TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE 660 S (2020 - on) Review

The Triumph Street Triple S isn't the poshest bike Hinckley builds. Most folk love a splash of bling and so it’s easy to understand why buyers – and shallow journalists – get in a froth over the range-topping Street Triple RS. Colour dash, umpteen-level electronics, Öhlins this, Brembo that, adjustable the other… Thing is, for most of us the S model is probably better.

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On typical poorly maintained British roads the ride of the Street Triple S is more comfortable and less jittery than its overly firm stablemate. Its simplistic chassis recaptures some of the fun and not-taking-it-too-seriously air of the original Street Triple from 2007.

So does the engine: from 2020 the S model has a 660cc inline three, as opposed to the 765cc unit found in the R and RS versions and it serves up lashings of accessible, usable thrust with an edgy, compelling soundtrack. And at £8100 on the road, the S is also £2400 cheaper than its headline-grabbing sibling.

The S has a larger target audience, too. You can buy a full-fat Street Triple S from a dealer, but unlike the 765cc bikes the 660 motor can also be restricted for those on an A2 licence.

You can buy the Street Triple S and ride it on an A2 at 19 years old, have significantly more performance than with small-capacity entry bike such as a Honda CB500F or KTM 390 Duke, then get the triple derestricted once you’re fully qualified.

Yes, it’s the ‘learner’ bike. But don’t buy an R or RS without also trying the road-focused S.

Triumph Street Triple 660 A2 restricted

The Triumph Street Triple S we tested here put out an unrestricted 94bhp but those on an A2 licence would need to have their bike restricted by a Triumph dealer. So what’s a Street Triple with 46.9bhp like to ride in the real world? We took one around the MCN250 test route to find out.

Despite being restricted, the Street Triple is still plenty of fun and rolling along with commuter traffic on A-roads you might not even notice the lack of power. Triple engines are perfectly suited to the job as they produce more of their torque lower in the rev range.

Whereas a restricted four-cylinder engine will run out of breath just as you would expect it to take off, the Triumph’s triple finds poke lower down and you can make more progress by short shifting your way through the gears.

On flowing B-roads the quality of the Triumph’s components mean that it outshines A2 competition from the likes of the Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 or restricted Honda CB650R.

Separate high and low-speed damping adjustment? Ha. The S has the sort of spec that it’s easy to lazily describe as ‘budget’. The forks are unadjustable, the front brakes use two-pot sliding calipers, and the rear shock only has provision for tweaking the preload.

And that’s all fine. Sure, the Nissin brakes don’t have the initial bite of posh radials and it’d be stretching things to describe the damping action of the suspension as luxurious.

However, the friendly nature of the brakes makes them usable in tricky conditions and won’t unnerve less experienced riders, while there’s more than ample stopping power with a good squeeze. Stoppies? No bother. It’s just a bit of a shame the basic ABS jumps in when braking hard over bumps.

Chassis geometry isn’t quite as racy as the sportier versions, but again you don’t notice. Or care – the S is as light, agile and responsive as a Street Triple should be.

Better still, in 90% of road situations its straightforward forks and shock give a more absorbent, comfortable and composed ride than the stiff, fidgety, bone-jarring RS.

Triumph inflated the Street Triple’s engine from 675 to 765cc in 2017. Based on a bored-and-stroked Daytona motor, they cooked up three different flavours to suit a trio of models: a track-ready RS (121bhp and 57 lb.ft), sporty R (116bhp, 57 lb.ft), and everyday S (111bhp, 54 lb.ft). Smashing.

Or almost smashing. As a likely first Triumph they wanted a 47bhp A2-legal version of the revamped model, but A2 bikes can’t be based on machines making more than 94bhp.

So they used a 660cc engine (previously developed to suit Australian licence rules) specifically for an A2 Street Triple S. Having a unique motor for a handful of learner sales was clearly a lot of faff though, so for 2020’s model re-fresh all versions of the S are now 660cc.

In restricted A2 guise it’s surprisingly potent. Though it has less torque (44 lb.ft compared to 54 for last year’s 765cc S) it’s at an accessible 5250rpm. So, while it gets breathless in the top third of the rev range, at realistic road revs the 660 is flexible and lively. A colleague rode it not knowing it was restricted… and didn’t notice.

Get your licence sorted and a dealer can swiftly derestrict the Street Triple S – or if you’ve got a full licence, they can sell it you in full-power form. With 49 lb.ft at 9250rpm and 94bhp at 11,250rpm, output is below last year’s larger S but without a back-to-back ride you’d never know.

It’s all reassuringly Street Triple, with a deep burbling exhaust note and willing, urgent, elastic drive right through the revs. Wheelying under acceleration and capable of 87mph in second gear, the 660 is anything but lacking.

Triumph’s build quality and level of finish is much better than it was 15 years ago. There are no longer ugly hex-head bolts attaching parts to the frame, inconsistent fastener sizes or scrappy bits of plastic.

Early 765cc Street Triples were recalled for incorrectly sealed switchgear that let water in and caused issues, however it will have been sorted by now and shouldn’t affect the S. There have also been a few 765s with slight oil leaks, but the 660 motor is less stressed and should be utterly dependable.

The Street Triple S is group 13 insurance; this is the same as the sportier R model, but two groups lower than the RS. For comparison, a Yamaha MT-07 (£6697) and Kawasaki Z900 (£8899) are both only group 11.

Typical average economy is 45mpg. With the 17.4-litre tank that’s over 170 miles of range.

At £8100 the Street Triple S is reasonably priced; it’s not got as much tech, power, handling or speed as the similarly priced KTM 790 Duke (£8499), however the Triumph is less likely to have reliability niggles and will have stronger residual value.

This isn’t the bike for tech nerds. The S retains the previous-generation display (no TFT or colour here), has simple rider aids and basic switchgear.

As with the chassis, none of this really matters. Though the ‘switchcubes’ don’t have Triumph’s now trademark joystick and don’t glow in the dark, the layout is easy to use.

And the switches control a dash that’s thankfully free of the befuddling display options and hard-to-read numbers that blight the R and RS versions.

There are only two riding modes – Road and Rain – but it’s not a problem given the usability of the engine and the fact there’s usually little difference between modes on any Triumph.

The traction control and ABS can be felt intervening if you’re riding with real vim and vigour, but they don’t get in the way as such; if anything, it’s nice to have a little tap on the shoulder to say ‘that’s quite enough gusto for a public road’.