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Triumph Street Triple R review: Aggressive but versatile

Triumph Motorcycles is the largest UK-owned motorcycle manufacturer in the United Kingdom and has produced good quality premium motorcycles for over 37 years. Today, they are well-known for their modern classic motorcycles like the iconic Bonneville, Thruxton Café Racer, and the Bonneville Bobber.

Because of these big names, people tend to overlook other bikes that they produce. This includes myself since I prefer the classic look compared to their modern bikes like the Street Triple R. It’s a shame since when I got to take it for a spin, I was really impressed. Here’s my review.

Design

When I first saw the bike, the first thing that demanded my attention was its headlights. To be completely honest, I was not a big fan of them at first — they resemble the bug-like bike of this Japanese TV show back in the 90s called Masked Rider Black.

For reference — Masked Rider Black from the TV show (source)

Although I must admit, the aggressively styled headlights of the Street Triple R grows on you after a while. It turns out, the LED headlamps and Daytime Running Lights just look good and noticeable on the road. Other than that, the attention to detail and how they put together this bike is evidently well thought of.

Some things worth mentioning are the subtle details of the Street Triple R like the air intake above and in between the headlights, the concave design of the radiator, and its neatly tucked headers that go underneath the engine.

It also has subtle decals and a red frame in the middle and under the seat, respectively. Lastly, the red hand-painted pinstripes on the rims round up its overall look nicely. In other words, everything clicks together and appears slick and elegant at the same time.

Additionally, the Triumph Street Triple R comes in two color variants namely Sapphire Black and Matt Silver Ice. If I were to choose, I like the Matt Silver Ice better as it looks good against the red accents that the bike has.

Right off the bat when you mount the Street Triple R, you’ll notice both the handlebar and controls just look and feel like you’re on a premium bike.

The controls on the bike are straightforward and simple. On the right, you have the kill switch for the engine as well as the starter. While on the left is a pass light that functions as a high beam at the same time. Below that is the info button that cycles through Trip A, Trip B, and Odometer.

Right under that cluster are signal light indicators and the bike’s horn as well as the button to choose which riding mode you want to activate.

Moreover, on the dash, you’ll see an LCD screen that presents the digital speedometer, gear indicator, riding mode indicator, digital odometer, time, temperature gauge, and fuel gauge. This is then contrasted by an analog tachometer.

One more thing I love about the dash is its series of small blue lights that indicate when the optimal time to shift gears is. Pretty cool.

Features

There’s nothing to complain about the Street Triple R when we talk about features. It has all the bells and whistles of a premium bike and comes with traction control, ABS, quick-shift assist, and three riding modes (Road, Sport, and Rain).

When you buy this bike off the store, you even get Pirelli Diablo Rosso 3 tires which are considered all-around sporty gear with a lot of grip on the road even in wet conditions. It also comes with Brembo m4.32 4-piston radial mono-block front calipers with ABS which has incredible stopping power. For the rear, it carries a Brembo single-piston caliper with ABS.

The bike is also equipped with 41mm big piston inverted forks up front and a Showa piggyback reservoir mono-shock at the rear which are both fully adjustable for preload, compression damping, and rebound damping.

This model also has two variants with this one being the Low Ride height. As the name suggests, it comes with a lower seat height of just 780mm — 45mm lower compared to the standard version and making it more accessible for shorter riders.

Performance

The bike is powered by a 765cc six-speed liquid-cooled 3-cylinder engine with 116 horsepower under it. I was a bit intimidated when I first got on the Street Triple R because of its aggressive look. But as I started to take it around, I was proven wrong.

At cruising speed, the ride is buttery smooth. But of course, with a flick of the throttle, the engine opens up and the bike quickly speeds up because of the torque it generates — perfect on twisties or even on the racetrack.

It’s a fun bike to cruise around the city. But if ever you feel the need for speed, just twist that throttle and I guarantee it will put a smile on any rider’s face. While I was riding up the mountains, the torquey engine has a good pick up while accelerating on inclined roads as the engine generates 77Nm of torque at 9400RPM.

One thing I found useful especially while riding through the mountains was its up and down quick shift assist. It enables smooth, comfortable, and quick gear changes without the use of a clutch while maintaining the accelerated riding position. The gearbox of the bike is exceptional and not clunky at all. I also didn’t experience any weird false neutrals.

The throttle response of the bike is phenomenal as well — it’s smooth, very responsive, and goes well with its noticeably lightweight body (168kg). Riding on twisties or even heavy traffic is not as tiring because it’s light and very agile. Leaning in on corners and filtering between lanes are effortless thanks to its aluminum frame and aluminum cast rims.

Speaking of leaning in on corners, its riding position is sporty in nature and isn’t too upright like other naked bikes.

You’re a bit leaned forward while holding the handlebars and you can feel a bit of weight pressing down on your wrists. During my time, I could feel it starting to ache after hours of riding especially around mountain roads.

When it comes to my legs, they are fairly tucked, and my knees are bent as well. I’m an inch away from six feet in height and my legs feel slightly cramped when riding the bike. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not as uncomfortable as a conventional sportbike, and still can be used for daily rides.

Another thing is when I’m making U-turns on tight streets, its turning radius is pretty wide resulting in to need to back up the bike every time I needed to do a tight U-turn.

It’s the same story when parking because of tight motorcycle spaces here in the Philippines. It’s quite difficult to maneuver because of the short turning radius of the bike. But apart from this, the Street Triple R is an excellent all-arounder.

Final thoughts

The Triumph Street Triple R is agile, versatile, has a good amount of power, and easy to lean in when taking on tight corners. With an SRP of PhP 695,000, it is a bit expensive for a mid-range engine compared to some Japanese models. In my opinion, though, it’s worth every penny as it is a fun bike to ride and easily one of the best modern bikes I’ve ever ridden.

The Street Triple R is built for either riding on the city, mountain roads, the racetrack, or on wet conditions. I can confidently say that this bike doesn’t have many flaws that I can point out except for the short turning radius and not having ample legroom for me.

Aside from that, I don’t think there are glaring weak points. This bike is close to perfection and I strongly believe that is one of the reasons why Triumph has been successful over the years.