Everything you need to know about the 2017 Triumph Street Triple

The Triumph Street Triple is a darling motorcycle. Not just ours! The Street Triple's easy-going nature and, when provoked, thrilling performance have earned it legions of fans around the world. In fact, we had one on our long-term fleet. That Street Triple proved to be a thrill-a-minute ride as I modified it to suit mytaste and preferences - I made it angrier. The Triumph Street Triple proved to be both malleable and insane fun! And now the 2017 line-up is about to go on sale in India featuring all-new machines. Here is every question wanted answered about the 2017 Triumph Street Triple. Ready?

This the new family of 2017 Triumph Street Triples. Look close and you'll see a black subframe on the basic 113PS S, red on the 118PS R and the brushed-metal finish on the 123PS, all-singing, all-dancing RS. All share a new 765cc inline three-cylinder engine and the aluminium frame

1. Is there a low-power version?

The good news is that Triumph has expanded the single-model line-up into three models for 2017. There will be more, we believe - the new Triumph Bonneville line began as three motorcycles and now there are seven. But a low-power version that requires extra money to be spent on mods isn't one of the three new Street Triples. The engine displacement has increased from 675cc to 765cc for the 3-cylinder engine and that allows Triumph to offer more performance by default.

2. I've been waiting for the 123PS Triumph Street Triple RS...

The 2017 Triumph Street Triple RS is the top model with 123PS/77Nm being the output. It rides on track-friendly Supercorsa SP tyres and while it shares the front fork specification with the R, it adds Brembo's M50 calipers, an Ohlins rear shock, more riding modes and a standard quickshifter

...We're afraid you're going to continue to wait. We don't have a confirmation but we believe that on June 12, 2017, Triumph will only open sales for the basic 2017 Triumph Street Triple S. The more powerful R and RS models, we expect, will follow. Still missing in action, as it were is a much-awaited touring-focussed model, likely to be called something like the Triumph Street Triple RT, which might come with a screen, heated grips and centre stand.

3. What are the models like?

Okay, we have written about the model spread of the 2017 Triumph Street Triple before but it bears repeating.

2017 Triumph Street Triple S is the base model with 113PS and 73Nm as its power output. It gets ABS, traction control and an updated version of the old instruments, all in the new chassis. However, the steering geometry for the S model is slower (more rake and trail) than both of the other Street Triple models for 2017

The 2017 Triumph Street Triple S - likely to be launched next week - is the new base model. It gets 113PS of peak power at 11,250rpm and 73Nm at 9,100rpm in terms of peak torque. All the three versions are powered by the same 765cc inline-triple but in three different states of tune. They all share the same bore, stroke and compression ratio, 6-speed gearbox, alloy wheels, rear disc brake and basic aluminium frame. The S model has a lower seat height at 810mm than the other two models as well as a lazier rake (24.8°) and more trail. All three weigh the same - 166kg dry, have 17.4 litre fuel tanks and sit on a 1,410mm wheelbase.

Now, pay attention. The front brakes, tyres and the suspension vary on the three bikes. The S models gets the basic equipment. Up front is a 41mm Showa Separate Function Fork (SFF) with a 110mm wheel travel. This is matched to a Showa monoshock with preload adjustability and 124mm wheel travel. Twin 310mm floating discs stop the go, and the 2017 Triumph Street Triple S is shod with Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsas in 120/70 ZR17 and 180/55 ZR17 sizes.

4. The 2017 Triumph Street Triple R

Since we were talking about the frame and cycle parts, let us start there. The tyres are the same as the Street Triple S - Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsas in 120/70 ZR17 and 180/55 ZR17 sizes. The big change is the suspension. The Street Triple R gets Showa 41mm upside-down forks, but they're the top-flight Separate Function, Big Piston Fork (SF-BPF) with 5mm more travel than the S model. The rear shock, similarly, is a Showa monoshock but it's fully adjustable (preload, compression as well as rebound) and permits 131mm, or 7mm more wheel travel. The front brakes are twin 310mm rotors again, but the calipers are now Brembo M4.32 mounted radially. And the 2016 Street Triple R, considered the world's best handling bike, donates its steering geometry. The rake is tighter than the S at 23.9° and the trail reduces to 100mm - expected sharper more responsive steering.

2017 Street Triple R is likely to be the most value of the three models in terms of specification and equipment. It gets sharper geometry - from the old Triple R - 118PPs of power, 77Nm of torque, a 5" TFT screen, ABS, traction control, riding modes as well as a higher suspension and brake specification than the base S model

Finally, the engine, the 765cc triple makes 5PS and 4Nm more, slightly higher up in the revs - 118PS at 12,000rpm and 77Nm at 9,400rpm. And instead of a regular clutch - standard on the S - the Street Triple R gets a slip-and-assist clutch which allows a little clutch slip and reduces clutch effort dramatically.

5. The 2017 Triumph Street Triple RS

The RS model is the top-flight 2017 Street Triple. Its engine makes 123PS at 11,700rpm and while peak torque is identical to the R model at 77Nm, the peak point moves a full 1,400rpm higher to 10,800rpm. This engine, in fact, is the base for the new Moto2 series starting from the 2019 season.

The 2017 Triumph Street Triple RS is the top model with 123PS/77Nm being the output. It rides on track-friendly Supercorsa SP tyres and while it shares the front fork specification with the R, it adds Brembo's M50 calipers, an Ohlins rear shock, more riding modes and a standard quickshifter

The front suspension on the RS model is the same as the R model, but the rear shock is an Ohlins STX40 with 131mm wheel travel and full adjustability (preload, compression as well as rebound). The front caliper is now a full-house Brembo M50 and the tyres are Pirelli Supercorsa SP, underlining the track and hard performance intent of the model. The steering geometry is the same as the R model.

6. What about the electronics?

The new 5" colour TFT screen looks terrific and is standard on the R and RS models of the 2017 Street Triple. See the lap timer function? That's the RS

Now that we're done with the hardware, let's talk about software and firmware, yes? All three bikes get ABS but it looks like the S cannot turn it off. The S also gets traction control (on and off), rain and road modes, and new LCD instruments. The R adds a 5-inch colour TFT dash, Sport and custom riding modes, a faster ECU, different switches (to control screen) and self-cancelling indicators. The RS models takes all that and adds a standard quick shifter, Track mode and lap timer.

7. And it looks different?

Here are the outgoing and the new 2017 Triumph Street Triple S together for a direct comparison

See our photo gallery to see the bike in detail. In essence, the silhouette of the Street Triple has not changed dramatically. A good way to think of it is a clandestine rendezvous between the 2016 Street Triple RX and the new Speed Triple, plus tweaks. So the tail end is sharper and there are split seats on all versions. The outer radiator shroud is smaller, and the crest with the air intake and the rounded twin headlamps with DRLs are almost exactly the same as the Speed Triple. The R model is still identifiable by the red subframe while the bar-end mirrors, belly pan and the brushed-finish subframe mark the RS.

8. Prices and availability

Cannot wait for June 12, eh? The 2016 Triumph Street Triple was Rs 9.80 lakh (on-road, Mumbai) when sales stopped. If Triumph follows the pattern that it did with the Bonneville family, the bikes arrives bottom to top, at two month intervals. That means S model comes in June, R in August and RS by October. We expect, however, for Triumph to open sales of the R and RS in August itself - this is our guess.

The prices are a harder call. The Street Triple is already expensive at Rs 9.80 lakh and while the price will go up, it cannot go up too much. We would expect the new 2017 Triumph Street Triple S model to be priced at or just below the Rs 10.50 lakh mark (on-road Mumbai). The top-of-the-line RS model should fall about Rs 2 lakh higher, more or less, and the R model should be priced in-between but within Rs 60,000-70,000 of the RS. These are our estimates, not officially from Triumph India.

Here is a table that should you compare the specification between the outgoing model of the Triumph Street Triple and the new family of three Street Triples that is coming to our market shortly.