Triumph Daytona Moto2 765 engine tech explained

Triumph have revealed the full details of their long-awaited Daytona Moto2 765 Limited Edition, which is the Hinckley-based firm’s most advanced sportsbike to date.

• Full review: We’ve ridden the Triumph Daytona Moto2 765 on road and track

Unveiled on Friday as part of the Silverstone MotoGP weekend, the new model will cost £15,765 and is born out of the factory’s Moto2 development that led them to supplying the control engine for 2019 onwards.

Limited to two runs of 765 units; one set for USA and Canada (with red paint details and revised indicators) and the other for everywhere else, around 120 bikes were allocated specifically for the UK. 

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Attending the launch, MCN spoke to Triumph’s Chief Product Officer, Steve Sargent, who said: “This is the final version of this Daytona, so if the Daytona gets resurrected in the future, then it will be a new platform, effectively.

“It comes down to customer demand and what people want from Triumph. The Daytona features the first engine that has things built into it that we’ve learned from Moto2, particularly around the top-end and in getting the cylinder head and exhaust system to flow.”

More oomph

Powered by a new version of their 765cc triple – designed by the team responsible for the development of the Moto2 engine – the single-seat supersport Daytona produces a claimed 128.2bhp at 12,250rpm, and 59ftlb of torque at 9750rpm.

Based on the engine found in the existing Street Triple RS, the motor has been reworked from top to bottom to make it faster revving as well as stronger. This includes the addition of titanium inlet valves and new cam profiles plus a bottom-end make over with new con rods, crankshaft and barrels.

Revving to a 600rpm higher peak than the Street Triple – taking it to a 13,250rpm redline – additional internal modifications include an increased compression ratio and MotoGP-spec DLC (Diamond Like Coating) treated gudgeon pins for less friction and improved durability.

Alongside this, Triumph have opted to give the bike track-optimised gear ratios, with first gear modelled on that of the development bike. For the full Moto2 experience Triumph have worked with Arrow to create a low-slung exhaust that mimics the distinctive silhouette of the development bike, while being completely road-legal.

The story of the Triumph Daytona 765 Moto2

“We built a development bike and ran it and everyone fell in love with it,” Triumph’s Chief Engineer, Stuart Wood, told MCN. “We were trying to test the Moto2 engine, but it confirmed that that engine absolutely had to go in a Daytona.

“In terms of power, it’s just a little bit higher [that the last 675 Daytona], but in terms of midrange torque, you’ve got about 20% more. It is all about that drivability out of a corner and acceleration through the gears.”

Race engines are taken out every three race weekends, before being rebuilt and put back into circulation. This happens three times, before the engine is retired for good. This cannot happen in a road bike, and so Triumph have reworked a number of the engine’s internals for an improved life cycle; promising 6000-mile service intervals and a two-year unlimited mileage warranty, while also revving 600rpm higher than the Street Triple.

Improved durability

To produce a road engine that lasts longer than three grand prix, the pistons have been produced using higher-grade aluminium and the crankshaft built out of improved steel, offering greater strength and fatigue resistance than the racing components. Weighing no more than the Moto2 alternatives, the improved strength allowed Triumph to increase the rev limit without fear of internal damage.

Alongside this, the piston profile has also been revised to reduce friction loss, with machined tops helping to increase the compression ratio. Stronger MotoGP-spec DLC (Diamond Like Coating) gudgeon pins connect them to the con rods, too.

To help mimic the torquey character of the race engine, Triumph have also developed the intake ports and trumpets, tuning the trumpets themselves for length and machining all three as one piece for greater efficiency. By allowing more air into the engine, you can feed more fuel into the system and thus achieve more power.

Unlike the Moto2 racer, which features an adjustable Magneti Marelli ECU, the Daytona uses the same factory-finished non-adjustable unit as the Street Triple RS. This is necessary for homologation, with Triumph instead offering multiple standardised riding modes, which alter traction control, ABS and Daytona-specific throttle mapping to suit rider preference.

Greater control

Keeping that performance under control is a ride-by-wire throttle with five riding modes, which adjust the throttle map, traction control and ABS settings to suit the conditions. A first for the Daytona series, which was last seen as a 675 until the advent of Euro4, the options comprise: Rain, Road, Sport, Track and Rider Configurable.

Naturally it also comes with a quickshifter/autoblipper for faster gear changes, and all the systems run through the full-colour TFT dash, complete with a Moto2-inspired start-up graphic and a lap timer. The chassis is taken from the Moto2 mule.

It gets lightweight five-spoke 17in cast aluminium rims, and sheds a few more pounds thanks to the full carbon bodywork, complete with a glossy Union Jack livery, alongside a clear anodised aluminium frame and swingarm.

Helping to improve the bike’s agility, the 765 comes with a set of 43mm Öhlins NIX30 forks, which sit in a billet machined aluminium top yoke displaying the unique production number of every bike, and a TTX36 shock.

For greater control under braking there’s Brembo Stylema brakes, alongside a span and ratio-adjustable lever and radial master cylinder. 

The finished bike is expected in UK dealers at the start of 2020.

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‘The bike is unbelievable’ – Former 125 and 250 world champion, Loris Capirossi, samples the 765 at Silverstone

“I’m really impressed because the bike is unbelievable. You can enjoy it a lot and you can understand the feeling from the chassis immediately and the torque is like a small MotoGP bike.

“You can change direction quickly and the braking is good, but what I like the most is the engine. It’s fantastic and two days ago when I saw it for the first time I said ‘wow, this really looks like a racing bike.’ But, immediately after the test, I decided to buy one because I really loved it.

“I think when you go to slower tracks, you will be able to beat road-going superbikes because it’s easy to ride and the torque is always there, so it doesn’t matter if you miss a gear. It is unbelievable and I am happy! I am waiting for my one now, so I can always ride it.”

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Triumph Daytona 765 confirmed for 2020! Here’s your Moto2 racer for the road

First published 24/07/2019 by Richard Newland

Triumph have officially confirmed that the Daytona 765 MCN spied testing, and have been desperate for them to build, is real – and will arrive as a limited edition in Spring 2020, capitalising on what they have learned from Moto2.

Named the ‘Triumph Daytona Moto2 765 Limited Edition’, the new supersport machine will be built in two versions, one for Europe and Asia, the other the US and Canada. Each market is limited to just 765 bikes, and only a fraction of that number will be available in the UK, meaning demand is likely to dramatically outstrip supply.

The billet aluminium top yoke of each bike will be laser-etched with the bike’s unique build number.

Triumph Daytona Moto2 765 Limited Edition: the heart of a race bike

At the core of the new Daytona is the 765cc engine that started life in the Street Triple RS, before being further developed and supplied to the Moto2 championship as the control engine for 2019 onwards.

Crucially, the exciting benefit for all of us is that this new engine means the 2020 Daytona 765 will be the most powerful Daytona built to date – boasting, say Triumph, “significantly more power and torque” than both the old 675 R and the Street Triple RS from which it was developed. The whole package is also claimed to be “significantly lighter” than the old Daytona 675 R.

In the Street Triple RS that engine makes 121bhp, while the Moto2 765 delivers “more than 138bhp,” meaning we’d expect the Daytona 765 to develop around 130-135bhp.

Considering the old bike was often vaunted as the perfect combination of mass and mumbo, we’re struggling to contain our excitement about how this final evolution of the species will perform on road and track.

It wears a titanium Arrow side-mounted exhaust that mimics the Moto2 race bikes while contributing to the mass loss.

The new TFT dash (the old 675 R used an analogue / LCD mix) boasts an official Moto2 start-up welcome screen, and there are five rider modes including track mode, and a bi-directional quickshifter as standard.

The finished bikes will feature a largely monochrome Union Jack paintscheme – inspired by the Moto2 development mule’s – with official Moto2 branding.

When can I buy a Triumph Daytona Moto2 765 Limited Edition?

Triumph say the Daytona will arrive in March 2020, and that the price will also be announced at the August 23 Silverstone unveil.

For the full, in-depth story please head to your local newsagent and buy a copy of this week’s MCN out now, or purchase a digital MCN subscription here.

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SPIED: Triumph Daytona returns with 765 engine

First reported 13/02/19 by Richard Newland

Triumph have developed an all-new Daytona using the 765 engine first debuted in their Street Triple, an evolution of which will be used in Moto2 from this season onwards.

While speculation has been rife that the Moto2 project would pave the way for the return of the Daytona, these pictures are the first proof that Triumph does have a road bike waiting in the wings.

The images, snapped in Spain last week, reveal a high-spec model, with numerous clues that this will be badged, as with its predecessors, as an R or SE model. It’s not inconceivable that this could even be the third in Triumph’s new line of TFC models, boasting super-high spec, engine tuning work, carbon bodywork and available only as a numbered limited edition to coincide with Triumph’s arrival as the control engine in Moto2.

With reaction to MCN’s October 2017 Daytona 765 story driving a tide of interest in a new model, Steve Sargent, Triumph’s Chief Product Officer, confirmed that: “If we could prove the demand, then of course we’ll do it. With the excitement we have around Moto2, we would be foolish not to consider it as a possibility.” But the firm flatly denied the bike was already in development. A little over a year later, and it’s clear that Triumph believe there is enough demand to release a new Daytona in 765 guise.

This Triumph Daytona 765 looks a little familiar…

There’s no doubt that this is a new model, but there’s also no hiding the fact that numerous parts appear unchanged from the Daytona 675.

Much of the frame and swingarm look absolutely identical, while the shape and contouring of all the fairing panels is so close as to be virtually indistinguishable from the old model. It does boast a new single-seat tail unit that has no scope for pillion duties, while the bright red subframe, a historical indicator of it being an R model, almost certainly retains the hidden pillion mounts that would be necessary for a base or S model.

Despite much of the bike being Daytona-familiar, the engine is very clearly the 765 unit from the Street Triple, although it’s probable Triumph will have breathed on it with learnings taken from their Moto2 development programme.

While the Moto2 engine shares most of the same architecture as the road engine, there’s little doubt that key changes to the valve train, cam profiles and the weight of key internals will be lessons that could pay dividends in a new Daytona.

Top tech for 2019 Triumph Daytona 765

Amidst a sea of black fairings, the gold highlights of the Öhlins fork and shock are jewel-like highlights. The fork appears to be a high-spec fully adjustable NIX30 unit, from which hang Brembo’s very latest Stylema radial calipers – which are lighter and offer more power and better thermal properties than previous versions. Meanwhile, the TTX rear shock appears to be identical to the unit previously used on the R model Daytona 675 – with its piggyback reservoir and large black and gold compression and rebound adjusters. 

Flashy as they are, they’re clearly mechanical units, so don’t hold your breath for semi-active suspension hardware.

Tech revolution

Also visible nestling beneath the screen is Triumph’s high-def TFT full-colour dash, and the associated switchgear – complete with ‘joystick’ controller. This means we can expect multiple dash options for road and track layouts, as well as high and low contrast versions of each. It also means we’ll see multiple rider modes, likely to include Road, Sport and Track settings, along with a Rain mode and a User setting for tailored fiddling. We’d also expect a full six-axis IMU to be driving the systems, meaning Cornering ABS and even slide control could be possible as part of the traction control system – with a bi-directional quickshifter also likely for such a track-focussed bike.

So when will the Triumph Daytona 765 arrive?

Triumph remain resolutely tight-lipped about this bike even existing, so there’s currently no confirmation available about when it might arrive, or how much it might cost.

But with Moto2 kicking off on March 10 in Qatar, it would seem like a good time to admit the Daytona’s existence, while we wouldn’t expect a production model to arrive until late 2019 at the earliest.

Want more Triumph stories on MCN? Read on

• Secrets of the Triumph Daytona 765 Moto2 engine
• MCN’s guide to Triumph Scrambler
• Steve McQueen’s Triumph fetches £118k at auction

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