BIKE TEST TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE 660

HIGH QUALITY… TRIPLE TREAT WORDS STUART WOODBURY PHOTOS NICK WOOD

Stuart is wearing a Shoei NXR helmet, Yamaha MT techno jacket, Held Backflip gloves, Draggin jeans and Sidi Vertigo boots.

“ALL THIS TECHNO GUFF MEANS THAT YOU HAVE A PRECISE, STABLE AND GENERALLY EASY TO RIDE MOTORCYCLE BENEATH YOU”

Triumph’s Street Triple has been a favourite in the motorcycle market for a number of years now. The mid-sized three cylinder engine is an absolute peach, and introducing the exact same bike, just with a decreased engine size and power to meet LAMS regulations, is already proving to be a hit among the Learner and Provisional buyers.

Suspension is high quality and from Kayaba. Components like the ones fitted to the 660 are not normally what you’d find on a LAMS bike. Precisely the same as the ones fitted to the normal 675-engined Street Triple, they are non-adjustable on the front and preload only adjustable on the rear.

I am more than happy with how they handle with medium weighted turn in and a stable feel. All-in-all, a comfortable bike to ride.

Stability is achieved via a 52% weight bias to the front and 48% over the rear, along with 24.1 degrees of rake and 99.6mm of trail.

All this techno guff means that you have a precise, stable and overall easy to ride motorcycle beneath you.

Slotted into the compact frame is the famous 675 triple cylinder engine. The internals have had a reworking, mainly the crank, head and electronics to bring it down to 660cc and to meet the reduced LAMS power to weight allowance.

The 660 is geared quite high in first (as per the 675 version) and with the reduced power it does require you to rev/slip the clutch a little more to get away cleanly. For a Learner rider this may take a little time to get used to. Once underway the triple cylinder engine is very smooth and has a nice amount of torque for all legal speeds in Australia. It will even tour easily out on the open road.

As with the Street Triple 675 the gearbox is ultra-smooth, but fitting the accessory quickshifter is a must. This will make life so much easier and it sounds good too.

Ergonomics are comfortable with an 800mm seat height and a handlebar that puts the slightest amount of weight on your wrists – a perfect position for a learner or provisional rider to get used to the way a motorcycle operates.

Braking is via two-piston Nissan front calipers and a Brembo rear caliper. Offering good levels of initial bite and good levels of power with this setup, it is a good package for learners and excellent for provisional riders once they wish to explore harder braking. ABS comes standard and is priceless if things go pear shaped.

More than 50 accessories can be fitted to the Street Triple; things like a flyscreen, bellypan, crash protectors, LED indicators, tank pad and Arrow slip-on muffler. The Arrow muffler looks the part but is not noisy and lets out a more “firm” triple note. The best part is you can get this thing for eight hundred odd bucks!

The Triumph Street Triple 660 is priced at $500 less than the 675 version at $12,490 plus on roads.

It is a true mainstream high spec motorcycle with a different engine, rather than a LAMS bike built just for this purpose, with cheaper suspension and the like. And for this reason the Street Triple 660 is a bike you will be able to keep for many years to come, even once you get your full licence, or if you are a rider who just wants that nice, easy to manage power delivery.

SPECS TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE 660

PRICE: $12,490 (plus on-road charges)

WARRANTY: Two years, unlimited distance

SERVICING INTERVALS: Every 10,000km or 12 months

ENGINE: Liquid-cooled triple cylinder, 4-stroke, DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder

BORE x STROKE: 74 x 51.1mm

DISPLACEMENT: 660cc

COMPRESSION: 12.65:1

POWER: 40.6kW @ 9300rpm

TORQUE: 54.6Nm @ 5155rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed, wet multi plate clutch, chain final drive

SUSPENSION: Front, 41mm inverted fork, non-adjustable, travel 110mm. Rear, monoshock, adjustable preload, travel 124.5mm.

DIMENSIONS: Seat height 800mm, weight 181kg (dry), fuel capacity 17.4 litres, wheelbase 1410mm

TYRES: Front, 120/70/ZR17. Rear, 180/55/ZR17

FRAME: Aluminium beam twin spar

BRAKES: Front, twin 310mm discs with twin-piston ABS calipers. Rear, 220mm disc, single-piston caliper.

FUEL CONSUMPTION: 5.79 litres per 100km, premium unleaded

THEORETICAL RANGE: 300km

COLOURS: Diablo Red, Crystal White, Phantom Black

VERDICT: TOP LINE LEARNER

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