Triumph has unveiled the 2016 Speed Triple, ahead of the motorcycle’s maiden public appearance at the EICMA Show, later this month. The litre-class streetfighter will henceforth be available in two trims, a standard Speed Triple S and a more performance-oriented Speed Triple R.
While it might not seem so in the first glance, Triumph says that the new Speed Triple models are different from their predecessor in a staggering 104 ways! Cosmetically, the Speed Triple gets a redesigned headlamp with DRLs, new seats and a sleeker body. The 1050cc three-cylinder engine itself gets a redesigned combustion chamber, cylinder heads, a machined crank and pistons. The engine has also been retuned to offer 10 per cent more torque in low end of the rev range and quite surprisingly, 10 per cent more fuel efficiency.
The Speed Triple also gets a slipper clutch, ride-by-wire throttle bodies and a redesigned exhaust. The radiator is smaller in size, yet more efficient than the previous version. The Speed Triple can be ridden in five modes – road, rain, track, sport and a rider configurable mode, of which the last one allows the user to feed his individual preferences.
The Speed Triple R comes with state of the art Ohlins suspension, lightweight carbon fibre body panels, billet bar clamps and swingarm pivot covers. Visually, the red radiator covers and frame set it apart from the Speed Triple S.
When you look at the litre-class streetfighter segment, it is pretty obvious that the Triumph Speed Triple seems like the grandpa of the lot. However, the new upgrades ought to buy the motorcycle some more time before an all-new model comes along. The Triumph Speed Triple competes with modern streetfighters like the BMW S1000R, Aprilia Tuono V4 and the KTM 1290 Super Duke R. We can expect it to be brought here in the first half of 2016, post the launch of the new Bonneville range.
