Fresh Blood

SUBDERMAL UPDATES HAVE TRANSFORMED THE BABY TRIUMPH

- Aadil Naik

Triumph’s resurgence as a brand to be truly reckoned with when it comes to retro motorcycles began with the Modern Classics lineup, and the Street Twin was the entry to that family. It was a hugely impressive bike; I should know as I bought one and have been enjoying my time with it for the last three years. And now Triumph has given it a surprisingly large update. Instead of moving ahead in the same direction as the older model, this seems to have shifted focus and that’s not exactly a bad thing. But let me start with some context.

In the unlikely event of you living under a rock for the last three years, this is how the Modern Classics lineup looks. The Street Twin/T100 sport 900cc engines and are the entry to the family. The T120 sits above it with the 1200cc engine, offering more of the same formula. The rest of the family isn’t pertinent at the moment. The Street Twin felt quite similar in nature to the bigger T120. But it missed out on a lot of the creature comforts. No rider modes, no sixth-gear, no cruise control, and no dual-discs at the front. It felt smaller and more approachable, sure, and the lower weight was an advantage, but when ridden back to back, it always felt like a baby T120. Ride the wave of torque and smile. Make a mental note of this character.

The other mental note you need to make is the powerband. It climbed steadily for a short burst before tapering and suddenly dropping off a cliff. It was annoying, sure, but with so much torque, it was easy to ignore. Then a small company in the United Kingdom, Tec Bike Parts, opened up the engine and discovered Triumph had installed a highly restrictive camshaft that was essentially throttling performance. Why? So that there is enough of a reason to upgrade to a T120. This understandably created quite a ruckus amongst customers who felt a bit cheated. So Triumph decided to solve everything in one update. And it has.