Triumph Street Triple 675 Review
October 12, 2014
It often happens in life. You may have your definition of beauty well perceived in exact, precise attributes. You know your dream girl would be slick, one exuding class, finesse, high heels et al. In fact, you may have made a mental checklist of such attributes to help you identify “the one” when she comes across. Yet, one fine day, a short, cute tomboy in college wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers comes along and before you know it, your bright little checklist goes right out the window. You’re in love, you’re in trouble. Something similar happened to me at the Triumph showroom yesterday.
I’ve spent the last couple of years thinking that there’s probably something wrong with me. A little less than two years ago, I ignored the hugely popular Yamaha R15 v2, Honda CBR 250R and the revolutionary new KTM Duke 200 to go ahead and buy myself the lesser known, lesser sold Honda CBR 150R. The reason: I couldn’t connect with the others. A decision that I enjoy till date, despite the lack of torque which gets frustrating at times on the 4 and 6 laned highways in India. Then along came the Duke 390. It had every attribute well written on paper at least. You couldn’t go wrong with this one. Except that it too lacked that X-factor, that connect. The recently launched RC siblings too suffer from the exact same shortcomings. None of this was particularly worrisome though till I rode my dad’s swanky new green gobblin the Kawasaki Ninja 650R. Well to be honest, there is so much that the bike doesn’t do or does badly that I haven’t written a review on it yet fearing that Kawasaki might sue me or a random KNOG (Kawasaki Ninja Owners Group) member might run me over with his 210 kgs of green coloured cast iron locomotive. It’s pointless I thought. I had lost all hope. In fact, I was on the brink of visiting a shrink to get over this mental stigma of not being able to connect with any bike in India. Just then, some friends and I decided to pay the Triumph showroom in town a little visit.
The showroom staff at Shaman Triumph, Andheri were very polite, extremely courteous and patient. Kudos to Mr. Sanjay for showing us around different models, patiently answering our enthusiastic queries. The showroom itself is very well made. It’s not in your face type over done in bright orange and green with bikes climbing walls and hanging off the ceiling, etc. Nor is it on the snob, do not touch extreme. The theme, the layout, the spacing, the staff, the coffee, everything is just right. Mr. Sanjay took my driving license details, contact details and handed me over the key to the Carribean Blue Street Triple parked outside. “Here sir. You can go take a test ride.” I had no idea what to expect from the bike but strangely, as I sat across the saddle, turned the ignition key and fired up the engine, I felt very comfortable taking it out on my own. There was no awe or fear of going wrong. Felt like I knew her from before. The “connect” had started building up already.
The first thing you notice as you sit across the saddle of the Triumph Street Triple is how short and light the bike is. Moving the bike in reverse while being in the saddle feels like a breeze as compared to the Ninja 650R. The seat is soft and comfortable. The riding position is aggressive for people used to the upright riding position of the Dukes or the Ninja 650s. For people like me who are used to riding our Indian “sportsbikes” (CBR150R / 250R, R15, etc.) the riding position is just perfect! The overall dynamics of the bike are compact and very confidence inspiring. The clutch feels light for a 675 cc motorcycle and the engine gives out a soft humming note while idling which turns into a scream when pulled hard. People who ride a motorcycle to get noticed would need an aftermarket exhaust. Thankfully for them, there are plenty of options available in India. Me, I’d keep her sounding the way she is.
Put it in gear and release the clutch and the bike is extremely smooth off the line. Thanks to the 3-cylinder engine setup and a lot more technology that Triumph has put behind this motor, the ride is extremely smooth and vibration free throughout the rev range. There is always ample torque available at pretty much all RPMs. That, along with the close ratio gear box means you can nicely coast along at 60 kph in 6th gear and the engine will show no signs of knocking. However, it’s not a motor made for just cruising. The engine is very rev happy and shows no signs of flattening out when pulled hard towards the redline. Riding hard is when you understand why Triumph has made the riding position slightly aggressive. Thanks to the forward lean, the torque punch while accelerating doesn’t throw you off the saddle nor does hard braking make you question if your reproductive abilities still remain intact.
Talking about braking, that’s one area where the Street Triple stands head and shoulders above competition. The brakes are progressive and at the same time offer enough bite to inspire confidence. Add to that the bike’s light weight and the reassurance provided by ABS, all you really want to do is push the bike harder and harder and you know it’ll stop exactly when you want it to. You can however, switch the ABS off in case you want to get more adventurous and experimental. The gearbox too is butter smooth and the shifts feel more like a smaller capacity motorcycle’s. There’s no jerk or resistance provided by the gearbox (with the right amount of cutting the gas that is) while doing a clutchless upshift. Downshifting by blipping the throttle is pretty spot on too and adds to the braking confidence that the bike inspires. The inverted telescopic front forks do a good job of gobbling up Indian bumps and potholes with ease. There’s no risk of the rider dislocating his wrists or shoulders while going through a bad patch of road. The rear suspension provides a very good balance between ride quality and handling. The ride feels neither too hard nor too wallowy. Didn’t get a chance to test the bike’s cornering abilities as such but from the way I could flick it around through Andheri traffic, the bike felt nimble but planted.
So does that mean that the bike has no flaws at all? I tried real hard to find some and found a couple of them. The Street Triple, like any other respectable bike of its size tends to heat up quite a bit through traffic. The other, more significant flaw that I discovered was that the horn fitted on the bike is too soft and polite for the Indian public. Apart from these two deal breakers, the bike is more or less flawless.
All in all, the Triumph Street Triple as a package is so reassuring and confidence inspiring that the “connect” that starts by turning on the ignition key keeps growing on you with every passing minute. And then, like all good things, the ride comes to an end. You hand over the keys to the Triumph guy and your life is never the same again. I thank Shaman Triumph for this life changing opportunity. It has not only restored my faith in the practicality of higher capacity motorcycles but also saved me thousands of rupees worth of shrink fees. At Rs. 8.9 lacs (approx) on road, the Street Triple is not exactly affordable but as they say, you must always work towards a goal in life. I have just found mine!
