I was thrilled when Triumph announced this bike. I planned to purchase a 2022 model as I never purchase a first year version of anything.. I like to wait till all the little niggles are worked out. So, I started reading reviews and watching YouTube comparison tests to the usual suspects in the super naked crop; Streetfighter, Superduke 1290R, S1000R, and Tuono. Without fail, in every comparison test, the Triumph finished last, or next to last. Negative comments were too stiff suspension, last generation electronics, down on power, and keyless ignition quirks. Now, I'm able to overlook all of those except the keyless ignition, and stiff suspension. I only weigh 155 lbs and I'm afraid the stiff suspension would be a deal breaker for the type of bumpy county roads I ride in northern NJ. I doubt Triumph will ditch the keyless ignition, but they might adjust the suspension for more compliance. Anyway, looks wise, to my eyes, the Triumph is the best of the bunch (other than the Streetfighter which is drool worthy but way too expensive) For a frame of reference, I'm riding, have ridden a Thruxton RS now (love that grunty engine and looks, but I really want to get back to a bike that revs higher for the thrill of the top end rush), Street Triple (perhaps the best bike I ever owned), S1000R (great bike but soulless engine) Anyway, I don't really have a point to this ramble, just wanted to get these thoughts out there and see if anybody sees faults in my thinking or has any other comments. In the end, I'll probably buy a 2022 RS (unless I come into a little more $ and buy an RR). Lemme know your thoughts. Thanks
I have a 2021 1200RS and I’m only about 140lbs. Yes, the suspension is stupidly stiff if you don’t adjust it but it’s actually fine if you go fully soft on the adjustment. Don’t get me wrong, fully soft is still fairly firm, but perfectly okay on the road. I don’t have a major problem with it and think the journos who have been overly critical have simply been lazy and haven’t played with the settings (I don’t think the opinion of your average Youtuber counts for anything). Power wise, is it really down on the competition? I thought only the Streetfighter had significantly more. Either way, 180hp is more than adequate for the road. In fact it’s crazy fast! I agree about the looks. The Triumph is by far the best looking - in fact most of the competition is downright ugly - including the Streetfighter in my opinion. I was a long term Yamaha man before buying the Triumph and the obvious choice for me would have been the MT10, but again, I simply couldn’t live with the looks. The only issues I’ve had with the bike are with the keyless and Bluetooth, but both now seem fine. I think a software update at the first service may have cured both problems because recently connection to both has been absolutely fine. In quality terms the Triumph is excellent. Everything seems well finished with high quality materials. overall I’m delighted with it. The ride may be stiffer than I’d ideally like, but the handling and road holding are fantastic - it feels so light and flickable - way beyond my meagre talents. I have the fly screen and visor fitted, which I think improves the front end looks enormously and is a must fit.
Thanks for your comments Neal H. I think they dyno charts are somewhere in this review If I remember, the Triumph had like 143 wheel hp while the rest are in the 160-170 range. I definitely know that's enough because the S1000R I owned had less and was blisteringly quick.
This is why I recently bought a humble '21 CBR650R, and I already have a Speed Triple 1200 RS ... the Speed is so powerful, I love the bike, but I missed obnoxious 4-cyl rpms noises, and I wanted to do it without going too fast. It's hard to believe how slow 94hp feels after riding the Speed Triple, it's like are we even accelerating, and I look down, and the CBR is into triple digits. The 765 also makes glorious noises, better than the Speed imho, I won't say better than the CBR but it is a different cacophony that is also glorious. Speed is offensively quick at the top, but it shoves me around at low rpms. The CBR is weak sauce off the line, but I can wind out 1st gear without offensive speed or shocking acceleration. 765 left me wanting more or less. I seem to be working on your problem from the other side, as I have my eye on a Speed Twin ...
How much perfromance do you actually need / can you use. This is a quick bike by any measure. Faster bikes exist but may well prove frustrating as there are few opportunities to fully use the full performance and the S3 has a good useable spread, but it is more top endy than the previous model (I owned the 2018 model and now the 1200). I have no regrets . Its a firm ride but I have no problem with a sporty ride and tend to set my bikes up firm anyway. Lokis are great, quality is very good, light weight. Are you going to notice a shortage of HP - I don't think so. Look at the torque figures for those bikes and see what that tells you not just peak BHP.
I look at this and think, “the Super Duke and H2 make everything else look a bit harmless in the real world.” Up to 10,000 RPM those two bikes look outrageous! By the time the others are making serious horsepower the Super Duke and H2 are away. As for choosing between them, they are all brilliant. Choose the one that looks best to you or speaks to your emotional side, you can’t go wrong. For me it’s the Aprilia or Triumph every time.
A reminder that none of these bikes are putting full peak power to the ground in 1st gear. Those are 5th gear dyno numbers, how many of you are actually making use of that, probably very few of us ... Oh, see how the Speed Triple dyno cuts out before the rev limiter? That's because it goes soft and hits top speed in 5th gear, not 6th gear. Maybe a 4th gear pull would have painted a better picture, who knows. I agree that the Tuono and Speed are the go-to bikes, and SDR for big twin lovers.
Above link should be for the Track comparison results. If not it can be found on the Triumph RAT website in the Speed Triple section. No spoilers.
Just test drive one and you will see how much good it is even for commute or road. . .specially b-roads
I'm about 220lbs with gear and after setting up the suspension the bike rides great. I have 3 friends I ride with that have Streetfighter V4S's and I did Street Triple because I didn't want to have the same bike and really wanted cruise control. Really happy I did. My buddies have a tough time keeping up with me and I find the 1200RS easier to ride quickly on the street. The 5th gear dyno numbers make sense. I had a 2017 Tuono and the 1200RS definitely feels quicker that that bike but dyno above showed it making less power. The V4S pulls crazy above 10k rpms but I find it difficult to ride smoothly when I'm in that powerband. It is almost like a 2-stroke on serious steroids. Maybe I'm not a good enough rider to use that powerband on the street...
good evening, I have the Speed 1200 rs and before that the 1050 rs. I do not want to be repetitive since I have commented on it in several YouTube videos since many times the treatment that has been given to both the 1050 and the 1200 has seemed unfair. The problem of suspension rigidity in my case ended when I changed tires for some contirace attack 2 street, I loosened the compression two clicks, one the rebound and now it's perfect. A guy on the internet commented that with s22 and road 5 it also ends the problem, the comfort setting also ends the problem. As for the power of the bike, I will tell you that it runs a lot and in track mode it can overwhelm, I don't think more power is necessary. Personally I prefer that feeling of lightness and absence of inertia to more power and forces to fight against. With this motorcycle you brake before the curve and you can stay stopped before it given its stopping power and very little inertia, which was not the case with the 1050. It is addictive, it looks like a very very powerful street rs and very easy.
