Road testers say... - Ducati UpNorth

TRIUMPH SPEED TRIPLE
COLOUR SCHEMES...
Blue, pink
92 MARCH 2002
OF THE THREE bikes here, the Speed Triple is the cheekiest.
If the Hornet is a Blade engine in a 600 Hornet chassis, and
the S4 a restyled ST4 minus the fairing, then the Speed Triple
is built on the Daytona 955i production line right up to the
very end, when Triumph fits a fairing and clip-ons to one
bike and bug-eye lights and flat bars to another.
It’s so close I’m surprised Triumph doesn’t just sell the
Daytona with a quick-release fairing and a conversion kit.
Take around 30 seconds to swap them – bingo! Two bikes for
the price of one. The seat unit, seat, frame, subframe, brakes,
engine casings, major engine components, front wheel,
forks, shock, mudguard, tank, even the new clocks are a ripoff
(the digital speedo looks disembodied, yet strangely
pleasing, hovering above the pair of headlights). The factory
Price £7999 power 112bhp top speed 125mph 0-60mph 4.2s
IN THE DETAILS...
(from left): now this is more like
it. Triumph nick the clocks
straight off the 955i Daytona
and, rather than change the logo
on the clocks, rename the Speed
Triple instead. The engine is the
most visually stimulating of the
bunch, even with the Valentine’s
Day massacre-style bolts
can’t even be arsed to remove the 955i logo from the tacho –
it’s cheaper to stick the number in the bike’s name instead.
The only substantial differences between the two are the
Triple’s single-sided swing-arm (the stock Daytona has a
conventional swing-arm) and the Triple’s 112bhp compared
to the Daytona’s 130bhp (achieved mostly by dragging the
Daytona’s rev limit forward 1000rpm). And it doesn’t matter
a fig, because those changes are enough to make the Triple
completely different in character to anything else in
Triumph’s range. Or in anyone else’s, for that matter.
The Speed Triple’s motor dominates the bike in a way
neither the Hornet’s nor the S4’s do. It’s the most powerful
of the group, with gargantuan mid-range and a totally
meaningless top-end rush, but what really sets it apart is its
sheer effortlessness. It’s so potent and smooth it’s possible to
spend many miles in fifth gear, thinking you’re in top. It’s
not built to be seen – like the 916-engined S4, the motor
looks best hidden behind a fairing – but the machinegunned
bolts in the casing look funky enough.
As does the other main styling feature of the bike, the
headlights. They’re cool – they work well, but the best thing
is you can see, in each chrome casing, a wide-angle reflection
of yourself as you ride. It looks like a mad, split-screen onboard
video, and it takes your mind off the pummeling your
upper body and neck is taking from the lack of fairing. A tiny
fly-screen is available – spare your osteopath and get it. The
immense lack of wind protection seriously restricts the
Triple’s usefulness.
the test
Performance criteria for
the test are all marked
out of 20, making a
maximum possible 100.
The riding position doesn’t help. The high, wide bars are
a long way from the seat, stretching arms so it gets harder to
use the clutch and throttle as you go faster. Once you get up
to around 100mph, it actually becomes difficult to roll off
the throttle.
Given how close the Speed Triple’s chassis is to the
Daytona 955i, it’s no surprise to find it handles. Brakes are
class, steering neutral (but remote – the wide bars take away
the immediacy), suspension controlled and supple. It works
as well as the bike needs, without intruding.
All these things make the Triple a suitable bike for new
riders, a bit of a tool for serious riders and a good-looker for
driveway queens. Never did a bike more deserve to be
painted any colour you like. As long as it’s not pink.
ENGINE & GEARBOX
The best here. Pulls from
low down, stacks of midrange,
good top end. All
this and character too.
CHASSIS
Not as nimble as either
the Honda or the Ducati,
but not exactly a bus.
Suspension gives a better
ride than the Ducati, and
the brakes are stronger.
VALUE
The dearest here, by a
few hundred quid –
worth being easier to use
than the Ducati and more
interesting than the
Honda? You could do a lot
of modifying to the
Honda for £1400.
FINISH
Triumph paint scores
highly, while nothing
rot-worthy of note.
WOW FACTOR
The best here again. Bugeye
lights are a turn on, the
imposing motor gives the
bike a retro-industrial look.
Whatever that is.
TOTAL 74/100
Good engine, good
chassis, good looks, no
bad habits. Only the high
speed wind protection
limits its usefulness, but
it’s a naked bike
ferchrissakes.
MARCH 2002 B
93
16
15
13
14
16