Triumph Trident 660 review: Easy to buy, easy to ride

Triumph Trident 660

With a number of middle-weight category motorcycles coming to the market, it’s only obvious that we get to see cheaper and cheaper-still price tags. Entering the affordable middle-weight category this time is Triumph with the Trident 660. But just because it is a cheap-ish bike, it doesn’t mean it’s not worthy.

Let me tell you a story. It was an early winter morning. The weather was pleasant, the birds were chirping and the Trident was humming. I was all set to go. But as I set off for my destination, it started to rain. Of course, I wasn’t going to let a little unseasonal rain get in the way, so I quickly donned my rain gear and trucked on.

Now that I’ve set the tone for my ride, here’s an aside on how it rides in dry conditions: really, really well.

Design

First, its looks. Triumph has decided to go with a retro theme. From the head, you have the beautiful round headlamp, complete with LED lighting so as to not lose any modernity in keeping with classic design. The round instrument pod adds to this theme but features digital inserts instead of an analogue gauge. 

The retro, round instrument panel has digital inserts.

The tank too carries the retro theme, with a rounded shape and knee recesses to hold on to the bike. Below that you have a black painted engine and red radiator shrouds. 

With the rear of the bike, things seem to get a little sportier and a lot less retro. The seat is a single piece and tapers to the back. But the best feature about the tail is the red painted underside with the integrated tail light. This makes for an outstanding view from the back, with the floating tail indicators and licence plate atop of a wide rear tyre.

The red-painted underside with an integrated tail light looks stunning from the back.

Performance

The Trident gets a unique 660cc inline triple engine that is capable of some decent power. It’s not as potent as the Street Triple, mind you: it maxes out the rev counter at 10,000 rpm and also loses some of the top-end madness that makes the Triple so much fun. 

What you do get however is an extremely linear power flow right from the get go. This makes it extremely easy to ride, even for people upgrading from the 300-400cc range of motorcycles. The bottom end is not too punchy, so it won’t frighten someone who is used to ham-fisting a throttle. 

But go over the 3,000-rpm mark and the engine opens up to some really fun riding. It pulls easily and smoothly and, despite the lack of the melt-your-face redline, experienced riders will easily break into a smile. 

Handling and ergonomics

What you have to remember is that despite this being a street fighter type of bike, it does have a retro design. This is probably why the Trident feels different when seated. 

While it lacks the to all out aggression that you feel when seated on the likes of the Street Triple, it does not let you slump like a cruiser allows.

While it lacks the to all out aggression that you feel when seated on the likes of the Street Triple or even something like a Kawasaki Z650, it’s not like you’re seated on a cruiser retro bike either where things are super relaxed. There is a fine balance there that Triumph seems to have nailed, quite well. 

You can go from a relaxed ride along the highway to carving the mountainside with a simple bum shift forwards or backwards. Speaking of my hind quarters, the seat on the Trident is a little firm, but it’s not unyielding. 

Then comes suspension: Again on the firm side, squishy enough to soak in slightly rough terrain. High-speed corner bumps won’t throw the bike off the line and most speed breakers can just be jumped over without either bottoming out the suspension or sending a jolt up your spine. 

The tyres have a firm grip, serving well even on wet roads.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, I did my review in the rain and this is where the tyres had to play their most important role: Keep me from dying. The Trident’s Michelin Road 5 tyres did a pretty good job, seeing as how I am still writing this review. Even around wet corners, the bike never seems to stray off the line, allowing for decent confidence to try to take the next corner faster.

Braking is an odd affair. While the brake pads themselves do a decent job of stopping the bike, the feedback from the levers is dull, to say the least. The initial bite is lacking and you have to tug at the levers just a little more to actually feel any kind of decelerating. It’s easy enough to get used to, however, and one can settle into that blank, meditative space fairly soon.

Conclusion

The Triumph Trident is a unique concept on its own.

While blending a street fighter with a typical retro Triumph, styling is something that was needed. Then you have the easy ride and tractability of this bike making it an amazing step up from riders in the 300-400cc category. And when Triumph announced their prices, it only drove home the fact that the middle-weight category is becoming more affordable again. Rs 6.95 lakh ex-showroom, only if you’re looking.