Triumph Bonneville Street Twin review, test ride

The twisting roads of Valencia make a good setting to ride Triumph's most important, new motorcycle in a long time, the Triumph Street Twin – a bike that is all set to replace the ever popular Bonneville. The Street Twin is all-new. Its familiar silhouette may have you think otherwise, but Triumph engineers tell us that under the skin this is a new bike, from chassis to engine to a wide array of added electronics.

The Street Twin headlight has the Triumph logo set smartly, smack in the centre. Our test bike showed off a black and silver theme. The handlebar, grips and mirror stalks are all black, while the bar end weights, control levers, and mirrors are shiny in a nice contrast. The new Triumph gets a combined digital-analogue instrument console; the speedometer is analogue, while other information is displayed digitally. However, the Street Twin lacks a tachometer.

The Street Twin's teardrop-shaped tank has subtle curves that are well thought-out, to provide  good thigh grip to the rider, but holds slightly less fuel as compared to today’s Bonneville. The riding saddle is well padded and contoured to provide good comfort. The tail section ends with small indicator stalks and a stylish LED-powered tail-lamp. Long, upswept silencers match the Bonneville theme perfectly, giving the motorcycle a nice retro look. Triumph provides the Street Twin with all black, 10-spoke alloy wheels. Attention-to-detail, build quality and materials seen on the new Bonnie are simply brilliant.

Triumph has built the Bonneville Street Twin engine from scratch. It is now a larger capacity, 900cc, in-line configuration two-cylinder motor, that makes 54bhp at 5,900rpm. This may not impress you, but the torque output of 8.2kgm delivered at an accessible 3,230rpm is outstanding. The new engine is also liquid-cooled, which Triumph tells us has helped increase its efficiency. On Valencia roads, the Street Twin engine felt free-revving and effortless in low-speed riding situations. The new Bonnie feels and performs best at cruising speeds above 90kph. Heady doses of torque leave you satisfied when overtaking, with more than ample torque offered at the wrist.