TRIUMPH SPEED TWIN 1200 (2019 - on) Review

Overall rating

Triumph’s new Speed Twin is more than just a comfier Thruxton. Taking the best bits from the raciest of their retros and laidback roadsters, it’s fast, fun, all-day-comfy, easy to manage and despite its modest suspension and braking hardware, has the ride quality, poise and stopping power of a Street or Speed Triple.

• Related: Triumph Speed Twin long-term test
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The throttle response isn’t as polished as many Triumphs and some may still want the ability to fine-tune their suspension, but the Speed Twin is a classy, affordable slab of retro that its rivals will struggle to keep in their sights.

The Speed Twin is a good seller for Triumph – they've shifted over 11,000 of them since the 2019 launch and in 2021 the model got an update for Euro5. Triumph took the opportunity to do more than just clean up its act though and the bike gets a whole new feel.

So, what’s new? Quite a bit – some changes you can see, and some you can’t. The most noticeable tweak from the first model are the upside down forks – chunky 43mm Marzocchi items, albeit with no adjustment – and posh Brembo radial calipers biting bigger 320mm discs.

The wheels are new too – 12-spoke lightweight aluminium rims shod with trackday-ready Metzeler Racetec RR K3 rubber.

Less obvious at first glance, but just as important, the engine is now more or less the same spec as the Thruxton RS, albeit with a different exhaust system and engine mapping to  keep it just a few horses down.

Ride quality & brakes

Sustained hours in the saddle won't bother your joints. Pegs are 4mm lower and 38mm further forward than the Thruxton's, seat height is lower (just 807mm), despite having 10mm more padding and the tapered bars have more than a hint of ready-for-action Speed Triple about them.

Twinges of derrière discomfort eventually creep in after around six hours in the saddle - about five hours better than the torturous Thruxton's. 

Aside from a new subframe, aluminium down tubes and the odd bracket, the Speed Twin’s frame is the same as the Thruxton's. Suspension for 2019 and 2020 bikes is by KYB: non-adjustable forks up front and preload-adjustable twin shocks at the rear. Don't worry about the lack of twiddlers because the chassis set-up is Triumph at its glorious best.

Perfectly balanced and with sumptuous ride quality, the Speed Twin rolls through corners with a twinkle in its eye and slightly lazy steering geometry makes fast corners its party piece. Slowing down the fork dive on the brakes with a dab of compression damping would be nice (if we’re being fussy), but the suspension will be bang-on for most riders and styles.

Lightweight seven spoke wheels contribute to the Speed Twin's breezy agility and Pirelli Diablo Rosso III tyres (the good ones, not cheap spec OEs) dig in hard once they’re up to temperature. Four piston, four-pad Brembos may not be radial, but who cares when they ooze this much power and feel?

For 2021, Triumph gave the Speed Twin new forks, Metzeler tyres and upgraded brakes. 

The new forks have a firm, high quality feel to them, and along with the sticky tyres you’ve got a beatifully planted front-end feel that allows you to get away with trail-braking deep into turns. It seems to roll perfectly naturally into bends with no real effort – just the hint of pressure against the inside bar and the bike sets itself up to whatever angle of lean you’ve dialled in, no fuss, no drama.

Well, unless you start hitting big bumps mid-corner, when it’s a bit less lovely. The rear shocks – carried over directly from the old model – are budget items and it shows.

The harder you push and/or the bumpier it gets, the more they lose their composure. They’re not actually bad – just not as good as the front end, and not as good as the rest of the bike. At least they’ll be easy to replace with something better a year or two down the line though.

One other point about the shocks – normally you can fiddle with the preload adjusters on these using every single bit of the bike’s toolkit (which consists of one Allen key behind the right hand side panel). With the new silencers, though, access is extremely tight and you really need to loosen the exhaust mounting and swing the silencer out of the way.

The new brakes are a step on from the old system. Monobloc Brembo M50 calipers and radial master cylinder are undoubtedly overkill for a 100bhp roadster, but they do look good and in conjunction with relatively soft pads, they offer a good balance of power and feel.

The ABS system is maybe a bit over-eager, especially at the rear (use the back brake at all while stopping hard and the ABS kicks and jerks) but I suspect although that was an irritation on dry tarmac, it might be a bit more welcome on a greasy December commute.

Ergonomics are good – or at least they were for my stumpy legs and 5ft6in build – with flattish bars giving plenty of leverage and a position that’s purposeful without being too sporty.

The seat is a bit of a plank, to be honest, but ok for a couple of hours at a time, especially on the kind of roads where you’re constantly shuffling about on the seat. On a couple of fast sections of dual carriageway it was no surprise to find anything over about 90mph was unpleasantly windy, and I wouldn’t want to do much of that if I could avoid it.

Better to slow down a bit and ease the strain on your neck – 70mph in top, incidentally, is at a lazy 3500rpm, from which there’s plenty of overtaking grunt available without needing to bother the gear lever.

Even at legal speeds though, you’re never going to be long between fuel stops and leg-stretches. Triumph claim about 50mpg for the Speed Twin, and a quick calculation after a splash and dash at 80-odd miles showed we’d averaged about 45mpg – not too bad, but with a smallish 14.5 litre fuel tank it means you’ll be looking for fuel at around 125 miles, assuming a nominal reserve of a couple of litres.

When you get to the fuel station, you might find, as I did, that you can’t put the sidestand down – it simply wasn’t possible to snag the sidestand tang with the heel of my Sidi race boots, so I had to lean down and do it by hand. No one with normal boots had a problem though.

According to the spec sheets, the new model has slightly steeper rake/trail figures than the old one, despite having the same frame, so it’s tempting to put that down to the new forks. A closer look, though, reveals that’s just because the rear shocks (same as last year) come with an extra step of preload at the rear, raising the back and giving slightly quicker steering and slightly better ground clearance.

Engine

A reworked 'High Power' 1200cc parallel twin-cylinder Thruxton lump provides the Speed Twin's beating heart and darkly gruff soundtrack. The motor alone is 2.5kg lighter, thanks to its revised clutch assembly and new engine covers. It even has a magnesium cam cover, like a Ducati Superleggera. 

Making 96bhp to the crank, the Speed Twin delivers supersport punch when you dial in the revs, but there's so much grunt, delivered from almost tickover, it’s more rewarding to use lazy gears in the corners and surf the Triumph’s great wave of torque on the way out.

Triumph are masters of ironing out the glitches from their ride-by-wire throttles, but the Speed Twin's fuelling is a little abrupt on and off the gas at low speed. Once you're rolling (or in Rain mode) the throttle becomes nicely damped, though.

For 2021, the engine has been overhauled to meet Euro5 emmissions regulations and now also makes a little more power. It's the last of Triumph’s Bonnie family to be updated for Euro5 and Triumph have put in quite a bit of work into the engine. It has; a lighter crank, a posh new alternator with rare earth magnets for less inertia, new higher compression pistons, modified intake and exhaust ports, and higher lift camshafts.

All this means you get a modest power increase over the old model (up around 3bhp to a claimed 99bhp, with peak power now delivered at 7250rpm), and a fraction more torque, delivered slightly lower down the rev range.

There’s traction control (switchable) and three-way riding modes – Rain, Road and Sport. All three deliver full power, so it’s just the delivery and throttle response that vary.

Euro5 compliance means a new exhaust system, but still retaining the old bike’s neat layout, where it looks like a two into two straight through system, but the downpipes don’t actually connect directly to the silencers.

Instead, they divert under the sump to the catalytic converter and pre-silencer, before diverting back out again to the mid-pipes and silencers. The point where they diverge is hidden by a neat little stainless cover and you really wouldn’t know all that tiresome emissions stuff was hiding away there.

The lighter engine internals help the motor spin up more quickly and you can really feel the difference. It’s still got the grunt to be able to pull hard from low down, although perhaps it feels a little harsher than before without the extra crankshaft mass to damp down vibration, but let it spin just a bit higher – from 3500rpm upwards – and it really drives, perfect for slingshotting between bends on these twisty Portuguese roads.

The best compliment I can pay is to say it’s the sort of engine where you don’t need a rev counter – partly because you’ve got a wide spread of useable grunt over a wide range, but more because it’s just so easy to instinctively feel what it’s going to do when you open the throttle.

Warning: you’ll also find yourself just winding the throttle on and off just to experience that surge of grunt again and again – fun, but intensely annoying for anyone you’re riding with...

I was very pleased to see the three engine modes are easily changed while riding – no messing around. You just press the button on the left bar to pre-select the one you want, it flashes, then shut the throttle and pull the clutch in at the same time, and the new mode is active.

As mentioned previously, the traction control is also easily switchable (press the info button 'til it shows TCS, then press and hold to toggle between on and off) but for that you do need to be stopped. Once you turn the ignition off, the Mode reverts to Road, which is a bit annoying – I’d prefer it to remember its last setting – but that ease of switching means it’s not a problem.

Also fair to say that the slightly less nervous low-down throttle response in Road is easier to get on with in traffic, where Sport can hunt and shunt a bit, especially when you’re on an almost-closed throttle, just coasting down to a junction or lights, for example.

Reliability & build quality

Judging by our Triumph Speed Twin owners' reviews, there doesn't seem to be a huge amount wrong with the Speed Twin's build quality or reliablity. It scores mainly four or five stars, with no negative feedback at time of publication.

The 2021 model is brand new and so there is no reliability information as yet but the build quality and finish seem good.

Looks are subjective, but I think the Speed Twin looks great, especially in the metallic red we were riding. All the inconvenient modern stuff is tucked away neatly (especially the exhaust/emissions kit as mentioned before, but it’s still got enough visual clues – especially the new front end – to say it’s a serious performance bike, not a wannabe classic cruiser.

From ten feet away everything looks solid, quality, class – even the mudguards are brushed aluminium, not plastic – but get right up close and there are a few cheap touches that betray some cost-cutting (the plastic headlight bowl, for example).

The mudguards, incidentally, could both usefully be a bit longer – the day before our ride was wet and riders were getting soaked from water flung up between the rear mudguard and the number plate holder.

At the front a longer guard would keep gunge and stones from the vulnerable radiator – several of the test bikes were already showing minor stone damage.

The only design touch I’m really not keen on is the clocks. They manage to pack a fair bit of available info into a tight space, and it’s generally easy to pick and choose what you want to see, but I’d have preferred a simpler, cleaner white dial design.

Value vs rivals

Triumph gives you get bundles of style, performance, tech and quality parts for little money, but the Speed Twin is ever so slightly more expensive than the comparable BMW R nine T Pure and Kawasaki Z900RS.

Street Twin owners who want a bit more oomph (ok, a lot more: 49% more power and 40% more torque) will love the new Speed Twin, as will Bonneville T120 riders who just want a bit more of everything and Thruxton owners who value their wrists.

It also has enough power and joyful handling to keep all but the most speed-crazed sportsbike and super naked fans happy and relaxed on the road, too.

Triumph Speed Twin vs 2021 BMW R nine T

BMW and Triumph are head and shoulders ahead of the game when it comes to creating modern, old-school charmers with sizzling performance.

There are machines that do the job of cruising in a haze of yesteryear bliss for a lot less, but the R nine T and Speed Twin are apex predators.

Both are stripped-down, straight-barred roadsters, detailed to within an inch of their turn-ups with big brakes, quality suspension and electronics hidden neatly away. Both have tank badges with genuine history – the Triumph is Steve McQueen and the Beemer the soldiers chasing him.

On paper their twin cylinder engines are similar, too. The BMW punches out 108bhp and 86lb.ft of torque from its updated Euro5-spec 1170cc boxer and the Triumph produces 96bhp and 83lb.ft from a 1200cc parallel twin.

But bikes aren’t ridden on paper, and out on the road the way their engines look and act couldn’t be more different. The liquid-cooled Speed Twin burbles away with its cylinders neatly in line, dishing out impeccable thrust throughout the revs. Over on the air/oil cooled R nine T its punchier, more instant delivery comes from huge power stations sticking out horizontally in front of your shins.

They’ll both do around 140mph on a good day and either machine will scratch the itch of those who’ve left their sportsbikes behind. They’re the most unlikely wheelie machines when you turn the electronics off, too.

It’s a close call. Each bike is deliciously finished and detailed, easy to get on with and compared with their cheaper, less powerful rivals, they are genuinely quick and sharp in the bends. If you like your Sunday mornings to end with a silly grin and flies in your teeth, these are the bikes for you.

The Triumph is the one you’ll buy with your head. It’s cheaper, more polished and comes with everything you need to tickle your classic taste buds – from its Monza fuel cap to the burble from its big parallel twin engine.

The brakes, suspension and tyres (in the winter) aren’t quite as good as the BMW’s and it isn’t as roomy, but if you can live with those things you’ve just saved yourself a stack-load of cash.

But from the moment the R nine T wakes from its slumber, kicking to the right as it crackles into life, you know you’re on something special. Some might not enjoy its Germanic quirkiness, but it’s one of the most magnificent feelgood sportsbikes around.

As well as a new engine, forks, wheels and tyres the 2021 Speed Twin also gets is a slight price hike – it’s up £300 on the old model to bring it to £11,000 on the road for the standard gloss black version, or £11,200 for Matt Storm Grey (with yellow accents)  or the Red Hopper metallic finish (as per the bikes we tested).

To put that price into context, the cheapest BMW R nineT (which Triumph see as their main competition in this market sector) is the base Pure model at £11,395, while ‘normal’ R nine T models start at £13,150. The Speed Twin’s other stated rival, the Kawasaki Z900RS, ranges from £10,649 to £11,649.

Equipment

As we've come to expect from Triumph’s latest generation of retros, you get a lot of tasty spec for your money, including riding modes, traction control, ABS, a torque assist clutch, new clocks, bar end mirrors, a Monza fuel cap and immobiliser.

If you want all the bells and whistles then maybe a stripped-back modern classic isn’t for you. That said, there’s a USB charging port under the seat, LED lighting (including a Daytime Running Light) and the new bike is pre-wired for heated grips and a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System, both available as accessories along with dozens of other options.

Triumph team up with Beeline

Triumph chose the Speed Twin to showcase their new tie-up with the Beeline navigation system. For those who don’t want to fit a bulky sat-nav unit (or their phone) on the handlebars, but still want some route guidance, the Beeline is a possible alternative.

The small but suprisingly heavy unit (the case is solid aluminium where you’d expect plastic) sits on your bars and connects to your phone via Bluetooth, once you’ve downloaded the specific Beeline app. Then you can either create a route on your phone, import from another source, or switch to Compass mode, which allows you to put in start and finish points and then rather than giving you detailed instructions, it just points you in roughly the right direction while letting you head off down side roads or make it up as you go along.

For this ride we used a pre-loaded map from Triumph. Downloading, installing and pairing to the phone was easy (and I’m no tech-lover) and once I got the hang of interpreting the simple info on the screen, it worked ok, although on several occasions I was expecting to go one way according to what I was being told, while our lead rider acually took us somewhere else. Not sure whether that was my fault, Beeline’s fault or the lead rider’s fault, but I suspect I’d need a lot more time with it to be able to trust it fully.

Speaking of time, the limiting factor is battery charge time. Firstly for the unit itself, which doesn’t charge from the bike so needs separate charging each evening, and secondly for your phone – the constant Bluetooth activity is incredibly power-hungry and everyone finished the day with barely enough power left to send a photo of their first beer to Instagram/Facebook/Grandma (other social platforms/relatives are available).