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/643722
2016 TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE R FIRST RIDE P68 and responsiveness this new bike has achieved—and furthermore, how much more accessible and engaging a the new Triumph is even compared to KTM's su- preme street rod, or its Ducati rival for naked bike supremacy. "We weren't interested in getting into a horsepower race," says Triumph's Stuart Wood. "Our focus was to refine the engine while delivering a little more all- around performance. The en- hanced response you feel is down to improved combustion and the ride-by-wire throttle. This is a real enabler for us since it lets us control the throttle body butterfly exactly how we want it to behave. This allows you to have quite a well-tuned engine, but also to keep it refined with a really smooth torque delivery. Historically, in the past you'd have refined an engine by softening it, but we now have so much control we don't have to throw a load of fuel down the ports to get the required response like you used to have to do." It's therefore mission accom- plished for Wood and his men, for aside from an even more linear power delivery on a bike, which to be fair didn't exactly have any steps in the power curve before, the big difference on the new Speed Triple is the substantially meatier torque now on tap all the way through the rev range, and especially in the midrange where there's a better than five percent increase be- tween 4000 rpm and 7500 rpm. That's where you find yourself operating most of the time in ev- eryday use aboard a bike which is notably more involving to be on than its predecessor. You're aware of this from the moment you climb aboard the new Speed Triple to discover a completely different riding position, with lower, less pulled back grips to the notably flat- ter, chunky-looking, one-piece taper-section handlebar. This results in a slightly sportier leaned-forward stance that isn't unduly tiring, just more engag- ing. The stock bar-end mirrors are practical as well as good- looking, though I did find they'd repeatedly vibrate out of position at speeds of 80 mph or more, so that needs attention. The foot- rests are also lower and mount- ed slightly further back, but the key issue is that the very comfy good-looking seat adorned with contrast stitching that's just one of many touches that betray Triumph's considerable attention to detail in designing the new bike, is 20mm narrower than before where it meets the rear of the all-new more streamlined four-gallon fuel tank. A similar trick has also been pulled on the new Bonneville range, and shorter riders including females will welcome being able to place both feet flat on the floor at stoplights as a result. The seat itself has been redesigned to incorporate more substantial foam, for a comfier mile-eating posture, and the net result is that with the 32.5-inch seat I MEETING THE DEMAND I I I There was another entirely different rationale for delivering a new model, says Stuart Wood, Triumph's Chief Engineer. "Having to meet Euro 4 provided an opportunity for us to make what was already a good bike, and an important model for us, even bet- ter," he says. "We'd already been working on a ride-by-wire throttle package, and we needed to bring that to the bike, but we also wanted to make a big change to the way the Speed Triple looked. A lot of people will see it as an evolution, but I believe it's more than that. It's a more elegant bike than the outgoing model, and we put a lot of effort into combining that with the aggressive look that's been the trademark of the Speed Triple for the past 21 years. "We wanted to redesign the bike visually, and do the engine as well." How cleverly Triumph's engi- neering team approached that task can be summed up by one piece of data: in meeting Euro 4 compli- ance, which has caused many other manufacturers a lot of strife by requiring them to concoct a bulkier, heavier exhaust system to do the job okay, Triumph has ended up with a 3-1-2 stainless steel exhaust that's actually 10.6 ounces lighter than the old bike's, as well as simpler, yet, and here's the best part, it entirely retains the gorgeous three-cylinder howl of the old bike, both when you're riding it (mainly due to the intake roar) and listening to it ride by. How very satisfying.