RideFast JUNE 2021

Triumphs Bruce Allen was waiting for
us when we arrived to collect the bike.
He sat us down in the office and tried to
explain where he is aiming this bike. The
word urban came up, along with things
like retro and some other stuff.
We mentioned that we might hop on the
bike and take off to Kliprivier and so-on
and Bruce looked surprised.
All that way on a naked?
Well – yes. Most of us grew up on naked
bikes and at current bike prices, most
people will use bikes for everything and
not just to pop down to the shops. We
pointed the little (Yes it is really compact
and small) triple at the freeway and took
off for a full 300 odd kilometer ride.
And we loved every second.
Our route took us through the bustling
metropolis of Sandton, out onto the M1
freeway and then all around Egoli on the
double decker freeway. From there we
hit a sh’ot left along the Golden Highway
past Gold Reef city and meandered our
way through back roads all the way out
to the Daleside area. We found some
quiet roads where we could open up and
really see what the Trident is capable of.
Someone suggested that we hit the cooling
towers in Soweto for a nibble – sadly,
they were closed (They open
Thursday Through Sunday for a crazy
100m bungee jump and refreshments),
but that made for some cool photo’s.
We took the opportunity to have a walk
around the old ruined transformer station
and surrounds. It’s pretty interesting –
and every person we encountered gave
us a friendly wave and a warm greeting.
Truly hungry by then, we made our way
to Nando’s near Comaro – and then in
typical Foley fashion we got lost. He said
we weren’t, but for sure we were – and
we ended up wandering along some
pretty dodgy back roads all the way
around to Germiston where (thankfully)
we found a freeway that we (he)
recognized.
Our route took us into the financial hub
of Sandton followed by a refuel before
returning the bike to the Triumph store.
All in – about 300 KM’s for the day with a
lot of chopping and changing saddle so
that each rider could really get a feel for
this new player on the SA market.
Bustling streets, urban freeways, urban
back roads and freeways were all
gobbled up by the littlest Triumph of
them all.So what’s the bike about then?
This is a friendly little triple that you will
enjoy every day.
The Trident 660 is packed with the good
stuff. Full LED lighting, self-cancelling
indicators, an immobiliser, lightweight
five spoke alloy wheels, Michelin Road
5 tyres, an adjustable brake lever, Nissin
brakes and a neat underslung exhaust
that looks cool and makes that beautiful
Triumph noise for you to enjoy. Fuel tank
cut outs, complete with textured plastic
pads and aluminium badges place knees
closer together giving the Trident a narrow,
controllable feel. Cropped Triumph
logos appear on the more expensive
black/silver, silver/red paint schemes.
Detailing continues with neat little badges
and logos subtly contained within
the tank knee pads, fuel cap, headlight,
taillight, handlebar clamp and clocks.
The 660 motor isn’t the same as the
triple powering the current, shorter-stoke
660cc Street Triple S. It’s actually a heavily
reworked Daytona 675 engine with its
stroke reduced from 52.3mm to 51.1mm,
trimming capacity to 660cc.
Power and revs are also dialled down
from a racy 123bhp@13,500rpm to a
more road-friendly 80bhp@10,250rpm.
Unlike the old Daytona 675 the Trident
660 has a modern ride-by-wire system
to control everything from fuelling to rider
aids and modes (Road and Rain).
50 RIDEFAST MAGAZINE JUNE 2021