BIKETEST - TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE R:Despite icy fingers the ride was exceptionally cool, writes Geoff Hill
IT WAS NO use. By last week, I had been virtually housebound since Christmas because of snow, and I was coming down with terminal cabin fever.
I had read every bike magazine and Biggles book in the house, shot down so many Messerschmitts on the flight sim in the study that I’d earned a DFC and bar and been promoted to Squadron Leader, chased the cat up and down the stairs with a feather duster until we were both exhausted and ready for a nice glass of warm milk, and even taking to reading the labels on both cans of tomatoes in the fridge.
Suddenly, looking out of the window at the blizzard, I noticed that the snow had turned to sleet. I picked up the phone and called Sam at McCallen’s Motorcycles.
“Here, have you got that Triumph Street Triple R demo in yet?” I said, with the nervous air of a man asking his dealer if the latest shipment of drugs had arrived from Thailand.
“Aye, but it’s got zero miles on the clock and brand new tyres, it’s bloody freezing, the roads are still only suitable for Torvill and Dean and it has just started to snow again. Are you mad?”
“Yes, thanks for asking. And it’s only sleet. See you in half an hour.”
True to my word, 30 minutes later I was grabbing the keys off him and climbing aboard Triumph’s baby brother to the Speed Triple 1050.
The engine in the Street version is a mere 675, but I was soon to find out that that doesn’t mean you get shortchanged in the whaahey stakes.
No surprise, really, since the engine is based on the powerhouse in the remarkable Daytona 675 from the same company, with a bit of footering about to reduce horsepower to 105bhp but increase torque at low revs.
Indeed, so successful was the original Street Triple when it came out in 2008, that the boffins at Hinckley took it back, footered a bit more and unwrapped the R version, with better brakes, sharper steering and fully adjustable suspension.
And did it work? I was just about to find out, turning the key to unleash the smooth growl of a Triumph triple, then riding off to find that all that work on low-down torque had not been in vain.
Bearing in mind the conditions, I was keeping the revs low, but for a bike with only 675cc at its disposal, it produced an astonishing amount of torque, pulling lustily all the way from below 2,000rpm through 5,500, when a neat row of blue lights, changing to green then red as the rev counter rose, warned me that I should be tempering my boyish enthusiasm on a new bike and a slippery road.
The good news is that Triumph’s tweaking of the steering geometry for the R version is a stroke of genius: the fork rake is exactly right to give you sharpness and sensitivity as you countersteer into bends without the twitchiness of, say, supermotos, whose forks can be as steep as a child’s tricycle.
Even better, the frame, again borrowed from the Daytona, is so stable that the bike is a doddle to ride at everything from walking pace to motorway speeds and beyond, making it a great all-rounder for everyone from novices to aces.
As a result, even with shiny new tyres and frozen fingers, snicking into corners was such a pleasure that I was still riding around after an hour, until I realised that hypothermia was about to set in.
Fortunately, five minutes later, I spotted a filling station, where I treated myself to a hot coffee from the machine, and to the hand drying machine in the gents. Honestly, you wouldn’t believe the places you can get that hot air nozzle with a bit of contortionism. Even if I did get a very strange look from the farmer who came in and found me directing a stream of warm air down my trousers.“Cold weather for the bike,” he said.
Half an hour later, fighting a losing battle against a steamed-up visor, I finally admitted defeat and rode back to McCallen’s.
“Well?” asked Sam as I handed him the keys and he handed me a mug of hot chocolate.
“Great bike, but the heater doesn’t work,” I said.
FACT FILE
Engine:liquid-cooled fuel-injected 675cc in-line triple
Power:105bhp at 11,700rpm
Torque:50ft lbs at 9,200rpm
Top speed:140mph estimated
Transmission:six-speed, chain final drive
Brakes:front twin 308mm floating discs, Nissin four-piston radial calipers; read single 220mm disc, Nissin single-piston caliper
Suspension:front Kayaba 41mm upside down forks with adjustable preload; rear adjustable Kayaba monoshock, both 130mm travel
Dimensions:length 2030mm, width 755mm, height 1110mm, seat height 805mm, wheelbase 1385mm
Wet weight:189kgs/416lbs
Fuel capacity:17.4 litres/4.6 US gallons
Colours:Matt Graphite, Matt Blazing Orange, Phantom Black and Gold.
Price in the Republic €8,375. Contact Bikeworld, Long Mile Road, Dublin 12, 01-4566222, bikeworld.ie.
Price in Northern Ireland £6,999.
Test bike supplied by Philip McCallen, 048-92622886, philipmccallen.com.