The Triumph Street Triple has been offering quart-pot thrills in a pint pot package since 2007. From the outset, it was hailed as one of the best-handling naked sports bikes, which wasn’t surprising as it was basically a naked version of the Daytona 675 sports model, released in 2006. In the intervening years, it has lost none of that purity of purpose and, somehow, the performance and handling has got even better. For 2024, the Speed Triple continues with the 765cc, inline three-cylinder engine, first introduced in 2018. Along with chassis and engine upgrades, there are also new electronics and a sharp new look, all of which make you wonder why you would need anything bigger!
10 Street Triple 765 Engine
There can be no doubt that Triumph’s role as engine supplier to the Moto2 World Championship has reaped benefits for its road bike engines, especially in terms of power and torque but also in the less visible areas of reliability and longevity. The Street Triple R delivers 118 horsepower and 59 foot pounds for torque, made possible by extensive changes within the engine, such as new camshafts and valves opening into new combustion chambers and pistons, which have also raised the compression ratio. The triple cylinder configuration pays dividends, with the low-down torque characteristic of a V-Twin and the top-end power of an inline four-cylinder.
9 Close Ratio Gearbox
It’s amazing how a simple change of gearing can have consequences out of all proportions to the size of the change. Making first gear taller (or ‘longer’, depending on what term you prefer. Basically, it means a higher top speed is available in that gear) and, at the same time, shortening the rest of the gears and bringing their ratios closer together, means that the Street Triple R will simply catapult out of any corner on any road, in any gear. Naturally, a bi-directional quick-shifter is fitted which makes each gear change lightning-quick, more like a household light switch than a gear lever.
8 Chassis
Even though it is still one of the most accessible sports bikes you can buy, everything has been sharpened up a degree or two in terms of the geometry: rake, trail and wheelbase are all a little tighter, which will translate into even more intuitive handling. The RS gets a raised rear ride height, creating a steeper rake and shorter trail, which puts more weight - both the bike’s and yours - over the front, making for even sharper steering response.
7 Showa Suspension
You really can’t look at the Street Triple R and find any compromises anywhere, in any of the components. The suspension on the ‘R’ is by Showa, with a fully-adjustable Separate Function Fork up front and similarly fully-adjustable shock at the back. It’s so beautifully set up straight from the factory that, really, you should leave well alone, unless you are chasing those last few tenths of a second on track. However, if fiddling with the settings is your thing, you will find that both the suspension and the chassis responds with a definite change in feel. As with any finely-tuned suspension, it really prefers a billiard table-smooth surface, but it copes well with bad surfaces as well.
6 Selectable Ride Modes
In the old days, we could have filled a whole story with complaints about the fueling and throttle response, but those days are, thankfully, long gone. The ride-by-wire throttle on the Street Triple R has been further tweaked to give fantastically smooth and clean and responsive fueling. There are four ride modes - Road, Rain, Sport and a user customizable Rider mode - and all the modes work as you expect them to, with no surprises. It really does feel as if your right wrist is connected directly to the throttle bodies, so effectively is the slightest twist of the grip translated into action inside the engine and progress along the road.
5 Further Electronics
It is astonishing how quickly technology that, perhaps a decade ago, seemed other-worldly, is now commonplace and it seems perfectly natural. One of the more significant additions to the specification of the 2024 Street Triple R is cornering ABS and lean-sensitive traction control, both of which increase the safety margins by a large degree. Along with those two, you also get wheelie control and, something we thought we’d only ever see on large, heavy touring bikes and cruisers, linked brakes, whereby pulling the front brake lever sends a percentage of the force to the rear brake, improving braking balance when pushing on and helps mitigate the running-wide phenomenon when the front brake is applied when leant into a corner.
4 So You’re A Track Warrior?
Then don’t worry, the Street Triple R is more bike than many of you will ever need on track. For those who really think they do need more, there is the Street Triple RS, which is essentially the same as the ‘R’ in every respect other than the electronics, with the ride modes including Track mode, which disables corning ABS and the linked braking and alters the intervention of the traction control, allowing you to use every last ounce of power without the TC chiming in and hampering the drive out of the corner.
3 Tires
Even though both bikes - the ‘R’ and the ‘RS’ - are excellent on the track, Triumph has definitely decreed that the ‘R’ leans more towards street riding and this is shown by the choice of tire fitted as standard. The Street Triple R is shod with Continental ContiRoad tires which are excellent all-round tires, with good life expectancy, while the ‘RS’ gets Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SP V3 tires, which are some of the best super-tricky sports tires you can buy and give you all the grip you will ever need at the track. However, expect to be replacing them regularly if you use all the bike’s performance and the tires’ grip at the track.
2 Brembo Brakes
As you would expect, with Brembo being the preferred brake supplier for any serious sports bike, Triumph is no different. Brembo M4.32 calipers are fitted up front, fed by an axial master cylinder. It doesn’t matter that this is a lower-spec set-up to the RS’s Brembo Stylema set-up, there is still more braking power, initial bite and ultimate feel than the average rider will require in any riding situation, whether on the road or at the occasional track day. Best of all, every single element of the 765 Street Triple R feels as if it has been hewn from the same lump of billet aluminum, so together and all-of-a-piece does it feel.
1 Price And Rivals
The naked sports bike class has never been so active and packed with excellent motorcycles. You really can tailor your choice to a surprising degree and not feel short-changed with any of them. The most obvious rivals to the Triumph Street Triple 765 R ($9,995, or $12,595 for the RS version) are the KTM 890 Duke R which costs $12,949, the Ducati Monster 821, which costs $12,995, the Kawasaki Z900, which costs $9,699, and the Yamaha XSR900, which costs $10,199. Even though the Triumph has the smallest engine out of the five, it more than makes up for it with what is arguably the most polished chassis and unequaled fit and finish.