Perhaps it’s because their mettle was tempered when they bore the brunt of two world wars before the Americans belatedly stepped in help them, or maybe it’s just because they have a sense of humour. Whatever the reason, it’s unsurprising that the Poms were the first to turn adversity into strength and market a brand-new, pre-crashed motorcycle.
Of course, Triumph didn’t simply build the machines and then employ someone to toss them down the road. It built ’em to look like street fighters.
Triumph’s first Speed Triple arrived on the scene in 1994, and became an instant classic. The Âlatest incarnation continues the street-fighter tradition in terms of styling, but now uses the new three-cylinder 1 050cc engine from the sport-Âtouring Triumph Sprint ST.
While other manufacturers have emulated Triumph by bringing out naked versions of their superbikes, most of them use detuned versions of their engines in the unfaired versions. The British have gone the other way with the Speed Triple.
The Speed Triple has four horsepower more than the Sprint ST. With 128 horsepower (95,5kW) and 105Nm of torque wrapped up inside the twistgrip, the big Triumph’s got enough zoom to stand up on its back wheel at the slightest provocation.
My own motorcycle is a 2003 Triumph 955 Sprint RS, which is good for about 120 horsepower, and I was surprised at how much livelier the Speed Triple felt. This is largely because of the Speed Triple’s lower gearing. Where my bike is geared for about 260kph in sixth gear, the Speed Triple’s gearing takes it to the red line at just over 240. Surge in any gear at just about any revs is exhilarating, and the motor feels smoother than my older machine as well.
The gear lever snicks through the six-speed transmission crisply, which is also an improvement on the older machines in the 955 range.
When you get your weight far forward and master your launch technique enough to keep the front wheel in reasonable proximity to the ground, the 0-100kph dash is over in three seconds. The power comes on strongly at just over 2 000rpm, and by the time the rev-counter needle is passing the halfway mark the pull is enormous, no matter what gear you’re in. That’s one of the joys of a motorcycle employing three pistons displacing 350cc each.
The suspension is excellent, with 43mm inverted cartridge forks carrying dual-rate springs up front, and a monoshock at the rear. Both ends are adjustable for preload, compression and rebound damping, but I never fiddled with the settings, although the ride felt a little too rigid for my liking.
The instrumentation of the Speed Triple includes a handy on-board computer that gives data on average and instant fuel consumption, remaining range, average speed and the highest speed achieved since the last time it was zeroed. There is also an analogue rev counter with built-in shift lights, a clock and a digital speedometer.
The lack of weather protection makes the Speed Triple less than perfect at very high speeds, but as a hooligan tool for short sprints, or cruising longer distances at semi-legal speeds, it works superbly.
Fact file
Model: Triumph Speed Triple 1050
Price: R89 995
Engine: 1050cc
Tech: 95,5kW, 105Nm
Top speed: 0-100kph in 3 seconds
Tank: 18 litres