Triumph have announced the launch of the new Street Triple S and it's a bit of a shock as it is only 660cc! That was previously the domain of the 'A2 Licence' version but it now seems that Triumph have killed the 765cc S model leaving just the RS and the R. Does this stack up? Read on to find out if we agree.
The first thing to say is that the new Street Triple S has only been launched in Europe. There is no launch of it in America. That's fairly understandable as there isn't an A2 Licence in the USA, but there is in Europe (yes, the UK is part of Europe).
The second thing to say is that sales of the 765cc Street Triple S haven't been particularly good. That's not to say that sales of the Street Triple range had been bad - far from it. The Street Triple RS is Triumph's best-selling model in the UK! No, the problem was that you were going to go for one of the models with the TFT dashboard (the Street Triple R and RS models). The S did not really make any sense with its LCD and analogue rev counter. However, as an A2 Licence version of the Street Triple RS, it does carve out a niche for itself.
Triumph already has an A2 Licence version of the Street Triple S, all they have done is made that the actual Street Triple S model.
There is very little visible difference between the old Street Triple S A2 Licence and the new Street Triple S. The rake has increased by 0.2 degrees and the trail has increased by 3.8mm. However the engine has undergone some changes for Euro5 with CO2 emissions up from 105 to 119 g/km and fuel consumption up to 5.1 l/100km from 4.5. This allows the machine to deliver its 47bhp at 9,000 rpm (down from 11,000) with max torque of 60Nm at 5,250 rpm (up from 5,100).
Triumph are hoping to encourage people to start their riding career on a Triumph, and specifically on a Street Triple S. The A2 licence is the quickest and most cost-effective way for a 19 year old to progress to a full unrestricted licence. They just need to hold it for 2 years and can then go for the unrestricted licence.
