Triumph 1050 SPEED TRIPLE 100 S 2017 — Specifications

When Hinckley decides to put its most famous delinquent back on the right path, it doesn’t do things by halves. The Speed Triple had lost a bit of its swagger in recent years, caught between increasingly powerful competition armed with electronics and converted hypersport bikes without complexation. The 2017 100 S version is Triumph’s response to those who were starting to look at the Monster, the Z1000 or the GSX-S1000 with doe eyes. One hundred and forty modifications were on the program, and the British factory doesn’t joke about that figure.

The 1050 cm3 three-cylinder engine remains the heart of the matter, but it has undergone a serious rejuvenation to swallow the Euro4 standards without losing feathers. Cylinder head, crankshaft, pistons, combustion chambers, intake, everything has been through it. The result is clearly read on the technical specifications: 140 horsepower at 9500 rpm, 111.8 Nm of torque available at 7850 rpm, and above all, an engine that works better in the intermediate revs. It is there that the English three-cylinder truly crushes its four-cylinder rivals. This particular architecture gives a feeling of fluidity, a progressive rise in revs that the Japanese four-cylinder engines, as efficient as they are, do not really reproduce. For €12,700, you also have access to five injection maps called Road, Rain, Sport, Track and Rider, the latter being fully configurable. Traction control and ABS follow suit, deactivatable for those who want to play without a net.

The silhouette, however, remains immediately recognizable. The monobrach, the exhaust outlets slipped under the seat, the collected and muscular profile that hasn't aged since the first Speed Triple. What changes is the look. The two headlights ovalize slightly, and one can legitimately wonder if Triumph is testing the ground before a return to the round headlights of the origins. The mirrors have migrated to the ends of the handlebars, the turn signals switch entirely to LEDs, a few bodywork details evolve discreetly. Nothing revolutionary, but the whole remains consistent. The central air intake that now appears on the front face is, however, more visually surprising, even if it responds to an obvious thermal logic on a block as dense as this.

The aluminum twin-spar frame, a direct inheritance from the 955 Daytona, is not questioned. There is no reason to change what works. The 43 mm Showa inverted fork and the rear shock absorber from the same manufacturer are both adjustable, giving serious latitude to adapt the machine to your riding style. Braking entrusts its radial-mounted monoblock calipers and its 320 mm discs to Brembo, a reference that does not call for any particular comment. At 192 kg dry weight and with a 825 mm seat height, the Speed Triple is aimed at an experienced rider, not someone discovering the category.

What this 100 S achieves is to put the Speed Triple back into the discussion without betraying its DNA. It is not a conversion to reason, not a tamed machine to conquer new audiences. It is a character roadster that has simply decided to equip itself with the tools of its time to remain dangerous. The 15.5-liter tank and a 10% reduction in consumption compared to the previous generation also make it a little more practical on the road. But frankly, no one buys a Speed Triple for its grand touring virtues.