Design
& Styling
The Street Twin carries forward the conventional
character of a Bonneville and is lot modern in its appearance. A well sculpted
muscular tank with knee dents and fat KYB forks upfront give the bike a retro
touch. The Street Twin also gets twin shocks in the rear keeping it in line
with the Bonnie heritage. The Street Twin I laid my hands on got the Triumph's
Scrambler kit installed to it which apparently added a lot more flair to an
already modern looking machine. The Scrambler kit features a Vance & Hines
exhaust, chrome finished ORVMs, LED turn indicators and an icon scrambler seat.
The Street Twin also features 5 twin spoke alloys which lends it a youthful and
sporty character. A drawback we did observe with the Scrambler styled Vance
& Hines exhaust is its high set position which would be a real challenge for
the pillion rider. But then for all practical reasons, despite the exhaust
perched so high on the bike, the heat dissipation does not get unnerving and
nor does it burn a hold in your riding gear! The Street Twin is available in four
colours -- Jet Black, Cranberry Red, Matt Black and Aluminum Silver, all of
which add vogue to this machine.
Performance
At the heart of the Street Twin is a 900cc,
parallel twin, liquid cooled engine. The motor belts out 80Nm of peak torque at
3230rpm, the rider can surge forward with ease and thanks to a well fitted ride
by wire system you are not jolted around but rather have a very smooth throttle
response. The engine puts out its peak power of 54.2bhp at 5900rpm and mated to
a 5-speed gearbox the power delivery is quite linear with a smooth climb up the
band. The Street Twin gobbles up the first two gears but the 3rd, 4th and 5th
have longer legs which show their true potential on open stretches.
During out tests we clocked the Street
Twin's 0-100kmph time at 7.07 seconds while it came down from 100-0kmph in just
5.72 seconds. We also clocked a top speed of 182kmph on the bike which
definitely boasts of Triumph's engineering capability. Triumph has also made
many functional additions to this motorcycle which can truly liberate the
rider. You get a switchable traction control which can be accessed through the
switch gear on the handle bar. The Street Twin also comes with ABS which I
realised is extremely efficient in its duties. The bike experiences brilliant
stability and oozes lot of confidence while braking at high speeds.
This motorcycle is on the lighter side and
is fun to ride. The nimble nature is good for city riding and can be real treat
on winding roads. It lends the rider excellent balance and control while
inspiring confidence to push harder. Triumph has slapped on a 310mm single disc
upfront with a 2 pot caliper and a 255mm single disc in the rear again with a
two pot caliper. The braking is progressive and sharp with just the right
amount of feedback. The bike rides on 41mm KYB telescopic forks in the front
and a conventional KYB twin shock with 120mm of travel in the rear. The
suspension leans on the stiffer side but is quite adept at taking corners and
glides over bad roads.
Verdict
The Street Twin is not one of those bikes
which you would take to the track in leather overalls and is not built for that
purpose. But rather I see it as a motorcycle in its purest form carrying
forward the genes of the icons of yore, yet in a very contemporary manner. In
short, it is the perfect blend of the old and the new!