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Sometimes a motorcycle comes along and puts the rider at a loss for words. It’s rare for me, being someone who typically likes to talk more than people like to listen, but the Triumph Speed Twin is one of those bikes. It’s just… well… it’s…
Usually, the reason a bike leaves me speechless is that it’s benign, lost in the purgatory between good and bad. It’s not fast or slow, light or heavy, good or bad looking, and therein lies the problem. A lack of striking features can be the kiss of death. A machine should stand for something. We motorcycle writers struggle if there is too much equilibrium in a bike’s personality. It’s hard enough coming up with new ways to describe why and how brakes are “good.” If everything is in the middle of the road, we simply won’t have anything interesting to say.
Background
Triumph’s 2022 Speed Twin isn’t stuck between good and bad, though. It is better than good, and in some ways that makes sense because the idea was convincing from the beginning. Named after the iconic Speed Twin that Triumph originally introduced in the late 1930s, this reincarnation launched in 2019 with a simple premise: Transplant the high-output version of Triumph’s 1,200 cc “Modern Classic” engine used in the Thruxton R to a chassis reminiscent of the company’s more relaxed Bonneville T120 or Street Twin. This was smart, considering the Thruxton R has never been particularly comfortable and the smaller engine in the Street Twin is fairly tame (as an entry-level offering should be).
Cobbling together the best attributes from two different models seems like a no-brainer. Then again, we all know that Franken-bikes can be fairly monstrous to the eye if practicality is the only goal. Luckily, it doesn’t take much looking at the Speed Twin to get a hint that the people building it know what they’re doing. It pitches forward ever so slightly, projecting a whiff of athleticism without trying too hard, and the other proportions are similarly lovely — the bulbous, retro fuel tank and flat seat are accented nicely by small fenders and a conspicuous exhaust that swoops back purposefully and symmetrically on either side. Nothing is designed to catch the eye that isn’t a primary motorcycling element.
Up close, the individual components are just as satisfying to ogle. Radially mounted Brembo calipers are fed by steel-braided brake lines with an adjustable, and equally Italian, master cylinder mounted to the flat handlebar. The round, bullet blinkers, the sturdy and sleek bar-end mirrors, the 90-degree valve stems and underseat USB plug, it all oozes the little bit of quality that you want, but don’t necessarily expect, from a motorcycle priced below $13,000. Triumph even went through the trouble of making the spark plug cap a deep, oxblood red that mimics electronic fittings of yesteryear. It’s not utterly perfect, but the Speed Twin is a quality piece and the attention to detail is high.
So, it’s pretty. And the thesis behind it makes sense. Whoop-de-doo, Zack, stop the presses. Well, the thing that’s really neat about the Speed Twin, and that keeps me enamored with this motorbike, is that it is particularly sweet to ride. The 2022 model is updated with a non-adjustable, inverted Marzocchi fork, plus some tweaks to the engine that release a few more horsepower and raise the rev limit by 500 rpm. The commonly used 270-degree crank offset in the engine means a lumpy and burly thump from the exhaust, even at idle, and it’s surprisingly loud for a showroom-spec machine. Not noisy, but pronounced enough that it doesn’t seem bottled up, which is more and more rare in this era of ever-constricting regulations.
Foreground
If you’re about six feet, two inches tall, you might get the same sensation I do when I swing a leg over this bike — the handlebar sits at the right height and my feet fall onto the footpegs like the engineers asked me where I wanted them. It’s a commanding riding position, without being too sporty. Then there are the menus and dash, which ask almost nothing of the rider. Tap the mode button to select Sport, Road, or Rain, and you’ll get a commensurate response from the throttle. Would you like traction control with your tea, sir? No? Very good, sir, simply hold this button for a few seconds, and enjoy. Otherwise, the blinker switch and the speedometer are the only things you’ll care to notice. And, wouldn’t you know it, even the speedometer is unnaturally pleasant to look at, no-nonsense numbers bezeled with glossy metal.
The Speed Twin is fairly compact, but it’s not small. With the candy-red tank holding a full 3.8 gallons of fuel, our test bike tipped the scales at 475 pounds. For context, that’s about 45 pounds heavier than a Yamaha MT-09 and, while we’re at it, almost identical to last year’s weigh-in of the fire-breathing Aprilia Tuono V4. Those 475 pounds are combined with a smooth and polite delivery of 98 claimed crank horsepower and 82 foot-pounds of torque. Point being, the Speed Twin doesn’t “punch above its weight” or “tear a hole in space and time” or otherwise leave you gasping for breath.
If you ask for a feat of strength it will rear up and carry its front wheel, but my favorite part of riding the Speed Twin isn’t the hooligan antics, it’s the feeling of power under the surface. The engine is torque-rich and doesn’t reward high revs, meaning the first 50 feet away from a stop light produces the juiciest squeeze of the big twin’s proverbial fruit. The same goes for exiting a tight turn on a mountain road; it surges forward like a sprinter with long strides, often making me giggle in my helmet, all without feeling maniacal or even aggressive. I preferred the gentle response of Road mode, but even with the snappier Sport mode engaged the fueling is excellent, as usual with a modern Triumph, and it leaves a thick wave of thunder in its wake.
The slightly crouched stance I mentioned before, that sums up the Speed Twin’s sporting prowess pretty well. It’s a boatload of fun to sling through a twisty section of road, even if the heft never disappears completely and it doesn’t look like a sport bike. The updated fork seems to be a little less harsh and offer more feedback than I recall from the previous setup, but it’s not the thing I would point to as the reason the bike works well. There are actually some numbers that help explain that.
Triumph deserves some credit for choosing to fit the Speed Twin with a 160-section rear tire (same as a Suzuki SV650), which is narrower than most bikes this size and it must help the bike dance from side to side. Also, the Speed Twin’s front-end geometry is pretty aggressive, with rake and trail numbers that undercut a KTM RC390, Triumph’s own razor-sharp Daytona 765 sport bike, and frankly any other full-size bike in recent memory. It might not be my first pick for a track day, but this Triumph holds a line and hits an apex well enough to keep all but the elbow-dragging contingent happy.
The whole picture
To that point, at least part of my adoration of the Speed Twin has to do with expectations. It’s not supposed to compete with the performance of a hyper naked like the Tuono V4 or the whizbangery of color screens and adjustable ergonomics like the MT-09. I’m sure this isn’t the case, but it’s almost like Triumph aimed the Speed Twin at that purgatory of banality — not powerful enough to be fast or expensive enough to be exotic, and cursed with a stoic personality that instinctively steps back out of the spotlight in a showroom sparkling with Thruxtons, Scramblers, and Rockets.
All the Speed Twin ever promised, to my eye, was to be a handsome motorcycle with a full-size engine. And it is unambiguous, certainly, but it’s also a beautiful combination of muscle and refinement, exhilaration and stateliness. It’s clean and uncomplicated in a way that is almost always lost in premium motorcycles these days, and for that reason it offers an experience that is somehow more immersive and connected than usual. It is an ungilded lily — hard to explain because it shouldn’t need an explanation. But this bike deserves an attempt.
| 2022 Triumph Speed Twin | |
|---|---|
| Price (MSRP) | $12,500 ($12,800 for gray or red) |
| Engine | 1,200 cc, liquid-cooled, eight-valve, parallel twin |
|
Transmission, final drive |
Six-speed, chain |
| Claimed horsepower | 98.6 @ 7,250 rpm |
| Claimed torque | 82.6 foot-pounds @ 4,250 rpm |
| Frame | Steel tube double cradle |
| Front suspension | Marzocchi 43 mm fork; 4.7 inches of travel |
| Rear suspension | FOX RSU Shocks, adjustable for spring preload; 4.7 inches of travel |
| Front brake | Brembo M50 four-piston calipers, 320 mm discs with ABS |
| Rear brake | Nissin two-piston caliper, 220 mm disc with ABS |
| Rake, trail | 22.3 degrees, 3.6 inches |
| Wheelbase | 55.6 inches |
| Seat height | 31.6 inches |
| Fuel capacity | 3.8 gallons |
| Tires | Metzeler Racetec RR, 120/70 ZR17 front, 160/60 ZR17 rear |
| Measured weight | 475 pounds |
| Available | Now |
| Warranty | 24 months |
| More info | triumphmotorcycles.com |
