Goodwood Test: 2021 Street Triple RS Review

If you had £10,000 to spare and an insatiable need for speed, what would you spend it on? A third-hand Honda Civic Type R, perhaps, or an old Porsche 911 in need of some attention? What if you halved the number of wheels, the nought-to-sixty acceleration and the amount of time that you’re likely to spend sitting in traffic on a sunny Sunday afternoon? Interested? Perhaps I’m preaching to the wrong crowd, but just hear me out.

Triumph’s middleweight Triple is a legend among powertrains. First seen in the Daytona 675, it has evolved to become the Moto2 weapon and all-round road hero that it is today. In the 765cc iteration that it has been since 2017, it has sat at the heart of both the Street Triple and the Limited Edition Daytona. While we would love to bring you the lowdown on the latter, it was the Street Triple RS that I found myself astride over the past fortnight.

The Striple itself has been around since 2007, when Triumph stuck a retuned inline-three-cylinder engine from the Daytona 675 (which had launched the previous year) into a platform derived from the larger Speed Triple (which has been around longer than I have).

This latest generation Street Triple, launched last year, is available in three guises – the R, S and RS – simple. The £8,100 S features a smaller capacity 660cc, A2-compliant engine which makes 47.6PS (35kW) and 60Nm (44lb ft) of torque, but nonetheless receives premium Showa and Nissin/Brembo components. The R, which is also available in a low ride height version, starts from £9,100, and upgrades to the 118PS (87kW)/77Nm (57lb ft) 765cc triple, with adjustable suspension and an extra riding mode.

But the RS is where all eyes fall. Costing from £10,500 (okay, you may have to stretch that budget a tiny bit), it features premium equipment, extensive adjustability and a grin-inducing 123PS (90kW), 79Nm (58lb ft) engine.

In terms of design, the untrained eye could be forgiven for mistaking this iteration of the Street Triple for the last. After all, it’s a tried and tested formula, with aggressive, minimalist styling and an unchanged aluminium beam twin-spar chassis. There’s no protection from the elements, and the sliver of a screen atop the LED cat’s eye headlights serves no purpose other than style.

The aggressive stance is bookended by 17-inch cast alloy five-spoke wheels for a pleasingly symmetrical look, while the carbon-trimmed three-into-one stainless steel exhaust peers from the underbelly at the updated version of the iconic gullwing swingarm. There’s no denying that the Street Triple is one of the, if not the, most attractive naked motorcycles money can buy, and the sharp, contemporary styling of the RS has ruled it the poster boy for Triumph’s Roadster range.

Sub-zero temperatures and a tooth infection make for less than opportune conditions for testing this bike. But with gritted roads and teeth I sucked it up and set out. The first thing that struck me was just how much more enjoyable this ride would have been on sports touring tyres. While the Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SPs are surely wonderful on a hot day or fresh out of tyre warmers, they did not inspire confidence in the slightest on the frosty, and later greasy British roads.
Aside from a few butt-clenching wiggles, the Street Triple RS was as enjoyable to ride as I remembered the previous iteration to be. The 765cc engine, introduced in 2017, has undergone serious revisions in the new version, in order to make it Euro5 compliant and even more performance focussed. The same team responsible for the Moto2 powerplant tweaked the internals for less rotational inertia and more power and torque – particularly in the mid-range, where both saw an increase of nine per cent. As a result, torque peaks at 9,350rpm, while max power comes later at 11,750rpm.

The ride-by-wire throttle is immediate, with instantaneous torque sent to the rear wheel and power climbing linearly. There’s a tangible abundance of everything in the mid-range, and wherever you find yourself in the revs, chances are the Street Triple can still accelerate. Riding in high revs in a low gear through town lends the exhaust-gargling, engine-braking streetfighter sensation, while there’s still ample tug at national limits in top gear. Switching through the slick box is an enjoyable task, with shift assist providing easy, clutchless flicks. The engine note is distinctively triple, starting with a low growl, and building up to a tuneful crescendo as you near the red line – be damned, otorhinolaryngologists, for this is a bike that demands to be ridden without earplugs, regardless of the consequences.

There are five riding modes of Road, Rain, Sport, Track and Ride, each of which can be configured according to ABS (road, track), engine map (rain, road, sport) and traction control (off, road, rain, sport, track). Of course, these options are limited in rain mode, which offers an ever-so-slightly meeker version of the potent triple. Despite the conditions perhaps calling for that, Sport, with its road-sport-sport set-up was too thrilling to refuse. Anti-wheelie traction control is there to help when the throttle catches you out, but can be completely deactivated if you prefer. What cannot be switched off, however, is the ABS, which comes only in the two aforementioned degrees of sensitivity. Road is overzealous, however the slippery nature of the Pirellis no doubt had something to do with that. Traction control intervened occasionally as the rear wheel threatened to step out on the mid-winter road muck, however the 17-inch-wheels were otherwise surefooted and achingly agile, allowing you to throw the well-balanced machine into bends tight or wide.

The small front wheel feeds back marvellously, however over pockmarked tarmac, the Showa 41mm upside down big piston forks felt a little on the firm side. However, a squeeze on the sharp front brake (Brembo M50 four-piston radial monobloc calipers on twin 310mm floating discs) was enough to force the forks into submission and plant the front wheel into the tarmac. The rear Öhlins STX40 shock felt far more forgiving, however both are fully-adjustable in terms of compression, rebound and preload, so can be finely fettled to suit the rider. The rear Brembo single piston calliper on a 220mm disc is nothing to write home about.

While the top-spec RS isn’t available in a low ride height version like the R is, unless you’re on the serious end of the vertically-challenged spectrum, don’t be intimidated by its middling seat height of 825mm. Thanks to a pinch point where the seat meets the tank, I (at 172cm/5ft 7in tall) could quite comfortably get both feet flat on the ground. In fact, taller riders make the naked model look comically small, despite them deeming it comfortable.

The 17.4-litre tank fits snugly between the knees and the slanted seat is well-cushioned. It naturally pushes you forward, however this isn’t to its detriment, and gives an aggressive, upright position. While I admittedly didn’t cover any mega motorway miles, my knees didn’t feel cramped.

The wheelbase measures 1,405mm, and the handlebars a comfortable 775mm wide (and impressive boasting a two-way adjustable front brake lever for the ultimate personability). Of course, these figures mean nothing unless you have the actual bike to assess, so if you’re seriously considering one, I’d recommend getting down to a dealership (Covid-permitting) and sitting astride one.

It almost doesn’t need mentioning, but don’t expect any weather protection from the saddle of the Street Triple. If, like me, you venture out into Narnia, expect a frozen face, frostbite and a bonechill that takes days to shake. It’s totally worth it, though.

There’s never as much to talk about when it comes to motorcycle onboard tech, but what is there is usually clever, compact and very carefully thought through. And the Street Triple is no exception, with LED headlights, daytime running lights and a full-colour, 5-inch TFT instrument display, with the option of four distinct screen styles and a breadth of high and low contrast adjustability. As standard, it is a little too bright for my liking, and distracts the rider from the road ahead. The high beam deserves a mention too – on a late evening ride, I was astounded at how well it illuminated the road ahead – better even, than some cars that come to mind.

This screen is adjusted via toggles on the handlebars, and one thing that stands out is how you can scroll up and down through the menu, unlike another manufacturer I could name…

If you have made it this far, dear reader, I will pose the question again. With £10,000 in your pocket (and then some), would you rather a second-hand sportscar or one of the best middleweight naked sportbikes money could buy?

If you nod to the latter, then you won’t go wrong with the Street Triple RS, which is as suited to a Sunday spin as a sunny Spanish track day. With high spec, timeless style and a relatively affordable price tag, it really is the ultimate compromise between fun and function.