The Biker Torque team’s thoughts on Triumph Street Triple RS
The 2023 Triumph Street Triple RS, is here to set the streets on fire with its untamed spirit. It’s a thrilling bike to ride packed with power, agility, and a big dose of that unmistakable Triumph triple charm.
In fact, it could be the best bike I’ve ridden this year. It’s a bike with pulsating power and a modern aggressive design.
WHAT DID WE LIKE?
ROSS: I must admit this is a bike that I did have some concerns about based on my experience with the Triumph Speed Triple RS. That is a very good bike but I found it to be very snatchy and quite hard to ride in traffic. But with no more than 30 seconds on the Street Triple RS I realised that those concerns were completely unfounded. The 2023 Street Triple RS is very easy to ride in traffic and is an absolute scream when you get a chance to open it up a little. The power delivery from the engine is a thing of beauty, offering a broad spread of torque throughout the rev range, providing effortless acceleration, exhilarating overtakes and above all a level of smoothness that I was not expecting.
TEGAN: The first thing I noticed when I jumped on was how incredibly light it was. The compact size and lighter weight enhance the bike's agility, making it a nimble and responsive companion on both twisty roads and when commuting in Sydney’s congested city traffic.
ROSS: The next thing for me is the brakes, they are excellent as you’d expect from premium units like the Brembo Stylema’s. They were progressive and pulled the bike up quickly without being harsh. With the amazing engine and acceleration that this bike has it’s great to see they have matched it with premium brakes.
TEGAN: It’s got great suspension and excellent handling, it really made me feel like a better rider than I probably am.
ROSS: You are not alone there, the handling is wonderful, I definitely felt like a more accomplished rider on it than I am and that is down to the wonderful electronics.
It has one of the best quick shifters I’ve ever used. The gearbox and quick shifter are smooth both up and down and it’s a fun bike to just bang through the gears when you take off from a set of lights.
The TFT is typical Triumph and quite good overall with one exception. I found some of the text quite difficult to read because it was so small. I did flick though the menu to find a design that worked for me, so overall another thumbs up for the TFT. Design wise it just works with the looks of the rest of the bike, which brings us to the twin headlights, I like them and they are not usually the sort of thing I’d go for, but for me they work on this bike.
TEGAN: So the overall design for me is OK but I don’t love it. As for the headlight, well, I’m not a fan. I don’t like the way the headlight is separated from the rest of the bike, it has a bit of a bug eye look that I don’t really like.
ROSS: Other than that it is surprisingly comfortable, you have good leverage from those wide handlebars, it sounds great and goes like a bat of of hell. In a world where exhilaration is the ultimate currency, the 2023 Triumph Street Triple RS emerges as a very worthy champion of modern motorcycling.
WHAT DIDN’T I LIKE?
ROSS: So looks, subjective I know and even though I can appreciate that this bike is well designed, visually I have to say that it doesn’t quite do it for me. It just looks a bit too modern and aggressive.
I’m being really picky here but the side stand felt a bit flimsy, although it worked fine. But my main gripe with the bike is that some of the text on the TFT a bit small to read in certain modes, mostly the clock as I mentioned.
TEGAN: If I am being really picky, I probably wouldn’t use all of the rider modes. It’s fine to have them but I’d probably only use Rain and Road and maybe occasionally Sport so maybe the R model would be a better option for me, although the colours on the RS and Moto2 versions are much more interesting that the options for the standard R model.
ANYWAY LET’S RIDE
TEGAN: So my first few days with it were commuting where it was amazing. It has great control with those wide bars and the clutch was really light so it was a very easy bike to commute on. But on the weekend I did head off for a ride through the Royal Nation Park with my friend Andy on his Ducati 959. We hadn’t ridden together for a little while and Andy did comment on how comfortable and confident I looks on the Street Triple RS, particularly on some of the tighter bends in the park. It felt great riding down there and I really couldn’t wait to get back on it after a quick stop for brunch. On the way back it felt like the bike was responding to my every command with unparalleled finesse, so not sure if it was that my riding skills have improved or that the bike makes you a better rider.
ROSS: And for me it was mostly a few commutes, a blast through the Royal National Park and a bit of a night ride around Sydney. I can’t see why anyone would want more than this bike has to offer, and for me it is a better bike than the Speed Triple in every way. It’s great in traffic, heaps of fun in the twisties and I reckon if you had a chance to do a track day on it you’d be grinning from ear to ear. It has a blend of cutting-edge technology, jaw-dropping performance, and a design that, even though not my cup of tea, turns heads at every corner. I think I can safely say that the 2023 Street Triple RS has rewritten the rules of the game. In a world where conformity is the norm, the 2023 Triumph Street Triple RS refuses to blend in.
As much as I am not a massive fan of the looks of this bike, I could easily get over that and probably get used to it. With the way the power is generated, the superb handling and the wonderful sound from that triple, for me it’s another great bike from Triumph. I am yet to ride a better bike this year and I would love one in the garage…but I’d also love to see Triumph make a retro triple with that engine and electronics, they couldn’t call it a Trident because that name is already taken with there 660cc triple so I guess it has to be a relaunch of the Hurricane name. Who’s with me, would you like to see a new Triumph Hurricane with the engine from the Street Triple? And if we d see a new Hurricane, remember you saw it here first.
With power delivery that would make Thor jealous, the Triumph Street Triple RS is a bike that is here to shake up the tarmac and ignite your inner hooligan.
The price of the Street Triple RS is $20590 for Silver Ice, which in our opinion looks a bit bland. Carnival Red and Cosmic Yellow look much more interesting and come in at $20890. Service intervals are every 10,000kms or 12 months so pretty standard.
Ross be regularly spotted out for a ride on one of his bikes in search of a pie shop. Tegan on the other hand is a fan of D&D, roller blading and her awesome Yamaha MT07. Together they are the producers of Biker Torque on YouTube.