2011 came a major
makeover, with the same
1050cc motor now yielding
133 bhp/81.8 lb-ft, but
even more to the point its
hyper-distinctive bug-eye
headlamps had been re-
placed by less retro but still
distinctive twin pentagonal
wolfeye headlights as part
of a total restyling package.
Less attitude, more 21st
century looks? Whatever,
the sales numbers in any
case kept right on churn-
ing, so that by the end of
2015 Triumph had sold no
less than 56,929 Speed
Triples with the 1050cc
motor, and a remarkable
77,800 examples exactly
of all versions of the model
built since its 1994 debut.
"IT'S EVIDENT HOW MUCH MORE LOW END TORQUE
THERE IS ON THE NEW MODEL, COMPARED TO THE NOT
EXACTLY RETICENT OUTGOING ONE."
