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
VOL. 53 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 23, 2016 P71 all, even downshifting through the gears. However, there's no wide-open powershifter as there should be, at least on the R- model that I did all my riding on. The extra cost over the S-type gets you a fully adjustable 43mm Öhlins NIX30 upside down fork and TTX36 twin tube rear mono- shock (the S-model has Showa suspension front and rear, also fully adjustable), plus a carbon front mudguard and side panels, color-coded belly pan and a red- painted subframe for the seat, matched by red wheel pinstripes and seat stitching. There are also some billet machined alu- minum parts like the handlebar other name, complete with the trademark subdued click when you backshift down through the gears under heavy braking, with switchable ABS in reserve in case you exaggerate exactly how heavy. The slipper clutch setup retains enough engine braking still dialed in to help the twin radial Brembo two-pad four-pot calipers fitted to both versions of the Speed Triple stop you hard and late when you squeeze the adjustable lever, while ensuring good stability. This new version of Triumph's streetfighter holds a line very well on the brakes, which means you can trail brake into the apex I ALL NEW IN THE HOOD I I I In completely redesigning the Speed Triple's satin black-painted 1050cc engine, Wood & Co. have retained the same 79 x 71.4mm dimensions, but with no less than 104 different component changes, it's effectively an all-new motor. So while the crankcases are unchanged, the 2016 model's engine has a new crankshaft, pistons, rings, counterbalancer gears, camshafts, throttle bodies, gearbox ratios, selector mecha- nism and airbox. There's also a smaller radiator with a narrower frontal area, a new cylinder head with revised porting and a new combustion chamber design, and a Keihin ECU incorporating an RBW throttle for the first time on this model, with a choice of five different riding modes that are easily selected on the go: Track, Sport, Road, Rain, plus one rider-configurable mode. Each of these offers the full engine per- formance in terms of peak power and torque, but each delivered differently via a distinctly different throttle response, ABS setting and traction control level. Both the latter are switchable, and each is also included for the first time on the Speed Triple, so that this new 2016 version represents a signifi- cant step up in terms of electronic sophistication, and rider assis- tance, on its predecessor, but not at the cost of a substantial increase in cost. "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 FLATTER, CHUNKY-LOOKING, ONE-PIECE TAPER-SECTION HANDLEBAR." clamp and risers, plus special R color schemes of white gloss or matte graphite, both with the red subframe. The S-version comes in either red or black, both with black frame and subframe, and white pinstriping on the wheels, and white seat stitching. However, while inexplicably failing to transfer the 675R's powershifter to the new Speed Triple along with its gearbox technology, Triumph has now ad- opted what it calls a "slip-assist" clutch on the new bike. This a ramp-style slipper clutch by any of a turn with impunity—it won't sit up on you so that you miss the apex and head for the hedg- es, and the pickup when you get back on the throttle again is measured and controlled. Nice. It also holds a line well around fast 75-mph sweepers, but the main difference with the outgo- ing model is the way the revised riding stance makes the new one seem more responsive in the way it steers in slower, tight- er turns, where it makes it easy changing direction via the good leverage from the flatter handle-