2018-2020 Triumph Speed Triple 1050 S used buying guide - not a bad bike but you should buy the RS!

It’s ironic, but in making the RS such brilliant value for money, Triumph did this model a disservice at the same time. You see. the Triumph Speed Triple 1050 S was a great naked roadster motorbike that had a wonderful triple motor and a good level of equipment.

But, and it is a big but, the Triumph Speed Triple 1050 RS was priced so tantalisingly within reach for an incredible amount of extra equipment, it was almost impossible to turn it down – especially as most of the items were inevitably bought aftermarket by owners anyway. If you owned a Speed Triple S you would be delighted, right up until the moment you parked it next to an RS, at which point your heart would sink slightly.

Triumph finally gave the Triumph Speed Triple RS a proper overhaul to bring it up-to-date with the super naked motorbike competition in 2023 with the Triumph Speed Triple 120 RS.

The S rides beautifully on the road and you never call into doubt the quality of the Showa suspension or that beautiful triple motor. It’s just a wonderfully good fun bike to ride and while not as full-on as other super nakeds in terms of performance, that’s not its target audience.

This is a bike to be enjoyed – and thanks to that triple motor with its new lease of life, you will certainly enjoy riding the Speed Triple S.

The 1050cc triple has received, according to Triumph, over 105 new parts for 2018 that boosted its power by 10bhp and torque by 4ftlb. It’s a wonderful motor that sounds deeper and responds faster than the previous generation’s engine.

As a relaxed road bike it’s perfect and has enough grunt to deliver thrills without too many spills while the gearbox is positive and precise – unlike on so many of the previous models.

And being less highly strung, it's possible it'll stand the test of time better than some of its livelier rivals.

The build quality appears very impressive on the Speed Triple S and anyway, if it all goes wrong Hinckley isn’t that far to travel to and complain.

Indeed, our Triumph Speed Triple 1050 S owners' reviews show delighted buyers and nothing negative from a reliability perspective, other than a loose nut on a quickshifter that was promptly sorted by the dealer.

At £11,350 when launched (plus £150 if you want a white bike), the Triumph Speed Triple S was at the top end of the super naked scale. There again, it did come with a good electronics package, TFT dash and a high level of build quality. It’s only when you see the all-singing RS model was just £1900 more that you start to question its price tag. As a used buy it's going to be fairly rare to find an S, because the RS is such a fantastic buy, but they're available from £6k in our Bikes for Sale section.

The super naked motorbike market has gone berserk in recent years and the old 1050 feels more like a middleweight by comparison. The 2021 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS marked a big step up in performance for the model, but it has to compete with weapons like the Aprilia Tuono V4 Factory, the superbike with flat bars BMW M1000R and the gorgeous but also powerful Ducati Streetfighter V4S. With that competition in mind this Triumph is lagging behind a little...

While you get traction control and ABS, they aren’t angle-sensitive, which is a shame. The Showa suspension is fully-adjustable, you have Brembo monoblock radial brakes, four rider modes, a TFT dash, Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tyres, cruise control and back-lit switchgear. It’s all very impressive - but again, until you see the RS’s spec list.