Triumph Street Cup Spotted Testing

Triumph Motorcycles is planning to launch a new model under the Street Cup name, based on the Street Twin, and now the motorcycle has been spotted testing near the Triumph factory in Hinckley.

There have been recent reports about Triumph working on two new models in the Bonneville series and although there's been no word from the company yet, it looks like the latest bike being tested is indeed a Street Cup prototype.

The Street Cup is expected to be introduced in the Bonneville range in 2017 and the name first appeared on US emissions certificates. The Street Cup will share parts from the existing Bonnies, and will be positioned below the Thruxton in Triumph's café racer range.

The Street Cup uses the Street Twin's liquid-cooled, 900cc parallel-twin engine as well as the Street Twin's chassis and much of its bodywork. The seat and instrument console is from the Thruxton, as are the headlight brackets. The headlight cowl is reminiscent of the existing air-cooled 865cc Thruxton, which is likely to be replaced once the Street Cup is launched, possibly early next year.

As is evident from the picture, the Street Cup will have three completely new components - a new handlebar (not the clip-ons from the 1200cc Thruxton), new upswept exhausts and the front brake, which uses a different caliper than that of the Street Twin.

The Street Cup is expected to be the entry-level café racer in the Triumph Bonneville range, and is expected to be significantly less expensive than the 1200cc Thruxton R. We expect the Street Cup to be priced just above the Street Twin.

Will it eventually be launched in India? Difficult to say, right now, considering Triumph India will be launching the top-spec Thruxton R first, in a few months' time. Based on market response, it remains to be seen if a smaller, less-expensive café racer will have many takers in the Indian market.