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BARE BASICS: For 2005 the Triumph gets a style makeover that renders it even more naked than before – if that's possible.

2005 Speed Triple chopped - and ready to dice

October 15, 2004

Triumph's "naked" Speed Triple, around in various guises since 1994, is to get a bigger engine and take off even more of its clothes for 2005.

The motor has the same external dimensions but its stroke has been increased from 65mm to 71.4mm to raise displacement from 955cc to 1055cc.

Triumph now claims 95.4kW at 9100rpm (up from 88kW) with a healthy 105Nm on call at 5100rpm instead of the 100Nm at the same engine speed for the 955cc version.

These figures are marginally slightly higher than those claimed for the companion Sprint ST model which uses the same motor; since the physical specs are the same one assumes that Hinckley is using two slightly different engine mappings.

Why they should bother to develop two different sets of parameters for two such similar applications is beyond me – unless it's to confuse motoring scribes and give the spares guys something to argue about.

The clutch has been fitted with a backlash eliminator gear and the gearbox shift mechanism has been improved (hooray!); there's also a new remote gear-change linkage which will hopefully have less play than the previous one.

Triumph claims that the inline triple motor has been cleaned up: "Crisp-edged covers add further to the motor's brutish aesthetic, as does the absence of exterior hoses," gushes its media release.

Well, there may be no hoses on display but the whole engine compartment is swathed in a veritable rat's nest of cables, wires and metal pipes to and from the oil cooler.

The whole plot is held together with cheap looking cadmium-plated roundhead Torx screws

The whole plot is also held together with cheap looking cadmium-plated roundhead Torx screws, instead of proper stainless-steel Allen cap screws which not only look better, they last the life of the bike.

(OK Cyril, I admit it; I'm an engineer, not an accountant.)

The geometry of the multi-tubular aluminium frame, carried over from the original T595 of 1998, has been subtly tweaked to shorten the wheelbase and quicken the steering while the single-sided swing-arm has been entirely redesigned.

The front end gets new 45mm upside-downies adjustable for everything, the rear monoshock has been re-valved and the front brakes boast huge Nissin radial-mount calipers. New five-spoke wheels complete the running gear.

Chopped body

The styling of the '05 Speed Triple bears visual tribute to the mantra "less is more", with no extraneous bracketry at the front, just a single hanger for the clocks and twin round headlights.

The rear end has been chopped down even further than on the previous model and the whole bike now ends just behind the passenger seat – except for a spindly bracket that suspends the tail light and number plate somewhere over the chunky rear wheel.

There's no space for an underseat exhaust so Hinckley's style mavens have routed the big oval-section tailpipes up under the rear seat where they become an integral part of the body styling, adding some much-needed bulk to the rear half of the bike.

The indicators feature clear lenses, the tail light is powered by LEDs and the instrument pod features an analog rev-counter, digital speedo, programmable gear change lights and trip computer.

The 2005 Speed Triple comes in three colours: neon blue, scorched yellow and the ever-popular basic black. It's always been a superb inner-city hooligan and stoplight dragster – the latest version with its shorter wheelbase and lighter weight will be even more radical.

South African Triumph distributor KMSA say it will be available here from mid-March; price, as always, when they get here.

INSTRUMENT POD: Analog rev-counter, digital speedo, programmable gear change lights and trip computer – what more d'you need?

SERIOUS STOPPERS: The front brakes boast huge Nissin radial-mount calipers.

UNTIDY ENGINE COMPARTMENT: It's swathed in a veritable rat's nest of cables, wires and metal pipes to and from the oil cooler.