Triumph Street Triple RS Test Ride Review

Triumph Street Triple RS Review

Bike Tested:Triumph Street Triple RS; Road Test No. 904; Test Location: Lonavala, Mumbai

Price OTR Mumbai: Rs. 13,17,675/-

The Triumph Street Triple RS turns the Triple S’ good bits several notches higher

It seemed as though the British brand had won everyone’s heart overnight by launching such a brilliant machine and the sales alone put most of its rivals to shame. The following year Triumph launched the Street Triple R that came to redefine the game and how a super naked could be done. The R model is a more purpose built and aggressive offering. Going ahead four years from that and in 2012, Triumph summoned the new and updated Street Triple that not only managed to keep its retro charm and its signature bug-eyed headlamps but also managed to gain everything but weight.

Again the following year Triumph decided it was finally time to give the Street Triple a makeover and launched the new and improved Street Triple that boasted of a new chassis, low-slung side exhaust, new gear ratios and switchable ABS. This new and improved Street Triple is what we got here in India. Controversies aside, it had its fair share of shortcomings but that still didn’t stop its sales. It sold like hot cakes and since Triumph listens to its customers, they gave us the new Street Triple S last year to make up for all of it. Fast forward 10 years since the first of its kind and you will notice a lot a has changed since then. The Street Triple range has gone under a lot of changes but never once did it fail to disappoint. Outselling and outdoing its rivals, it really is at the top of its game, but where does the new RS fit in? With the Street Triple S already being such a great package, is the RS even needed? Let’s find out.

Motor Quest: The new Triumph Street Triple 765 motor is derived from the 675cc Daytona engine. The new powerplant has the bore increased from 74 to 77.99 mm and stroke from 52.3 to 53.38 mm. This mill has a lower gear ratio in first and second, while weight has been decreased by 2 kgs.

Styling – When the long-awaited Street Triple S was launched, I wasn’t that blown away by its new design. It seemed mildly tweaked and the new smaller headlamp wasn’t exactly to my taste. I had the exact same reaction sometime later when the Street Triple RS was launched until I saw it in person. That’s where it all began, it’s bold design struck me in the face like cupids arrow and I was in love. The design may not be to everyone’s taste, as this motorcycle takes a more formal and elegant approach instead of being all flamboyant and cutting. It sticks to its roots and not once does it let you forget about its evolutionary design. It’s not trying too hard to get your attention but still manages to entice you with its cutting-edge design and its attention to detail. The headlamp has gotten smaller compared to the previous generation Triple. The new headlamp cluster also comes with an integrated LED DRL (Daytime Running Light) that looks very cool. It functions like a proper DRL and is extremely bright and easily visible in broad daylight.

One of the coolest aspects of this motorcycle is the paint job. It’s a beautiful shade of silver, finished in matte. This color is called Matte Silver Ice and is unique to the RS range. The RS is only available in two colors, the one you’re seeing here and a colour called Phantom Black. Visually the RS gets a body-coloured belly pan and rear seat cowl, speaking of which, the seat is finished beautifully and never fails to look expensive. The seat has this white stitching running on both sides, all the way from the tank to the rear cowl, the seat also has a Triumph logo embedded into it which looks classy. The tank looks sharp and slim. What adds to the sharpness is the fact that it also gets Triumph badging finished in black on each side. This motorcycle also gets an LED tail-light and unlike the Street Triple S, this one gets LED turn indicators that look quite sleek.

The bug-eyed headlight isn’t as beautiful as the old model and is love-it or hate-it

This motorcycle also gets bar-end mirrors, which are a first in its segment and honestly, aren’t something that you would expect from a track-oriented bike. It’s more café-racer than racer but I guess that’s just part of the charm. If you spend some time looking at it, it stops feeling out of place and looks reminiscent of the old street-naked back when this segment was still pretty fresh. Coming to the engine, the Street Triple RS has a lovely gunmetal finish engine casing with shiny stainless steel bolts that make this look nothing short of a piece of art. But you know, like they say, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and for most people, something like the engine goes unnoticed. Fortunately for this Triumph, if it does manage to catch your attention, you will not be disappointed thanks to the fact that there are no wires obstructing your view of the heart of this machine.

Start moving back, and you’ll reach the lovely aluminium finished footpegs that find themselves positioned right above the exhaust which is neatly tucked behind your foot. Move along the side of the bike and you will notice the rear trellis frame that’s finished in silver and shows you just enough of itself that you can appreciate. The grabrails on this motorcycle look rather big on the slim tail section. The number plate holder surprisingly looks quite nice and houses the turn indicators. I really like the slim five-spoke wheels on this British machine, they look quite sleek and purposeful.

Instrument Cluster and Switchgear – Hop on the saddle and you’ll notice, there are quite a lot of buttons. Once you start playing around, you’ll notice it’s actually quite easy and something you’ll take a few minutes to get used to. On the right side of the handlebar, you’ll find the hazard light button. Under which you’ll find the engine kill switch button, that also works as the ignition button. Right at the bottom, you’ll find the home button (used to access the menu on the instrument cluster). The switchgear is of really good quality and the buttons don’t feel hard to press. On the left side of the handlebar, you’ll find the pass light switch which also works as the high beam switch. There is also a switch that lets you toggle between low beam or just having the DRLs on which is quite handy. It also has a Mode button that lets you choose between different riding modes on the go, under it, you will find the turn indicator switch which feels a little misplaced.

The switchgear looks complex at first but is extremely easy to use with LHS controls

Under the turn indicator switch, you’ll find the horn and the 5-way adjustable joystick that you use to toggle through the various menus and settings. In the beginning, I kept hitting the toggle button every time I wanted to hit the turn indicator. It’s a little annoying until you get used to it, after which it’s quite easy to use on the fly. Now coming to the instrument cluster which is of absolutely top-notch quality. It’s a 5.0-inch, full-colour adjustable TFT screen that displays almost all sorts of information. It also gets 2 themes and 3 styles per theme. These different styles and themes let you customize and personalize how you’d like your speedo and information to be displayed. I love the styles on offer and some of them look fantastic.

Part of the credit goes to the beautiful display that does an amazing job giving the rider a very vivid and clear speedometer. The auto high contrast display makes sure that visibility isn’t an issue under any lighting conditions. It switches to a white contrast backlight screen during the day and goes back to a black back-lit display under dark or dim lighting conditions. Personally, I love how the black back-lit display looks and how this screen delivers the best of both worlds. The instrument cluster has a tremendous amount of information at hand. The moment you turn the key, you’re welcomed with a Triumph logo emerging and it displays your odometer right from the getgo. It tells you everything like the ambient and engine temperature, fuel gauge, gear position indicator, 2 trip meters, average speed per trip, a lap timer, range and average fuel indicator.

Once you enter the main menu, you’ll find 7 options to choose from. Riding modes, that lets you choose and tailor all 5 different riding modes available, more on that later. Bike setup, that lets you set up options like the indicators, ABS, Traction Control and service updates. I love how this motorcycle lets you personalize your machine so much, all from the comfort of your seat and at the touch of a button. In case you’re wondering about glare and viewing angles of the display, don’t worry as you can tilt and adjust the screen till a certain degree to fit your needs, and it’s fairly hassle-free to do. Personally, I prefer an analogue speedometer because of how easy they are to read but the display on the Street Triple RS is making me sceptical of that preference. Everything on this TFT unit is extremely clear and a joy to look at.

Ergonomics – Ergonomically I feel this is quite a comfortable machine. However the riding position on the RS is slightly more aggressive than that on the S, it’s not as dedicated as something like a Daytona 675R but comparatively a lot more dialled back. To sum it up, it’s basically aggressive enough for you to really dial into but still retains some of that comfort you’d expect from a street bike. The seat is slightly higher by 15 mm on the RS as compared to the S. The RS has plenty of legroom and the footpegs are positioned quite well. They allow comfortable manoeuvring while cornering, yet don’t feel cramped while regular street riding, more on that later. What does majorly hamper comfort is the amount of windblast you feel the moment you enter triple-digit speeds. The Street Triple RS doesn’t get any proper wind protection which is a major sour point on this bike, as it takes away some ease from the experience of riding this machine at higher speeds but thankfully it’s something an aftermarket windshield can fix.

The riding posture although comfy, is a bit dedicated with forward biased ergos

The seat is made out of good quality leather and is well cushioned. The seat has plenty of room and is quite wide but once you get moving and pick up the pace, it doesn’t do the best job at holding you in place and lets you feel a little slippery on your seat. Triumph does give the Street Triple RS a rear seat cowl that should help hold you better in place, as this motorcycle propels you forward. Pillion comfort is quite decent however, I wouldn’t recommend long distances, as this isn’t that wide of a pillion seat and overtime could lead to fatigue. The mirrors offer a surprisingly great view and visibility is quite nice. However, once you twist the throttle, it does get blur due to the slight amount of vibrations you feel on the handlebar under hard acceleration. Speaking of which, the handgrips offer really tight grip and don’t feel slippery or uncomfortable even with the gloves on. The headlamps offer great illumination and the beam has a good throw.

Performance – The Triumph Street Triple RS has a gem of an engine. The performance of this machine is absolutely ballistic. The sense of acceleration is so intense that you feel as if someone strapped you onto a bullet, loaded you into a gun, and fired you straight down the road, each and every time you whack open the throttle. The sense of acceleration is immense, you literally blow past 100 km/hr in 1st gear. Stay anywhere below 4500 RPM and you’ll notice what a calm and easy to ride motorcycle it is. The power has been spread out really well throughout the rev range, it has a strong mid-range which javelins you into its explosive top-end. The low-end never feels bland or slow and in fact feels perfectly balanced for city riding. I can’t get enough of the acceleration on this machine, the amount of ferocity it exits corners with is quite addictive.

Having so much power available throughout the rev range ensures that you’re almost never in the wrong gear and there is always power available for you to tap into. If there is anything that gets in your way, it’s the wind that you have to fight your way through, thanks to this being a street naked. The 765cc inline-triple engine is super in terms of refinement and even after riding it through the usual Bombay traffic, the entire highway commute to Lonavala, the serpentine roads to Aamby Valley and then all the way to Pune and its traffic, it handled everything without breaking a sweat. Engine heat has been managed extremely well and you can hardly ever feel it. It manages to remain fairly efficient too and managed to do the entire above-mentioned trip in almost one full tank! The 17.4-litre tank ensures you don’t have to make frequent stops on the highway to refuel, and lets you spend more time out on the road, which is no bad thing.

The 765cc motor is quite flexible and doesn’t mind moving at slow speeds

The gearbox is quite fun and slick. Gear shifts are smooth and the addition of a quick-shifter makes banging through the gears a very fun experience. The quick-shifter comes standard on the RS and allows clutchless upshifts. Rev it anywhere above 6000 RPM, and you just simply fly through the gears as you build speed and don’t have to cut the throttle while shifting. This makes the whole riding experience feel so seamless, that using the quick-shifter starts getting addictive, and I found myself using it much more as my time with this machine progressed. In case you’re worried about downshifts, this doesn’t allow clutchless downshifts, but if you ever do find yourself aggressively downshifting, the slipper clutch has you covered. It allows smooth downshifts even under aggressive corner entry, without disturbing the balance.

The ride by wire throttle feels great, with throttle response being extremely accurate, which further aids your ability to better modulate the power while mid-corner or while exiting one. Coming to the riding modes, they are fairly simple to use and understand. They really do help balance this motorcycle out and thanks to the number of electronics motorcycles have these days, it really lets you fine-tune your experience to fit your whims and fancies. This machine doesn’t feel like a slouch in any of the riding modes but functions accordingly in a more controlled fashion. The riding modes essentially toggle between the various fuel maps as per your riding mode and fine-tunes things like throttle response, ABS and Traction Control accordingly. For instance in Rain Mode, ABS and Traction Control are found on their highest settings and the fuel map and throttle has been set-up to be linear. This does make the RS feel a lot calmer and makes the bike a lot easier than it already is to ride. In Track Mode on the other hand, which finds itself on the opposing end of the spectrum turns Traction Control off, and sets the throttle response and fuel map on not so linear mode and has you screaming each time it rockets you forward.

There is also Street and Sport mode that finds a balance between these two modes. Last but not least, is the Custom Rider mode that lets you choose and tailor a mode that suits your riding style if not the above-mentioned ones don’t cut it for you. Having so much power on hand lets you build a lot of momentum, very fast. It may make you question the motorcycles ability to be able to shed it. The Brembo brakes found on the RS are phenomenal, their ability to shed speed is unbelievable. The braking feel and feedback is spot on, there is no delay in bite and it drops anchor from the moment you even gently tap the lever. It envokes a lot of confidence and you’ll always find yourself braking much later into a corner because you know the brakes have you covered. If you do ever find yourself panic braking, these drilled discs manage to break momentum without losing out on balance, which further enhances the experience.

Riding Dynamics – This is an extremely agile motorcycle, right from the time you throw your leg over the saddle, you’ll notice how light it feels between your legs. With a dry weight of 166 kgs, this is an extremely light bike, to say the least. This grants it such tremendous agility and it absolutely loves being flicked from side to side, without it ever feeling like a task. Stability is at its best with this machine. It doesn’t feel heavy in slow-moving traffic and through sharp/tight corners. The chassis on the motorcycle is really tight and has the ability to communicate exactly what the wheels and suspension are up to. The Ohlins suspension that is a standard only on the RS does an outstanding job at letting you feel even the slightest undulations present on the road but never in a way that is bothersome. They are fully adjustable and specially designed for the Street Triple RS. They do a great job at maintaining a balance between comfort and composure.

I cannot stress enough on how agile this motorycle is, it feels like a quarter-litre

The Triumph Street Triple RS has a new Gullwing swing-arm. It increases longitudinal torsional stiffness while maintaining a decrease in lateral stiffness. This allows more high-speed stability as it grants a more natural resistance to compression of the rear suspension under hard acceleration. Coming to the front suspension, the RS comes with Showa’s Big Piston front-forks that unlike on the S, are adjustable for preload, rebound and compression damping. This makes the front on the RS feel a lot stiffer and rigid as compared to on the S. The RS trades full-out agility for some stability because as the front does feel stiff, it has improved greatly in terms of composure and high-speed stability. The riding posture on this machine grants you a fine balance between comfort on an everyday riding basis and those weekends you spend at the twisties or the track. There’s plenty of room on the bike to manoeuvre your body from side to side while cornering. The Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa tyres are extremely sticky, the rubber we had on our test bike was a little worn out but that doesn’t stop these slicks from offering great grip.

Verdict – This is a great motorcycle, it fits my riding style perfectly and it’s a bike that even a laid-back rider can enjoy. In my opinion, almost every middle-weight motorcycle beyond 200 km/hr feels the same. The amount of windblast doesn’t let you enjoy this bike at high speeds, however, one thing I can promise you is that this is an absolute boon to ride, and the whole experience with this machine is nothing short of pleasurable. Is it worth the Rs. 3 lakh extra asking price over the S? Yes and no. For a rider that’s looking for just the weekend stint and daily commute, the extra Rs. 3 lakh asking price does not make a lot of sense, because, in that scenario, the Triumph Street Triple S will manage to deliver everything you expect from it. It’s only the seasoned rider or someone that really finds the additions found on the RS appealing enough to shell out that kind of money. The RS is fully loaded and is a very desirable machine. Its minimalist design makes it quite stealthy and lets it blend in traffic. This really is a capable machine and can give most higher capacity motorcycles a run for their money. For what it’s worth, I think the RS is totally worth the money and a wonderful all-rounder.

What’s Cool

* Good build quality and attention to detail
* Best brakes in the segment
* One of, if not, the best triple engine
* Level of electronics and safety nets
* Superb ride quality and handling
* Service and dealership network
* TFT screen is beautiful to look at!
* Headlamp illumination is great

What’s Not So Cool

* Does not have proper wind protection, too much windblast
* Price! Especially given the existence of the Street Triple S

Triumph Street Triple RS Specifications

* Engine: 765cc, Liquid-Cooled, 12-Valve, DOHC, Inline-3
* Power: 121 BHP @ 11,700 RPM
* Torque: 77.5 Nm @ 10,800 RPM
* Transmission: 6-speed, Wet, Multi-Plate with Slipper Assist
* Fuel Type: Petrol
* Frame: Aluminium Beam Twin Spar (Front), 2 Piece High Pressure Die Cast (Rear)
* Suspension: Showa 41 mm USD Big Piston Forks (Front), Ohlins STX40 (Rear), Adjustable Preload and Rebound
* Tyres: 120/70/17 (Front), 180/55/17 (Rear)
* Brakes: 310 mm Dual Discs (Front), 220 mm Disc (Rear), ABS

Triumph Street Triple RS Dimensions

* Length x Width x Height: 2065 mm x mm x 1085 mm
* Wheelbase: 1410 mm
* Ground Clearance: mm
* Seat Height: 825 mm
* Fuel Tank Capacity: 17.4-litres
* Kerb weight: 166 kgs

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