Streets Ahead

Just when you thought Triumph’s Street Triple couldn’t get any more brilliant, the Hinckley maestros crank it up a notch.

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Looks familiar? I’ll admit that on face value the2020 Street Triple RS appears near identical to the765 models that came before it, but take a step closer and the differences hit you thick and fast. For starters, it’s sharper. Not just from a spec point of view, but in terms of the looks. The bike’s cowling has been given the Gok Wan treatment, with bolder, sharper lines punching at your retinas, while its all-new, whiter, brighter LED headlamps are set to burn them. The menacing looking daytime running lights are also worthy of a mention, along with the second generation TFT dash that now embodies all the colours of the rainbow, and there’s no way you’ll skim past the sexier silencer that comes capped with carbon for that added ‘je ne sais quoi’. From a pure aesthetics point of view, the Street Triple has certainly moved the game on but, thankfully in Boothy’s case, there’s more to life than just looks, and the RS is no exception. The main talking point during the model’s presentation at Cartagena in Spain was the motor with the key buzzword being Moto2, and how the same team that shaped the race bike’s engine was drafted in to optimise the street naked’s. Peak power has remained at 121bhp, but thanks to a new inlets, a new exhaust cam, a lighter crank, featherweight clutch and a freer flowing exhaust system, the guts of the Triple have been given some additional welly with peak torque flying high at 79Nm, with a 9% increase in the midrange and 7% reduction in engine inertia.