The Evolution of the Hooligan

Triumph steals the speedy bits from its three-cylinder Daytona sport bike to cobble together a seriously nasty pavement prowler that captures the look of a homemade custom but shines like a polished, potent jewel.
-By Bill Heald

The British have been known to take perfectly good peas and mash them into a vile green paste before devouring them. Weird, I know. And they don’t just stop with their cuisine, as they also have been known to do odd things to motorcycles, but with far tastier results. This started years ago, when (as legend goes) a lad was out riding his shiny new sport bike and slipped on some diesel fuel and went down, destroying a good portion of his pristine bodywork. Instead of shelling out hard-earned cash that he didn’t have for replacement panels, he just ripped all the remaining bodywork off—and liked what he saw. He then tucked away such things as wiring and other engine plumbing to make his Frankenstein a tad less homely. Since the front fairing that housed the headlight also was trashed, he grabbed a pair of headlights from a junkyard and stuck them on the bike, making his ride look like a giant praying mantis that still handled like the sport bike it was. A taller, motocross-style handlebar replaced the low racing clip-ons that broke off in the accident, and a more upright riding position (much more comfortable around town) was created. Our lad not only really liked his new street brawler machine, but a lot of other blokes did, too, and started chucking their bodywork as well (without even wadding up the bike first). The hooligan bike was born.

Triumph watched as this new genre of street bike motored past its factory in Hinckley, and decided to build a bike from scratch that resembled these wild machines. Called the Speed Triple, it first appeared in 1994 and evolved over time to become one of the marque’s most popular bikes. In 2008 we were graced with the new Street Triple, which took the basic chassis and 675-cc, three-cylinder, 106-horsepower engine from the Daytona 675 race replica sport bike and gave it the full hooligan treatment.

This year we have the Street Triple R, which may just be the ultimate sporting expression of this cool urban scoot. The R features top-shelf adjustable suspension components that work as well on the track as on the street, and when combined with the premium brakes from the Daytona, the performance easily keeps pace with the R’s aggressive looks. A higher seat and Magura handlebars further tune the riding position for street work, so you have a truly potent urban beast right out of the box. Think about it: You could buy a sport bike, strip off the bodywork, and graft on some spare parts to get the urchin look with the performance, or you can get a ride engineered on the drawing table to be the best street fighter on Earth.