2017 TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE RS
FIRST TEST
P78
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRIUMPH
T
here are certain mo-
torcycles out there that
make you glad to be alive.
Triumph's Street Triple has
always been one of these. A mix
of heady performance and good
looks lit up with a touch of youth-
ful mischief, the Street Triple is
one of—if not the—most impor-
tant motorcycles in the Hinckley
manufacturer's lineup.
The Street Triple has been a
roaring success since its 2007
debut. Triumph has sold a whop-
ping 50,000 of these things
across the world since then,
but while the model has seen
progressive updates in that time,
they've stopped short of rein-
venting the Street Triple wheel,
until now.
For 2017, the Street Triple
expands from one to three
machines—the Street Triple S, R
and this version, the rip roaring,
laugh-your-ass-off RS. Already
the lightest in the middleweight
class and now with a claimed
4.4 pounds shaved off, all three
machines get the new 765cc
inline three-cylinder engine in
various states of tune (the S
gets 106 horsepower, the R
118 horsepower and the RS
121 horsepower in U.S. guise),
along with a steady upgrade of
suspension and brakes and, for
the first time on the Street Triple
range, the electronics suite.
Starting with the DOHC, liq-
uid-cooled, inline three-cylinder
As a track-day
weapon, you'll be able
to humiliate plenty
of bigger bikes on a
Street Triple RS.
