TRIUMPH TRIDENT 660 (2021 – on) Review

5 out of 5 (5/5)

The Triumph Trident 660 is a breath of fresh air, just when you thought new bikes were getting ever more powerful, complicated and expensive. It makes a modest but very useful and fruity 80bhp, costs comfortably less than the base spec Street Triple S and even has 10,000-mile service intervals to keep your bank balance happy.

It’s a simple, characterful and grown-up feeling machine that’s happy commuting or scratching. Comfortable, engaging and so easy to ride you really don’t have to think about it, new riders will love it, but the experienced will find it also handles way better than any of its rivals. It’s fast without being tricky to manage, or too in your face and oozes low down punch, but the triple lacks the playfulness of Yamaha’s twin cylinder MT-07. Great build quality, generous detailing and cheap running costs are the icing on this middleweight naked cake.

But it’s more that. You can feel the same sporty DNA in its chassis and engine that’s made the Street Triple such a hit over the years, so while the Trident 660 does have a caring, sharing side, it also gets the blood pumping and puts a big smile on your face.

Triumph Trident 660 tested on UK roads

First published on 19 March, 2021 by Mike Armitage

It would appear Triumph have invented a time machine. Although significant poking and prodding fails to reveal a flux capacitor, there’s no question that their new Trident 660 is capable of quantum physics. As soon as you slide onto its seat, you’re transported back to 2008.

This is because the Trident sounds, feels and rides like the original 675cc Street Triple. That bike’s DNA is obvious. The first Street Trip’ was a gloriously usable, affordable and none-too-serious bike with fun at the head of its design brief. And on the A and B-roads of the UK’s toughest road test, the MCN250 this exactly describes the new Trident.

Flicking and darting north on chilled but bone-dry B-roads the Trident’s sheer rideability is welcomely recognisable. I was lucky enough to be the first person outside Triumph to ride the original Street Triple in late summer 2007, when they allowed a sneaky test of a pre-production 675 for Bike magazine, and this new machine immediately takes me back.

You just jump on and enjoy. Steering is light and accurate, the chassis pointy and keen yet with steadfast secureness, and the engine fizzy, fun and flexible. Triumph say 90% of peak shunt is available across most of the rev range.

I’ve no reason to doubt them, and with short gearing the 660 snaps sharply through its six-speed ’box under acceleration and hauls out of villages in a tall gear.

Though it has ‘only’ 80bhp it’s plenty fast enough. The 80 horses arrive at 10,250rpm, which is about what the revvier and more powerful Street Triple S makes at the same revs.

But the Trident has livelier gearing so feels fruitier. Deactivate the TC, wrench the throttle in first gear and the handlebar smacks your forehead, and it’s as sprightly pulling away in second as a long-legged 765cc Street Triple is in first.

To hit the £7195 threshold, the Trident is built to a price. The red Showa stickers might make the single-function forks look fancy, but they’re from a crate labelled ‘value’ rather than ‘posh’. It’s where they found the rear shock as well.

Deep into the nadgery back lanes and ridge-riding twists of north Leicestershire and fully acclimatised, the gusto the Trident encourages sees the forks bottom out braking hard over bumps. The rear end lacks finesse when tramping on, reaching the limitations of its damping, and it needs a decent squeeze to get reassurance from the brakes.

On less-restrictive A-road sections the chassis and motor are equally smooth though, the Trident purring contentedly. There’s full confidence banking at speed, and it does surprisingly brisk top-gear roll-on overtakes.

Obviously there’s chuff-all weather protection, but the riding position is plugged-in enough to not be hard work. Mirrors are so-so and the left-hand switchgear has a slightly plasticky feel, though simple clocks and easy-to-suss controls are better than the messy displays and joysticks on pricier Triumphs. Or they are for me.

Yes, it’s the ‘starter’ Triumph. But you’d be hard-pushed to find a better bike for this cash.

Triumph’s Street Triple line-up is a long way from what the original bike offered in 2008. They’re not really the affordable, breezy-yet-capable road bikes they once were.

The Trident 660 squares the job up nicely. It’s exciting, spirited, cheeky-yet-well-mannered, reassuring and easy to use. Triumph’s new ‘entry level’ bike genuinely has the character of the original 675cc Street Triple.

Yes, there are bikes that are more powerful, faster, have more whizzbang features and better outright handling than the Trident. But they all cost more, without being better packages.

Competitively priced, cheap to run, handsome, accomplished and above all great fun, the new Trident 660 is the every-person middleweight – and I’d take it over the pricier and more powerful Street Triple S. And since that’s my favourite of the three Street Triples, this highlights just how ruddy lovely the new 660 truly is.

We’re spending 2021 running a Trident 660 on long-term test, with relatively new rider Gareth Evans thoroughly enjoying his first six months on it. He’s done some rider training and over a few thousand miles, but keep checking back for updates as he gets to know Hinckley’s cheapest model. 

Watch: Triumph Trident 660 video review on MCN

Neevesy gives his definite verdict on the new Trident, direct from the launch event in Tenerife. 

Ride quality & brakes

5 out of 5 (5/5)

Triumph already make a 660cc triple designed to be A2 licence restricted in the shape of the Street Triple S, so where does the Trident 660 fit in? Well, its name may evoke memories of the British firm’s old ’60s and ’70s triples, or even the first ‘90s ‘Hinckley’ Triumph Tridents that started their current renaissance, but it’s no retro.

The Trident 660 has been conceived to be even friendlier and more road focussed than the sportier Street Triple S. It’s a completely new model, which is a rare thing nowadays, from its tubular steel chassis, minimal styling and ride-by-wire electronics.

Granted, its engine, which is very different to the Street Triple’s, may have started life in the original Daytona 675 (with a brief appearance in the Aussie-only 2014 Street Triple 660), but it’s now crammed with so many upgraded parts its now barely recognisable, so you’d have to say that’s new too.

With its minimalist bodywork and more than a hint of a street-fighting stunt bike look to it, there’s an overriding feeling of slimness and stripped back airiness to the Trident 660 when you climb aboard. Cut-outs in the tank bring your knees close together for control and the riding position is more relaxed than that the sportier and slightly bulkier-feeling Street Triple.

There’s lots of legroom for the tall, despite the Triumph’s compactness, but its 805mm dual seat is low and slim enough for shorter riders to get feet flat on the floor, which is always a confidence booster. Tapered ali bars are nicely wide and arc back gently towards you, for a reach that’s on the comfortable side of sporty, which is good news for your wrists in traffic and on long trips.

On the move the Trident 660 is a bike of two halves. It’s light on its feet, characterful and easy to use as everyday commuter on the one hand, but on the other it’s a naked sportsbike with a Moto2 soundtrack, fruity low-gear acceleration and incredible poise and accuracy through corners.

It can do both of those things equally well because it weighs just 189kg ready to go and the chassis has the kind of balance its Japanese rivals still struggle to get right (most are too soft at the rear and harsh at the front). That’s squarely down to clever Triumph design, development and a talented team of test riders.

The Trident 660 is of course built down to a price, but there’s been no scrimping when it came to creating it. It’s had the same love, care and went through the same brutal regime as any new Triumph, including their Moto2 project. The Trident 660 has undergone over half a million miles worth of durability testing, 1200 miles of flat-out speed runs, 31 individual rig tests over 3440 hours, over 20,000 miles on track and 3300 hours on the road.

As a result, the suspension is well damped, sprung and never jars or wallows. Steering is light, natural and the brakes are full of power, feel and devoid of unwanted ABS intervention. Michelin Road 5 rubber grips in the wet, dry and across a wide temperature range, so always instils confidence. The Triumph is accessible, friendly and confidence inspiring. but it’s also so sure-footed you’d need to be going some to get it out of shape on the road.  

Engine

4 out of 5 (4/5)

Three-cylinder motorcycles are always lauded for their versatility, mixing the grunt of a twin with the long-revving excitement of a four. It’s why Yamaha’s MT-09 has been such a success and why Triumph had produced 600,000 triples by the end of 2020…and counting.

The Trident 660 has incredible thrust for its capacity and there’s meaty, but friendly power right through the rev range. It’s never fussy about what gear you’re in, it’ll pull cleanly regardless. 80bhp might not sound much in these 200bhp-obsessed days but it’s still a lot, especially with the motor’s shorter first four gear ratios, so when you give the triple a tickle it doesn’t hang around. Tuck down behind the clock for long enough with the throttle against the stop you’d see around 130mph.

Throttle, clutch action and gearbox are all as delightful as afternoon tea and while it has traction control and ABS, the Trident 600 is so sure-footed during our test we never trouble them, even in the wet.

Overall performance sits somewhere between Kawasaki’s 67bhp Z650 parallel twin and Honda’s more powerful 94bhp inline four-cylinder CB650R. The Triumph’s engine character ensures that it’s more visceral than both of them, but then there’s the MT-07.

Yamaha has a new version for 2021 which we haven’t ridden yet but the outgoing MT-07 was something special, selling by the truckload and winning awards and group tests since it arrived in 2014. In terms of handling and composure the Triumph has the Yamaha beat hands-down, but the MT-07 ‘s 74bhp parallel twin cylinder engine will always take some beating in terms of thrills and playfulness.

But the Trident 660’s engine is calm at low speed and cruises nicely on the motorway thanks to its tall fifth and sixth gears. It might only have a 14-litre fuel tank but averaging an indicated 60mpg that’s 185 miles between fill-ups.

Tech spotlight – Triumph Trident engine

Haven’t we met before?

Triumph’s Trident 660 motor isn’t the same as the triple powering the current, shorter-stoke 660cc Street Triple S. It’s actually a heavily reworked Daytona 675 lump with its stroke reduced from 52.3mm to 51.1mm, trimming capacity to 660cc. Power and revs are also dialled down from a track-tastic 123bhp@13,500rpm to a more road-friendly 80bhp@10,250rpm.

The engine has 67 new components, including crank, pistons, gudgeon pins, cylinder liners, cylinder head, cams, crankcase castings, sump, cooling system, radiator, alternator rotor and stator, air intakes, exhaust and slip and assist clutch for a light lever action.

Most usefully for a bike designed for everyday riding it has more grunt at lower revs than the Street Triple S with over 90% of its torque delivered from 3600rpm to 9750rpm. Its new gearbox has shorter first to fourth gears for more low-down thrust and a slightly higher fifth and sixth for more comfortable cruising.

Unlike the old Daytona 675 the Trident 660 has a modern ride-by-wire system to control everything from fuelling to rider aids and modes (Road and Rain).

Read more about the Trident’s new engine and the bike’s development here.

Triumph Trident: New rider-friendly

An A2 licence restrictor kit is also available to reduce power to 46bhp@8750rpm and torque to 44ftlb@5250rpm, which can be fitted by a dealer…and undone again when the time comes.

Reliability & build quality

5 out of 5 (5/5)

Paint finishes, equipment level and attention to detail are all top notch and you get a two year unlimited mileage warranty. The motor is now in such a safe state of tune Triumph have extended service intervals to 10,000 miles, making it cheaper to run. So, if you stick to the Trident 660’s service schedule over three years it’ll only spend 8.3 hours in the workshop having its first (600 mile) service and three annual services, including new brake pads, chain and sprocket and a brake fluid change. Triumph says its main rivals will spend 2.7 to 7.5 hours to longer up on a ramp and cost you more.

We don’t have any owners’ reviews for the Trident at this point, but you can leave one here. 

During 2021 our Online Editor Gareth Evans is running a Trident 660 on the MCN Fleet. You can follow his progress here.

Value vs rivals

5 out of 5 (5/5)

It’s the cheapest bike in Triumph’s 2021 line up and has middleweight naked rivals like Honda’s similarly priced CB650R, the cheaper Kawasaki Z650 and class-leading (and again cheaper) Yamaha MT-07 firmly in its sights.

They’re the kind of machines adored by commuters, newer riders and the experienced who want something fun for the weekend without having to pay big bucks for the pleasure. Given the Trident’s performance, long service intervals, finish and equipment level it’s excellent value for money.