Triumph have gone back to the drawing board and produced the most powerful and fastest accelerating Speed Triple so far. Built to take on the latest crop of European super nakeds, the Speed Triple has been bored out and slimmed down in a bid for litre-plus glory.

Change is the story of the new Speed Triple but nowhere is that more pronounced than with the engine. Triumph have completely redesigned the motor so not one single part carries over from the previous generation.

The bore has been widened considerably (up to 90mm from 79mm) while the stroke has been shortened (60.8mm down from 71.4mm), which together with an overall loss in rotating mass and improvements in gas flow taken from their Moto2 project learnings, has enabled them to rev the engine higher than before.

2021 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS corner

The result is a 29.5bhp boost at the top end, so peak power is now 177.5bhp at 10,750rpm. Peak torque is also up, now 92lb.ft at 9000rpm, helping to deliver a fatter midrange.

Paired with this new motor is a brand new chassis, which Triumph say makes it the best handling Speed Triple so far – although they would, wouldn’t they? The headline figure is that the bike is 10kg lighter than the previous model, with the frame itself 17% lighter than the old one.

This, along with the boost in power, has contributed to a 26% increase in the power-to-weight ratio. The wheelbase remains the same, although with the new stacked gearbox, Triumph have elongated the swingarm, which helps improve the handling.