2026 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RX Review | The Brightest Track Weapon Yet? - video Dailymotion

Cycle World

Welcome to our first ride review of the 2026 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RX, Triumph’s latest limited-edition super naked motorcycle. Based on the Speed Triple 1200 RS, the RX gets serious track-focused upgrades like clip-on handlebars, a race-inspired riding position, Akrapovič exhaust, Öhlins EC3 semi-active suspension, and an electronically controlled steering damper. We took the RX to the world-class Portimão Circuit in Portugal to test its handling, braking, and outright performance on both Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SPs and full race slicks. With only 1,200 units worldwide and a competitive price tag of $21,495, is this the best value in the hyper-naked segment? Find out how the Speed Triple RX might be Triumph’s brightest and most aggressive naked bike yet.  Check out the story at https://www.cycleworld.com/motorcycle-reviews/triumph-speed-triple-1200-rx-first-ride-review/  Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6CLI74xvMBFLDOC1tQaCOQ Read more from Cycle World: https://www.cycleworld.com/ Buy Cycle World Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/cycleworld

Transcript

00:00Welcome to Cycle World, welcome to a very sunny Porto Mayor. Now those of you who

00:05are familiar with this channel would have seen I was here just a few weeks ago

00:09on the new 1200 RS from Triumph but what they've done is done something quite

00:13inspirational and something very different and given us a very limited

00:18edition Speed Triple 1200 RX. Now there's only going to be 1,200 units of these

00:24bikes available worldwide, there's going to be obviously a significant price

00:27increase over the standard bike but Triumph has invited us back to this

00:31stunning track in southern Portugal to put the RX, the track focus version, through

00:36its paces. Essentially what they've done is left all the excellent qualities that we

00:41loved of the RS. So we've got the same excellent rider aids, the same excellent

00:45three-cylinder 180 horsepower, loads of torque and that very clever smart EC3

00:51electronic suspension from Orleans. But to make it more track focus we've got the

00:55bars a little lower, the pegs are further back a little higher. The steering

00:59damper is now from Orleans and is actually semi-active so it's

01:02electronically controlled rather than being manually by Marzocchi as it was

01:06previously. We've got a dashing of carbon fiber, we've got a beautiful exhaust

01:11muffler rather than the standard one and we've got very sticky supercorsa rubber.

01:15The conditions look perfect, way better than that we had on the RS. So now it's time to

01:21put the hammer down and see if the RX delivers on track.

01:33We've had a real privilege to test the bike in real mixed conditions because

01:37the morning the first session was on wet tires on a drying track and with the new

01:42EC3 suspension you just simply press a few buttons, select what you want to do, turn

01:47up the rider aids, ride around on full race wets on a drying track, have that

01:52wheelie control on level one and ride around in what you could describe as

01:56relative safety. It's a 180 horsepower brute but in a softer mode it's actually

02:02quite forgiving and quite easy. Then we flicked onto SC2 Pirelli's with tire

02:06warmers, back out on track, on a dry track, great conditions. Again we just go into the

02:12track mode, when you go into the track mode it reduces the rider aids, wheelie control

02:16stays on one, engine brake control goes to maximum and the suspension, the semi-active

02:21EC3 suspension changes to dynamic. By that I mean compression and rebound and now

02:27in a dynamic format so the bike is now a track bike. It's a naked track bike on

02:32SC2 rubber. Really really impressive brakes, really impressive front end. We've

02:37got those big Brembo style Emmers and Portimao is really heavy on the brakes in

02:41places and the kind of only weak point of the brakes was how much you can pull

02:46them and how strong. Stability is excellent in high braking especially when you drop

02:51down into the dip here at Portimao. Some bikes lift the back and come round a

02:54little bit. There's a little bit of backing in going into turn five but again we can

03:00change the engine brake strategy. So I had engine braking on maximum so I had lots of

03:04engine braking which was slowing down the back wheel so I changed that, reduced that,

03:09let the bike go into the corner with a little bit more momentum, more like a two-stroke, if should you wish, and then just relied more on the

03:16front brake. Great brake support, great turning in, loads of clearance mid-corner and

03:21then on the gas, on the way out, using that torque, using the drive, howling that

03:26triple engine, it sounds really good. It's not deafening with the Acra pipe because

03:30it's just the end muffler but just sounds so lovely. There was a few occasions on

03:34right-handers where I thought somebody was coming underneath me but it was

03:37actually the exhaust and the noise of this three-cylinder bouncing back off the

03:41track on big lean. Again when I was on the SC2s I wanted to play around with the

03:46suspension, I wanted a little bit more support coming out of the corner because

03:49it was just pumping a little bit when you go from second to third. That shift in

03:53the gear shift wasn't as quick as I really wanted. I'm a bit more used to a

03:57race bike, great for a road bike, but it just started to pump the rear a little bit.

04:01But this is the beauty of this EC3 suspension in that you don't need to know

04:05about compression and rebound and chassis dynamics. You just go, I want a little bit more

04:10support on corner exit. There's a little icon that says corner exit so you

04:15increase that and it gives you more support on, you got it, corner exit. It's

04:19that simple and that easy and then finally in those last sessions we fitted the

04:24Pirelli slicks with a 190 rear. We changed the suspension again. I personally

04:29reduced the wheeler control, put it on level 4 which is its highest setting and it

04:33transformed the bike again into a really kind of track focused bike that is more

04:39than capable of cutting in some really fast lap times. This new riding position

04:43is very different to the RS. The bars are further forward and lower and the pegs are

04:48higher. So ground clearance wasn't an issue. We've removed the little hero bobs on the

04:52pegs. They were just kind of toe sliders twitching from time to time. The

04:56advanced suspension with more support held the chassis on big lean. It felt almost

05:02like a race bike without body work and that's kind of the only flaw really. Portimao is

05:07really physical and it's really windy today. So at the end of the straight you're

05:11pulling 150, 160 miles an hour and you're trying to hold on and even though I'm a

05:16short rider a little screen would have helped so much. It was just a real

05:20physical effort. With this model, with the RX, I'd argue you don't need any more power

05:25because it's got so much torque and drive. On a naked bike, how fast do you want to go?

05:32It's a real physical battle and I think about 180 horsepower seems to be the kind of perfect

05:38scenario for me. It's a perfect scenario of balance and torque on this bike. We're

05:42not racing it, we're not chasing lap times, we're just enjoying the track. I think arguably

05:48some of the 200 horsepower bikes will lap eventually faster than this but then you're going to have

05:54to be biting the screen and really trying and pushing. Where this feels like you could do it

05:59all day long and you don't have to be a suspension guru to get the best out of it. That EC3 suspension

06:05really makes a difference. In terms of price, we're at $21,500 so that's a significant jump over

06:12the RS. For that, you get the adjustable steering damper that is now controlled by Ohlins and is

06:17electronic. You get the new bars, you get the bits of graphics, you get the carbon and you get

06:22the muffler. So it's an argument whether it's worth that extra coin but it's definitely a

06:27different bike to the RS. It's definitely different on the track. It definitely feels

06:32more aggressive and more radical and it feels like you could attack the track. It feels like

06:37you can chase lap times. This is a naked bike that you can take to a track and chase those

06:41sports bikes and stay with them. It's an attractive, good looking bike. It sounds awesome, it's individual.

06:46It works on track and we know for more than the RS, it works on the road.

06:51Thanks for watching. We hope you've enjoyed it. It's been an absolute pleasure and an honour

06:55to do this test. I've absolutely loved it. The conditions for once at Portimao have been

07:01perfect. If you want to know anything more specific and anything more technical like how

07:05many mil the bars have dropped or how many mil the pegs are further back, then fire some

07:10questions below. Me or one of the team will get back to you. You know to press the subscription

07:14button and I'll see you on the next one.

2026 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RX Review | The Brightest Track Weapon Yet?

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