Triumph Street Triple R - Ridden

Well following on from my post regarding the Aprilia Shiver,

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=155731

I thought I'd have another go on the Street Triple. Last year, I was given the
keys to a standard Triple from A1 Moto in York (Excellent customer service by
the way), and suitably demonstrated it over about an hour and a half.

My opinion then was that the Street Triple was a skittish bike, felt far too
fast at anything above 60mph and aside from a rapid engine, it was far too
unstable to be ridden hard. I couldnt quite believe how polarised my opinion
was with many bike journo's and also of the general public. They loved this
bike so why didnt I?

So whilst the test ride put me off, its looks didn't. I was never a fan of the
original R colours in their matte finish so when they brought this beauty out I
was smitten.


So, I went hunting again, fresh from my test on the Shiver determined to
have another go. It just happened that the demonstrator this time around
was an R model, complete in black and gold livery.

This particular bike came shod with cowl and flyscreen, but also short Pazzo
Levers, seat cowl and bellypan.

Taking the bike out from the dealers, the bike was greatthrough the city.
Small, light and agile with a very smooth linear power delivery, It was never
requiring slipping the clutch and there were absolutely no fuelling issues.
I was actually enjoying passing the shop windows just to catch another
glance of it as I rode by.

Once out onto the Motorway, I wound it up to and above the speed limit.
Things were very good at 80mph and therewas absolutely no buffeting for me
although once touching 85mph, I noticed that there was wind pushing
towards my helmet and trying to force it upwards, much like the Shiver.
I know that I'm riding a naked bike though, so I do have to
accept that this is the case. I rarely ride above this on the Versys but the
sense of speed is so much greater on the Street Triple, being lower to the
ground and having far more exposure to the elements.

So whilst the Motorway and major A Roads posed little problem to the Triple, I
then pulled off as soon as I could to test this bike again in the twisties. Once
free of traffic, and in a motorcycle playground, I was able to change my
opinion on this bike.

Opening up the throttle, it just seems to go and go. Very linear, perhaps a
small extra rush around 7k but its a stellar engine. Its sense of urgency is
incredible, launching you skywards if not too careful with the throttle. Plenty
of engine braking if thats what you like but a real wailing noise which sends
shivers down your spine when opening it up

Cornering is a gem. Being such a small bike, you point where you want it and
it goes there, no problems, no panics. You can alter your line in corner and its
so sharp, even trail brakingdoesnt cause it to sit up and even on the test
ride, I found it easy to find good angles of lean from it. I'm sure once you
became familiar with this bike, it could be a real B-road weapon.

Brakes are incredible too, just like the Brembo's on the Shiver, there arent any
problems to slowing down and they are very progressive with loads and loads
of feel.

I took it out for an hour and a half and I think I averaged around 38mpg in
total which to be honest, isnt that great for such a small engine.

All in all though, I had a massive grin on my face when I got back, more so
than the Shiver and if anything, highlighted the Aprilia's poor rev range.

I'm glad I returned to test this one again as it is an amazing bikefor what its
made for, and really the only test of it would be whetheryou could do all day
mileage on one.

The question is whether I had a duff demo first time around, or whether the R
suspenders really are that much better than standard?

I still love the white and green colour schemes of the standard bike but fell in
love with the R today.

Another Triple, shod with some beautiful Zard cans

Maybe your too fat for the standard street?

I have a standard Street in black with the airblade screen on it and you can get behind it and do well over a ton with very little buffering.

Skittish????? I think you may have had a dud, nothing skittish about mine.

The black and gold looks amazing on the R and looks like the original 675 Daytona SE which was a stunner, I may have to trade mine or a least a repaint of my wheels.

I had one while my sprint was in the shop and i thought it was ace albeit it felt small for me, but what a bike, it just loved to rev
They are a great fun bike, i was well impressed.

I rode the R version a couple of weeks ago, only for about 15 miles though. Little bit of motorway, then some A roads, but I thought it was fantastic. It was very revvy, I kept trying for 7th gear! The only thing I found a bit strange was the gear and rear brake levers - I had to turn my feet in to use them, where the SV's are straight under my big toes, I think you would get used to it very quickly though. Been looking at 2nd hand ones ever since, but the resale values are too high at the minute! Think the wife may get the rolling pin out too though....

i would go with the street triple r over the shiva, never ridden any just on talking to ppl out and about

[BoltonSte]

I had the opposite. I test rode an R and a standard back to back. Actually I rode the R first because I didn't want to have rose tinted vision of the last bike of the 2 I rode.

The R was a dog, well the engine was, just felt tight. But then again it wasn't run in.
The suspension felt hard and if anything a little skitish, although, this was my first time out on one on roads I didn't know (followed a mate so I didn't have to concentrate on where I was).
We took in fast A's, back roads and a couple of dual carridgeways. Speed didn't feel an issue, just felt skittish, a bit vauge and launching me out the seat on some bumps.
Took the standard out on the same route, we shaved of 15 minutes from the time and were really pushing as much as we could in the damp.
But I hated it, the suspension was way too soft for me (I even checked the preload once we got back and it wasn't overly softened) it wallowed round bends and just didn't feel right, with the R though you sit a little further forward (balls on tank style) due to the longer shock which is how I rode the SV anyway.
But the engine was a peach.

I decided to buy the R as I'd of had to do something about the suspension anyway and it was a few hundred more, but gave me adjustability not just changing the spring or having to change the shock like I would on the std. I think a lot of it was being on a new bike with suspension far beyond what I was used to.

I've had to tweak the settings a bit (running over the local GP which has a fair few bumps) but it is now a great bike and I love it.

Don't know if you noticed, but ride did a story a while back where the std was faster than the R round one of the tracks, then next issue they decided to set the suspension up and it's a different animal, but they didn't redo the track (higher spec bike is faster than lower spec of same bike, doesn't really work as a headline does it?) It seems it's one of those that really needs setting properly, shame it doesn't come with a C spanner as Triumph think owners aren't capable of changing preload themselves (but the other adjustments are all screwdriver jobs) just as well the SV one fits.

Ste

[Mr Speirs]

I tried a standard street triple and didn't like it at all. Felt a bit cheap TBH. Suspension felt vague but not terrible but the worst thing was the engine. I couldn't handle the whirring that the triple produced. I was constantly about 3 gears higher than I should've been, something I probably could get used to I guess but the noise was just horrible.
I just didn't gel with it and the bike as a whole.

[BoltonSte]

Originally Posted by Mr Speirs

I tried a standard street triple and didn't like it at all. Felt a bit cheap TBH. Suspension felt vague but not terrible but the worst thing was the engine. I couldn't handle the whirring that the triple produced. I was constantly about 3 gears higher than I should've been, something I probably could get used to I guess but the noise was just horrible.
I just didn't gel with it and the bike as a whole.

There's v. little whirring with Arrow cans fitted.

I SAID THERE'S...

It is deffinately somthing you need to get used to, I still ride higher than I need. at 6K it's not even getting going.

I think if you jump off an SV onto one, then maybe the rev noise can be a bit misleading. When I jumped onto the Versys for the first time, I was in 6th gear everywhere, as I didnt think I need to ride it over about 4k revs. Its only when I bought one, and started riding it did I realise that I could rev it much higher. The engine note was unfamiliar but now its second nature.

The price of that new Triple R is a bit salty at £6995 hence looking at used standards. I'd have to re-test a standard to see if it really was that different from the R.