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2008 Triumph Street Triple Full Review

Posted by Kenn Stamp
Friday, 04 January 2008
Page 4 of 5 You're probably wondering why I haven't said anything about the motor yet right? Well this is the page for you because I am going to let you in on a little secret about the 675cc motor found in the Street Triple; it rocks! I know, I know, "rocks" isn't a word that most journalists would use to describe something. They would say something like; "the motor in the Street Triple, due to it's linear torque curve, is a visceral reminder of why a triple is......blah, blah, blah..." That's all well and good but the first time you crank the throttle none of that is going to be in your head. The only thing you are going to do is giggle like a school girl while the words "this motor ROCKS!" (followed closey by Yippee! and WooHoo!) go around and around in your head like a carousel on crack. Those of you who have ridden or own a 675 Daytona know what I'm talking about while the rest of you will have to use your imagination (or do a demo ride). Even in it's "de-tuned" state, the 675cc triple will give you acceleration when you want it from just about anywhere. If you get silly and try to pull 6th gear from 10mph it will remind you that it is a 675cc motor, but for "normal" riding (is there such a thing?) you will very rarely catch the bike flat-footed. I found myself again and again revving the bike up just to hear the intake howl and the exhaust note; it was a drug and I made sure to get my daily (usually hourly) fix. I'm sure that my less than stellar fuel mileage was due to keeping the bike up at 7k rpms just to hear the racket when you pinned the throttle. To put it plainly; The Street Triple has aural sex with your eardrum. The only downside to the motor is that there is a noticeable tapering off of thrust above the 10,000rpm mark. It stills pulls quite strong but you can feel the difference. It actually is weird as the max HP hits at 11,700rpm so one would assume that the power curve wouldn't taper off but that doesn't seem to be the case. This is something that won't affect you for about 95% of your riding and might only be an issue when you are all tucked in looking for that last 5%. Triumph has once again created a bike that transcends the sum of it parts. The Street Triple has the ability to not only do bad, bad things, but somehow convinces you that you want to do them as well. A bike that is every bit as much a hooligan bike as it's big brother is but in a smaller, more manageable, slightly cheaper size. None of which are bad things at all. So after all is said and done we are left with the question we started with; did Triumph create a bike that speaks to your soul? I believe that unless you happen to have a soul that is deaf, the answer would have to be YES. << Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next > End >>

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