2016 Triumph Street Twin: FIRST RIDE

Alan Cathcart | January 24, 2016

Bangkok Bonneville: Born in Britain, raised in Bangkok, ridden in Spain. Alan Cathcart gets saddled up to meet a new friend.

Things have been pretty quiet of late at Triumph in terms of new models, in spite of which Britain’s top manufacturer set a new sales record in its last 2014/15 business year with 54,000 motorcycles delivered around the globe, a 12-percent increase year on year.

But that quiet spell is in the course of ending big time, because at Milan’s EICMA Show last November, Triumph presented no less than five new parallel-twin motorcycles powered by all-new water-cooled engines—one 900cc model and four 1200cc big twins. These collectively represent the next generation of its iconic Bonneville family of retro models, which with more than 140,000 such bikes built in the past 15 years since the born-again Bonneville’s 2000 launch, essentially represent one of the core products of its model lineup as presently responsible for between one-quarter and one-third of its annual sales.

Though designed and developed in the UK at Triumph’s Hinckley base, these new models will all be manufactured in Thailand at the company’s three factories south of Bangkok. There, production has already commenced of the 900cc Street Twin, which in representing the entry-level model to Triumph ownership, essentially replaces the cast-wheel T100 Bonneville model that’s been entirely built in Thailand for several years.

You can read the original magazine story by clicking HERE.

The Bonneville name now denotes the entire family of such models, with each different variant having its own moniker—as in, thus far, T120, Thruxton and Street Twin. Manufacture of the outgoing air-cooled T100-engined models has now ended, apart from the Scrambler where ongoing demand has dictated one final year of manufacture in 2016—after which there will presumably be a new version yet to be launched powered by the new 900cc liquid-cooled motor.

Spanish Sojourn

But that’s in the future, and what’s already here right now is the 900 Street Twin, which I had the chance to spend a day riding first through the streets of Valencia on Spain’s sunny Mediterranean coastline, then out through the hills and orange groves inland from the coast. Just throwing a leg over its 750mm high seat makes you realize straightaway this is a better thought-out and more accessible bike than any previous Bonneville, because while 10mm higher than the outgoing T100’s perch, it actually feels lower thanks to the way it’s been narrowed where it meets the slightly smaller fuel tank. Shorter riders, many of them female, will welcome being able to place both feet flat on the floor at stoplights, yet at 5’10” tall I didn’t feel at all cramped because there’s lots of room to move around the bike, plus the seat itself has been redesigned to incorporate more substantial foam, for a comfier mile-eating posture. It’s now well-padded enough to be comfortable on any journey a Street Twin rider is likely to make in terms of length, and the footrests are sufficiently low to be relaxing, without touching down at the relatively enthusiastic angles of lean permitted by the specially developed Pirelli Phantom Sportcomp tires.

In addition, the Street Twin’s riding stance feels more natural and more engaging than before, thanks mainly to the reach forward to the shorter, flatter one-piece steel handlebar with adjustable brake and clutch levers being shorter compared to the old bike—you feel you’re seated further forward, and although the handlebar is closer to you, it asks you to lean slightly further forward than with the more pulled-back ’bars of the old bike. Plus, the footrests feel positioned slightly further back, so you’re encouraged to ride with your toes parked on the pegs, with knees tucked in tight to the flanks of the tank—you feel more a part of the Street Twin than before, and it’s a very untiring place to be thanks to the complete lack of vibration at any revs from the all-new parallel-twin motor with 270-degree crank, up to and including the redline. The fuel tank is well-shaped, so you grasp it cozily with your knees, plus the retro-looking round mirrors give a good view and don’t vibe. This bike was obviously developed and refined by people who rode it a lot.

Smooth Operator

Thumb the clever combined kill switch and starter button to send the liquid-cooled engine into life, and relish the unexpectedly glorious note of the stock Street Twin’s exhaust. How Bloor’s boys got it through Euro 4 compliance complete with this great sound of twin-cylinder music is quite some achievement, but they did. Next, savor the extremely light and ultra-controllable lever action of the cable-operated oil-bath slip/assist clutch, which makes riding in traffic or city streets completely untiring with no undue wear and tear on your left hand owing to an unreasonably stiff clutch action, as on certain other twin-cylinder models concocted elsewhere than Britain. The gearbox shift action is flawless — it’s fully up to Japanese quality, though it’s better to use the clutch at all times since it’s quite hard to consistently change gear upwards smoothly without the clutch. But this light, precise clutch action also makes it very easy to make smart getaways from traffic lights or stop signs, even if with peak power of 54 horsepower delivered at 5900 rpm, the 900cc Street Twin motor has just three-quarters of the horsepower of the outgoing 865cc Bonnie. If you want more, Triumph will refer you to the array of four 1200cc models coming shortly to a showroom near you.

This doubtless explains why Triumph refused to reveal the new 900HT (as in, High Torque) engine’s power figures at its EICMA Show debut, fearing that outsiders would assume that the only way they could meet Euro 4 requirements was by detuning the bike. Nothing of the kind, as my day’s ride proved—for what matters most in real-world riding is the fact that by contrast there’s a claimed 18-percent more torque than the outgoing T100 model, peaking as low as 3230 rpm when 59ft-lb is available, and thereafter widely spread across the whole rev range. It’s really noticeable how much more low-down grunt there is on this bike versus the old, and I suspect that in a comparo test with its main rivals in the 800-1000cc retro category that seems to have developed almost by accident —bikes like the BMW RnineT, Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster, Indian Scout 60, Yamaha XV950 Bolt and especially the Ducati Scrambler—the Triumph will be hard to beat for its overall real-world rideability in retuned as opposed to detuned guise.

That also explains why there’s no tacho incorporated in the Street Twin’s single analog instrument with digital info panel, because Triumph’s R&D team headed by Stuart Wood isn’t interested in telling you how many revs the engine is turning at so you can aim for the redline in each gear—they just want you to go with the flow and relish riding that torque curve, if necessary using the five-speed gearbox with evenly spaced ratios to do so. But holding second gear proved an ideal attack mode for long stretches of switchback Spanish country roads, with the rev-limiter only intruding with 70 mph shown on the speedo, and still no vibes from the engine even when pressed as hard as the 105 mph I saw briefly in top gear.

But the Street Twin really didn’t want to be going that fast—70-80 mph top-gear cruising is where it’s most at home. Five speeds in the gearbox are quite sufficient for something this torquey, by the way—I never caught myself looking for another ratio. But less satisfactory was the rather abrupt pickup from a closed throttle when exiting a turn in second gear—it’s fine in the other ratios, just noticeable in this one where I suspect Wood & Co. wanted to maximize low-speed pickup and acceleration via some quite aggressive engine mapping. For while the single throttle body’s butterfly delivers a super-light throttle action that’s also untiring, the quite brusque pickup bordering on jerkiness from a closed throttle in second gear is the only real dynamic criticism that I have of the Street Twin. It’s almost certainly a fueling issue that should be addressed—the Ducati Scrambler has a similar problem—especially if Triumph produces the 48bhp A2 learner-legal Euro-version of the bike they’re intending to develop as the entry-level model to its entire range, after cancelling its 250cc single that was going to be built in India. There’ll be some relatively inexperienced riders who’ll be put off by this abrupt second-gear throttle pickup, while for the more experienced, it just spoils the otherwise smoothly responsive nature of the new engine.

Banking Bends

The Street Twin’s handling is capable and confidence inspiring, and much improved over the outgoing model thanks to its considerably tighter-steering geometry, and especially the two-inch-shorter wheelbase. The low cee of gee helps it ride bumps well on the angle, and it’s extremely agile in flicking from side to side in a succession of curves, like on the road from Dos Aguas to Millares inland from Valencia. And in spite of asking just a single 310mm front disc and 255mm rear, each gripped by a twin-piston Nissin caliper, to stop a bike weighing 435 pounds dry from relatively high speed, I can confirm that the Street Twin’s braking package will do the business when called upon to stop in panic mode—and the single disc not only reduces cost and speeds up the steering thanks to a reduced gyroscopic effect, it also enhances suspension response, because of the reduction in unsprung weight.

Indeed, the biggest dynamic improvement in handling terms of the Street Twin over the old cast-wheel Bonneville T100 is in many ways in the suspension, where Triumph’s chassis development guru David Lopez has done a superb job in teaming with Kayaba’s technicians to produce a twin-shock motorcycle with non-adjustable suspension damping front and rear which has a level of compliance that’s worthy of a much more expensive and sophisticated variable-rate monoshock bike. Riding through the streets of Valencia at the start of our day’s ride, I went looking for manhole covers to test the damping, and was so impressed by the way the Triumph ate up the bumps I thought I must have just assumed I was riding a twin-shock neo-retro model, and that Triumph had monoshocked the bike—well, it was very early in the morning and I had been hitting the Rioja reds with some enthusiasm the night before! But yes, it’s still a twin-shocker. Wait until you ride it and tell me you’re not impressed with the settings he’s chosen for the suspension, which by definition will be the ones that customers are delivered with thanks to the non-adjustability of the forks and shocks (well, except for preload on the latter).

For countless years horsepower has ruled as the be-all-and-end-all of two-wheeled satisfaction – but the times they are a-changing. For with sportbike sales slumping globally for all sorts of reasons, replaced in motorcyclists’ affection by naked-as-nature rides, torquey twins like the new family of Triumph Bonnevilles are becoming increasingly mainstream models appealing to a different kind of rider who arguably now represents a motorcycle dealer’s core customer. He or she will want to personalize the bike via Triumph’s 150-strong list of dealer accessories, or customize it beyond that in a way that individualizes it. The Street Twin’s stripped-back styling, distinctive sound, and dynamic riding experience enhanced by the addition of electronic riding aids including switchable ABS and traction control plus a ride-by-wire throttle, makes it a successful modern reinterpretation of Triumph’s most iconic model on the sixtieth birthday of the feat which led to its creation. Sixty years on from Johnny Allen’s September 1956 feat of setting a new two-wheeled World Land Speed record at 214.40 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats, in a streamliner powered by an unsupercharged twin-cylinder 650cc Triumph motor built by Texan tuner Jack Wilson, Triumph has given the bike which commemorates that achievement an emphatic and welcome new lease of life. Job well done, chaps.

For a chat with the Bonneville’s chief designer, Stuart Wood CLICK HERE

Specifications: 2016 Triumph Street Twin

Engine:	Liquid-cooled, 8-valve, SOHC, 270-degree crank angle parallel twin
Displacement:	900cc
Bore x Stroke:	84.6mm x 80mm
Horsepower:	54hp @ 5900 rpm
Torque:	59 ft-lbs @ 3230 rpm
Compression Ratio:	10.55:1
Transmission:	Five-speed
Chassis:	Tubular steel cradle
Front Suspension:	41mm Kayaba Fork w/ spring-preload adjustability, 120mm travel
Rear Suspension:	Kayaba twin-shocks, spring-preload adjustability, 120mm travel
Front Brake:	Single twin-piston caliper with 310mm disc, ABS
Rear Brake:	Single-piston caliper with 255mm disc, ABS
Front Tire:	100/90R18
Rear Tire:	150/70R18
Rake:	25.1°
Trail:	4.03 in.
Wheelbase:	58.7 in.
Seat Height:	29.5 in.
Overall Height:	43.8 in.
Overall Width:	30.9 in.
Overall Length:	82.8 in.
Fuel Capacity:	3.1 gal.
Weight:	436.5 lbs. (dry, claimed).
Colors:	Jet Black, Phantom Black, Matte Black, Aluminum Silver, Cranberry Red
MSRP:	$8950 as tested

You can read the original magazine story by clicking HERE.

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For more Triumph motorcycle reviews, click HERE.