Triumph Speed Four

Last updated

Triumph Speed Four
Triumph Speed Four 2003.jpg
Manufacturer Triumph
Production2002–2006
Predecessor Triumph TT600
Successor Street Triple
Class Naked bike
Engine 599 cc (36.6 cu in), liquid-cooled DOHC inline-4
Compression ratio 12.5:1
Top speed135 mph (217 km/h) [1]
Power 73 kW (98 hp) @ 11,750 rpm [2]
Torque 56 N⋅m (41 lb⋅ft) @ 8000 rpm [2]
Transmission 6 speed, chain drive
Suspension Front: 43 mm cartridge forks with dual rate springs and adjustable preload, compression and rebound damping
Rear: Monoshock with adjustable preload, rebound and compression damping
Brakes Front: Twin 310 mm floating discs, 4 piston calipers
Rear: Single 220mm disc, single piston caliper
Tyres Front: 120/70 ZR 17
Rear: 180/55 ZR 17
Rake, trail 24°, 89.1 mm (3.51 in)
Wheelbase 1,394 mm (54.9 in)
DimensionsL: 2,060 mm (81 in)
W: 665 mm (26.2 in)
H: 1,150 mm (45 in)
Seat height810 mm (32 in)
Weight204 kg (449 lb) [2]  (wet)
Fuel capacity18 l (4.0 imp gal; 4.8 US gal)
Fuel consumption5.7 L/100 km; 49 mpgimp (41 mpgUS) [2]

The Triumph Speed Four is a standard or streetfighter motorcycle made by Triumph from 2002 to 2006 as the naked, or non-faired brother of the TT600 sport bike introduced in 1999.

Contents

Design

The Speed Four has similar twin round headlights to the Speed Triple, but a different frame and engine. The Speed Four has the clip-on handlebars of the TT600, rather than the motocross-inspired handlebars of the Speed Triple and other streetfighters.

The Speed Four is mechanically similar to its predecessor, the TT600, with the exceptions of the cam profiles, ignition and fuel injection mapping, front spring rate, and other minor concessions to its streetfighter style; the frame and fully adjustable suspension are race-ready.

The engine is a 599 cc inline-four-cylinder engine, as used in the TT600. The bike has a top speed of 135 mph (217 km/h) and a 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) time of 4.5 seconds. [1] Motorcyclist tested the 2002 Speed Four's 0 to 14 mile (0.00 to 0.40 km) time at 11.65 seconds @ 114.9 mph (184.9 km/h) and 0 to 60 miles per hour (0 to 97 km/h) time at 3.71 seconds. [2]

Reception

The Speed Four was voted No.1 for handling and suspension in Ride magazine's 2008 Rider Power Survey. [3] The Triumph Daytona 675 was second in the same category.

Productions Totals

Triumph UK After Sales has confirmed that 4,606 Speed Fours were produced from 2002 through 2006. Of those 1,011 were produced for the US market with a further 54 for Canada.

See also

This motorcycle has been compared to the following: [4]

Related Research Articles

Yamaha YZF-R1 sport motorcycle

The Yamaha YZF-R1, or R1, is an open class sport bike, or superbike, motorcycle made by Yamaha from 1998 through present.

Sport bike

A sportbike, or sports bike, is a motorcycle optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on paved roads, typically at the expense of comfort and fuel economy by comparison with other motorcycles. Soichiro Honda wrote in the owner's manual of the 1959 Honda CB92 Benly Super Sport that, "Primarily, essentials of the motorcycle consists in the speed and the thrill," while Cycle World's Kevin Cameron says that, "A sportbike is a motorcycle whose enjoyment consists mainly from its ability to perform on all types of paved highway – its cornering ability, its handling, its thrilling acceleration and braking power, even its speed."

Honda CBX sports motorcycle manufactured from 1978 to 1982

The Honda CBX sports motorcycle was manufactured by Honda from 1978 to 1982. With a 1047cc inline six-cylinder engine producing 105 bhp (78 kW), it was the flagship of the Honda range. The CBX was well-received by the press, but was outsold by its sibling introduced in late 1979, the Honda CB900F.

Types of motorcycles Types of motorcycles

There are many systems for classifying types of motorcycles, describing how the motorcycles are put to use, or the designer's intent, or some combination of the two. Six main categories are widely recognized: cruiser, sport, touring, standard, dual-purpose, and dirt bike. Sometimes sport touring motorcycles are recognized as a seventh category. Strong lines are sometimes drawn between motorcycles and their smaller cousins, mopeds, scooters, and underbones, but other classification schemes include these as types of motorcycles.

Honda CBR600RR sport bike

The Honda CBR600RR is a 599 cc (36.6 cu in) sport bike made by Honda since 2003, part of the CBR series. The CBR600RR was marketed as Honda's top-of-the-line middleweight sport bike, succeeding the 2002 Supersport World Champion 2001–2006 CBR600F4i, which was then repositioned as the tamer, more street-oriented sport bike behind the technically more advanced and uncompromising race-replica CBR600RR. It carried the Supersport World Championship winning streak into 2003, and on through 2008, and won in 2010 and 2014.

BSA Rocket 3/Triumph Trident 1960s/1970s British motorcycle made by Triumph Engineering, Meriden

The Triumph Trident and BSA Rocket 3 was a technically advanced, high-performance roadster motorcycle made by Triumph Engineering and BSA from 1968 to 1975, and sold under both the Triumph and BSA marques. Alongside the Honda CB750, and later the Kawasaki triples, it brought a new level of sophistication to street motorcycles, marking the beginning of the superbike era. The Honda CB750 overshadowed the Trident to be remembered as the 'first superbike', in spite of the Triumph Trident actually debuting before the Honda by a few weeks.

Yamaha XS Eleven

The Yamaha XS Eleven motorcycle, also called XS11 and XS1100, is a Japanese standard produced from 1978 to 1981, powered by an air-cooled 1,101 cc (67.2 cu in) 4-stroke, DOHC inline four-cylinder engine mounted transversely in a duplex cradle frame with swingarm rear suspension, shaft drive, and telescopic forks.

MZ 1000S Parallel twin motorcycle

MZ 1000S is a 998 cc 180-degree parallel twin motorcycle produced between 2004 and 2007 released in the USA in 2005 by the now defunct German company MZ Motorrad. Once the flagship of the range, the 1000S was MZ's largest-ever displacement motorcycle, and their first multi-cylinder bike since 1959. The MZ 1000S was the most powerful production inline twin cylinder engine worldwide.

Triumph Street Triple

The Triumph Street Triple is a naked or streetfighter motorcycle made by Triumph Motorcycles, first released towards the end of 2007. The bike is closely modelled on the Speed Triple 1050 but uses a re-tuned inline three cylinder 675 cc engine from the Daytona 675 sport bike, which was released in 2006.

Triumph TT600 British motorcycle

Introduced in 2000, the TT 600 is a middleweight sport bike built by Triumph.

Yamaha SR250

The Yamaha SR250 is a single cylinder motorcycle made by Yamaha Motor Company initially from 1980 to 1984 and then 2001 to 2004 for a second generation. It shares styling with the larger Yamaha SR500. The first generation had a 249 cc (15.2 cu in) displacement and the second generation was 239 cc (14.6 cu in).

The Honda CB900F is a Honda motorcycle made in two iterations which appeared some twenty years apart. Both generations of the CB900F are straight four-cylinder four-stroke 900 cc (55 cu in) roadsters.

Yamaha FZ8 and FAZER8

The Yamaha FZ8 and FAZER8, also known as the FZ8N and FZ8S, are motorcycles produced since 2010 by Yamaha Motor Corporation for sale in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The FZ8 is a naked bike, while the virtually identical FAZER8 features a half fairing and ABS. The FZ8 and FAZER8 replace the smaller capacity FZ6 and FZ6 FAZER, although as of July 2010 these continue to be sold in other markets.

Yamaha MT-09

The Yamaha MT-09 is a Yamaha naked or standard motorcycle of the MT series with an 847–890 cc (51.7–54.3 cu in) liquid-cooled 4-stroke 12-valve DOHC inline-three engine with crossplane crankshaft, a lightweight cast alloy frame. For 2018, the bike is now designated MT-09 in all markets.

Yamaha MT-07 Japanese motorcycle made beginning 2014

The Yamaha MT-07 is a MT series standard motorcycle or UJM with a 689 cc (42.0 cu in) liquid-cooled 4 stroke and 8 valve DOHC parallel-twin cylinder with crossplane crankshaft, manufactured by Yamaha Motor Company from 2014 and US release in 2015. As of 2018, the bike is designated MT-07 in all markets.

Kawasaki Ninja H2 Motorcycle in the Ninja sportbike series

The Kawasaki Ninja H2 is a "supercharged supersport" class motorcycle in the Ninja sportbike series, manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, featuring a variable-speed centrifugal-type supercharger. The track-only variant is called Ninja H2R, and it is the fastest and most powerful production motorcycle on the market; it produces a maximum of 310 horsepower (230 kW) and 326 horsepower (243 kW) with ram air. The H2R has 50% more power than the fastest street-legal motorcycles, while the street-legal Ninja H2 has a lower power output of 200 hp (150 kW)–210 hp (160 kW) with ram air.

Yamaha XSR900

Yamaha XSR900 is a neo-retro standard Universal Japanese Motorcycle (UJM), which utilizes an 847 cc (51.7 cu in) transverse inline-triple engine. Introduced in 2016, the XSR900 is derived from Yamaha's MT-09.

KTM 1290 Super Duke R

The KTM 1290 Super Duke R is a 1301 cc 75° V-twin engined motorcycle from the Austrian manufacturer KTM. With the update in 2017 the motor is the most powerful LC8 engine ever built by KTM.

References

  1. 1 2 Visordown: Triumph Speed Four Specification
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Triumph speed four: undressed for success. (Road Test)", Motorcyclist , pp. 57+ – via General OneFile (subscription required), December 2002
  3. "RiDER Power: The world's best handling motorcycles aren't sportsbikes". Motorcycle News. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
  4. Road Test: Middleweight Test, Visordown