Eyeing the Triumph Street Triple 765 RS after riding it up and down “The Mountain” several times in just a day had us thinking of an allegory befitting its character.

Perhaps, we need to look outside the motorcycling box this time.

The greatest heavyweight boxer – ever – the late-Muhammad Ali had amazing skills in the ring and plenty of charisma to match, both inside and outside the ring. Not one to shun the spotlight, Ali was prolific in using the media to trash talk his opponents, and mess them up mentally before a fight. (Valentino Rossi also did this to his rivals.) It was only fitting that he had some memorable quotes but perhaps the most famous was, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” He meant that he danced around his opponents while hitting making them eat his punches they never saw coming.

What is the Triumph Street Triple 765 RS?

The Street Triple family had an interesting start.

Triumph had released the Daytona 765 fully-faired sportbike in 2006 to global acclaim for its nimbleness and stonking triple-cylinder engine performance.

Knowing that an out-and-out sportbike may not be everyone’s cup of Earl Grey, and judging by the bigger Speed Triple’s good sales, Triumph retuned the Daytona’s 675cc engine for more tractable torque, and mounted it to a naked bike. Hence, the Street Triple was born in 2007.

On the styling front, the Street Triple was endowed with the streetfighter style of the Speed Triple, which garnered either love or hate, until this very day.

Hence the first Street Triple found a great following from the outset for its handling and “street savvy” power delivery. This DNA was then infused into all subsequent Street Triples throughout its evolution to this very bike we tested here.

Throughout the years, the 675cc engine grew to 765cc, and in 2019, Dorna adopted the new engine for the Moto2 class, replacing the Honda 600cc inline-four engine. It resulted in the Moto2 class seeing an immediate improvement with shattered lap times and set new top speed records exceeding 300 km/h. There were also more overtaking now since riders were able to utilize the triple’s wider torque spread compared to the previous engine’s narrow and peaky powerband: Riders can reaccelerate faster since the 765cc engine has more torque after going off the racing line to overtake, compared to bogging down previously which discouraged overtaking.

All these developments led directly to the current Triumph Street Triple 765 RS.

The current engine had been improved with new parts and tuning learned from Moto2 racing, along with a freer-flowing new exhaust. The handlebar has also been moved closer to the rider to provide a slightly more upright riding position.

Highlights

• 765cc, three-cylinder, DOHC, 12-valve, liquid-cooled engine.
• The engine produces 128.2 hp (95.6 kW) at 12,000 RPM and 80.0 Nm of torque at 9,500 RPM.
• Engine power is transmitted through a slip and assist clutch, on its way to the 6-speed gearbox.

• Triumph Shift Assist (quickshifter) is a standard feature.
• The front suspension consists of a pair of fully adjustable, upside-down Showa Big Piston forks.
• Rear suspension duty is handled by a fully adjustable Öhlins STX40 monoshock with piggyback reservoir.

• Up front, a pair of Brembo Stylema 4-piston calipers grip on 310mm Brembo discs, along with a Brembo MCS radial master cylinder.
• Out back, there is a single 220mm brake disc, serviced by a Brembo single-piston brake caliper.
• Lightweight cast aluminium alloy rims, shod with Pirelli Diablo Super Corsa V3 tyres.

• Tying everything together is an aluminium twin spar frame, with a bolt-on subframe.
• The swingarm is also cast aluminium.
• Seat height is 836 mm with the rear preload at standard setting.

• A super quick 23.2° steering angle.
• The fuel tank holds 15 litres of fuel.
• Triumph claims a wet weight of just 188 kg.

• On the electronics front, there is a six-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU).
• Data from the IMU is fed to the engine ECU and ABS ECU to provide cornering traction control and cornering ABS, respectively.
• A full-colour, 5-inch TFT display.

• Through it, the rider can select one of 5 riding modes (RAIN, ROAD, SPORT, RACE, USER), display modes, multimedia playback, phone functions, and navigation.

Whether it is decipherable or otherwise, that spec-sheet is filled to the gills with premium components.

RIDING THE TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE 765 RS

Pre-ride

Pre-ride always involves us setting a bike up even before climbing on. Getting these out of the way now avoids us getting distracted while riding.

The bike had plenty of switches to play with on the left handlebar and gave us something to play with when we stopped at traffic lights for long durations. Pressing the mode button toggled through the riding modes, while jiggling the “joystick” let us page through several settings including the screen’s display style, connectivity, and navigation (which requires connecting to the Triumph app in your smartphone).

Getting on the bike was like hugging long lost ex, as we had ridden on all the Street Triples prior to this one. The seat was tall, with a lowish front end, although not as low as a pure sportbike’s. The footpegs and foot controls were placed inside, high up and back, out of the way for ground clearance. Putting a foot down needed this tester to hang half a cheek off the seat, but it was not difficult as the fuel tank had a very narrow profile where it joined the seat. Well, Triumph calls it “track ready,” after all.

First ride

With ROAD mode selected, the clutch lever had a very soft yet progressive feel to it, benefits of the clutch’s assist feature. Cracking the throttle ever so slightly was enough to have the engine’s torque rolling the bike forward without fear of stalling.

It was immediately apparent that the bike had lost none of its easy yet sharp handling characteristics, as with any Triumph. Heading into the massive traffic jam along Jalan Universiti, the engine’s linear torque delivery along with its nimbleness had us switching lanes with aplomb. It felt a lot like riding a 250cc bike but with a much better sorted chassis. Our only worry were the bar-end-mounted rearview mirrors which stuck quite a long way out.

The Brembo Stylema brakes were of course awesome and needed only the index finger to slow down.

Picking the bike up from Motoplex PJ just after lunch time meant that we had to fight through traffic all the way to Jalan Gasing but again the bike was light on its feet and made the task much easier.

Opening up

Time to test the bike in earnest. We got up early the next morning to ride the bike on the SUKE, SPE, and all the way up The Mountain.

The real test on SUKE and SPE was the bike’s handling on the bumpy corners from Seri Petaling to the Ampang section.

The Street Triple 765 RS’s rear suspension was stiffer when it contacted sharper bumps, while the forks worked well. Again, it truly showed that Triumph was not kidding when they said that the bike is track ready.

Despite the jumping around, the bike maintained our chosen lines without threatening to send us into the barrier. As with the previous Street Triple’s, this new bike’s handling fits the oft-used “telepathic” cliché to a T. All you need to do is look through a corner, select your line, and the bike already obliges, so much so we rode even faster – bumps be damned!

Stopping for fuel at the Karak BHP petrol station, we retuned the suspension by reducing compression and rebound damping at both ends, to let the tyres bite into the road more. As a note, this writer prefers a softer front end to let the forks sink into their initial stroke in corners. Doing so lets the bike hunker down in corners and avoids it from hopping (on bikes with stiffer suspension) or bobbing up and down (on bikes with softer suspension).

We also told ourselves to take it easy while riding on Karak Highway.

But it was not to be.

Switching to SPORT mode had the engine taking on a rawer character. It sounded more aggressive and responded faster when we blipped the throttle. Letting out the clutch also had the bike pulling away much quicker and the quickshifter became smoother.

The engine howled as it pulled through the rev range, followed by that intoxicating rush as we clicked into another gear by using the quickshifter. Every corner was dispatched with ease, but the real difference was bike’s willingness to change lines mid-corner should we find another vehicle in it. All we needed to do was lift the bike slightly, switch to the next lane, and steer it back into the corner. Done. Mind you, the bike was going way above the legal speed limit at this point.

Heading up The Mountain, the engine’s torque and handling let us ride harder than we thought we would. It did not matter what kind of corner: Sweeper, decreasing radius, on camber, off camber, the Street Triple did not care. We just lined them up and steered. There was no danger of losing grip either since those Super Corsas bit into the road surface like a pitbull. We even dragged the rear brake through the hairpin corner near Chin Swee Temple.

It seemed uncanny that every aspect of the was designed to engage that spot in our brains to unleash the need for thrills. We had so much fun that we turned around and went up the mountain again on the same day. Twice.

Conclusion

At RM76,000, the Triumph Street Triple 765 RS is not cheap for its engine capacity. But what you do get is a premium bike full of high-end components and a handling that any other bike finds it hard to match. For example, personally, this writer would upgrade the suspension on another bike, which would bring that bike’s price to somewhere in the Street Triple’s ballpark anyway. And that may not even yield the right results. So, why not just settle on a complete package from the start?

Yes, we know, not everyone likes the Street Triple’s looks. But guess what? We were in the same boat prior to riding it. The bike has endeared itself to us since then, and we found that the styling is distinctive meaning that no one is going to mistake it for another bike.

So, there you have it, floated like a butterfly, and stung like a bee. Speaking of a bee, the metallic yellow paint and black accents did make it look like another famous character, Bumblebee, who was also agile on its feet.

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