The most interesting part of the motorcycle market for me, are the middle weights.
500 - 800cc more than one cylinder, serious performance and serious cred.
Hopefully, these are the motorcycles that convert you from a biker to a lifelong, serious, passionate motorcyclist.
On that journey. You have many stops, right?
So, the Street Triple, terrific!
S1000RR, brilliant!
Panigale V4S, amazing!
And motorcycles like the Goldwing or the Streetfighter, they are the top of dogs, right?
But what about motorcycles like this?
The Triumph Trident 660. What about the middleweights?
These are crucial. They are the linchpin. This is where the trip begins.
So today, we're going to talk about your journey from the KTM, Dominar, Pulser, RTR to your first middleweight motorcycle.
And we're going to talk about Triumph's most affordable motorcycle in the country, the Trident 660.
The Trident 660, as you should know already derives heavily from the Street Triple
But not the Street Triples we get in India but the international smaller models, the Street Triple S
In this generation, that has a 660 cc engine
And is offered in markets where licenced classifications make space for a machine like that.
The Trident's motor is based on that but seriously retuned.
And the frame is also based on that but where there was aluminium, now that is steel.
And that's why it's the most affordable of the Triumphs
Sitting well under the Street Twin and why do we below the Honda CB 650R
The Kawasaki Z 650, however, that is cheaper.
And right at the top of that discussion, obviously is cost.
It's the biggest stumbling block for most first-time middleweight motorcycle buyers.
It's something for example that Royal Enfield realised before they created their 650cc twin-cylinder motorcycles.
And the Royal Enfield proposition, at less than half the price of the Trident 660.
It's hard to argue against, right?
The Trident is the same thing in a sense
It's meant to be an easily attainable middleweight
And Triumph India expects it to be their largest selling bike
At least until their dalliance with Bajaj produces an offspring.
And honestly, while Rs 7 lakh might still be a bridge too far for many of us
It might be within the reach of a lot more people than Rs 12 lakh KTM 790 or a Street Triple R or something similar.
All of those of course have considerably more performance.
But does your middleweight really need to be a performer?
I hear you say yes, and I would have to agree.
Because of the performance under acceleration, on the highway cruise, and even the top speed.
Even if you ever only use it for bench racing, is a part of the aura of the middleweight motorcycle.
And that's where the Trident is a bit of a surprise
Because the Street Triple, Triumph usually tunes them for horsepower and they have nice manic top ends
the Trident? Triumph unit for torque!
So, the Trident is fun to ride in an easy, no challenges, no surprises manner.
Torque kicks in pretty early, and it sings that unique three-cylinder song
And I would say it thinks that better than most of the other triples
And the spread is even and thick enough for a middleweight.
You will like this, I promise!
The only issue I have is some vibration under acceleration
Which will only notice, because otherwise, at cruise for example, there isn't any.
For riders graduating to this class of motorcycles.
I would say that easy is fast and easy is smooth.
And that's the Trident nails!
But the challenge of faster motorcycles is hardly ever just the speed, right?
It's the corners.
That's when things get complicated and potentially scary.
Well, you can relax!
Because the Trident sits on a longer wheelbase than the Street Triple S.
It has more relaxed hearing geometry
And it carries its weight really, really well.
What that means to you is that is not going to scare you!
This is a light nimble chassis with Michelin's absolutely brilliant Road 5 tyres as standard.
The Trident feels natural to push through corners, and this is what you want in your first middleweight
Confidence!
There is a flip side to it too.
I feel that Triumph has made this a bit too easy.
But we'll come to that.
Ride quality is the first department where the Triumph clearly shows that it was not set up for Indian conditions
Because this is a really stiffly sprung motorcycling and it doesn't like the bumps too much.
The preload is already set to the softest. So for most of us, there's no real escaping from bumps.
So, in that sense, this is definitely not the most comfortable motorcycle in the class.
But I don't really think that's a deal-breaker.
Because it does have down clearance and a sense of solidity to it.
So it's not really a major worry.
But I do believe that the suspension on this should have been set up better for Indian conditions to be sure.
But for new riders.
I don't think the ride quality and the comfort offered are major considerations.
Performance, handling, and the aura of the big bike is what we are looking for.
And that between the design and the feature set, the Triumph sits firmly in the 'pick me' ballpark.
So, on one hand, it has a pretty decent traction control system, which intervenes pretty smoothly.
It has two riding modes, rain and road, and it's got ABS, the basics, but done well.
I suspect that the traction control system could be less strict.
It's a little bit like Amitabh Bachchan from Mohobbatein, but I'd rather have that than no support on this front.
And to look at, the Trident looks like a modern-day Triumph
There's loads of attention to detail, good finish levels and a striking design.
I say striking because the Trident swings from being an okay design to a great one depending on the angle you see it from.
It's not classically handsome, but it certainly is appealing.
I do have an issue with the Trident 660 directly related to the first middleweight quandary.
You see riding the Trident 660 feels normal.
And in being easy, compact and unchallenging, it gives you lots of confidence and it does that with style.
But the flip side of that very coin is that it misses some of the sense of thrill and occasion that you want from your first big bike experience.
So I suspect initially, you'll enjoy riding it a lot.
And then very quickly, you will outgrow this.
Contributing to that feeling is the compact size of the Trident 660.
This is, especially for a big bike, a small bike!
The tank volume looks large in the photos, but up close
The Trident doesn't have the visual bulk and heft of, say the Street Triple or the Z650.
Now, would you like your first big bike to feel big also?
Or would you prefer a compact machine that feels more controllable?
Tell us in the comments.
What I'm trying to say
Is that when you jump off your KTM or Dominar or whatever
And on to the Triumph, you'll immediately see the yin and yang sides of the Trident 660.
It's pretty easy to live with. And you can go pretty quick if you like
But that very same simplicity robs it of some of the sense of occasion that your first bike really should be.
So that it's pretty quick
But it's not on the lam from a racetrack
It doesn't have big top-end rush. It doesn't get all serious after 7000 rpm.
It's pretty quick primarily because it has a larger multi-cylinder engine.
But what it really wants to be is friendly, encouraging and responsive.
This is not going to be a first German Shepherd.
It's just a big old puppy!