While Triumph might be best known for its retro-styled “classics” lineup, they also propagate a weirdly half-naked modern looking sportbike called the Speed Triple. The 2016 version has been spotted for the first time, and reports are saying it’s getting up to 140 horsepower.
ConquestCarbon was among the outfits in London which were first to see Triumph’s 2016 crop. You can see some life photos there, here, here and all over Instagram. They’re echoing reports of others saying; “the clutch and alternator covers are redesigned but underneath are more significant changes to improve the emissions and ensure that the classic three-cylinder can remain in production for years to come.”
Apparently the 1050cc triple engine is picking up a few horsepower, but the primary benefit of next year’s updates will be managing emissions and improving the power delivery curve.
You don’t have to add horses to feel faster if you can bring the power you’ve already got lower into the rev-range, so the new Triple will probably have to be ridden right after the current version to be best appreciated.
An electronic “fly-by-wire” throttle is said to be in use on the new bike as well, which would let the company bring their multi-mode traction control over to the Speed Triple.
Aesthetically it looks like the bike’s getting almost all-new body panels, what little panels there are at least. For the most part the 2016 Speed Triple is staying true to its signature naked sportbike look, and the chassis is said to be effectively unchanged. Frankly I’m having trouble telling the new one from the current model apart, but hopefully we’ll get a better batch of photos soon.
More details and specifications as we have them.
Image via Triumph, 2015 version.
Contact the author at andrew@jalopnik.com.