Triumph Bonneville Street Twin review, test ride

The exhaust note is soulful, and pleasantly gruntier than the older bike. There’s a grown-up, gruffer big bike note that now gives the Street Twin access to the bad boy club now. Liquid-cooling has played a big part in how stress-free the new Street Twin feels, even after hours of pushing the bike from the riding saddle.

The Street Twin provided excellent ride quality over the smooth riding surfaces we tested it on. Considering the lack of potholes in Valencia, we can’t comment on how much of this composure will be maintained on bad roads.

The telescopic forks in front and dual shock absorbers at rear have been tuned to absorb even the smaller bumps, while larger undulations are soaked up easily thanks to dual stage springs. The tubular steel frame is lighter, and not shared with any other Bonneville.

Riding on the hilly roads of Millares near Valencia we learnt it is possible to push the Street Twin to its limit. Handling is surprisingly good, and is a step up from the earlier Bonnie. The hills taught us that you really don’t miss a rev-counter on the Street Twin, as you will soon learn you can count on the plentiful torque to short shift up the gearbox to derive a good performance.

The Street Twin is equipped with traction control and ABS that can be switched off. It’s impressive so much has been added on to the new Triumph, while still making it a substantially lighter bike. The outgoing Bonneville weighs 209kg, while the Street Twin tips the scales at 198kg!

So the Bonneville Street Twin looks the part and offers top-notch quality and fit-finish. The engine, with its improved performance, audio and much healthier torque output is a step in the right direction too.

Overall, the Street Twin feels like a thoroughly well-bred motorcycle, and Triumph has offered the added value of modern electronic riding aids. In terms of handling, the Street Twin scores highly, as long as you don’t ride it like a supersports motorcycle. That leaves very little to complain about, so far. In India, much of the new Street Twin’s success then will come down to how well Triumph India manages to price the motorcycle when it reaches our market early next year.