2014 ET ZigWheels Awards Premium Bike of the Year above 500cc: Triumph Street Triple

In all, we had contenders ranging from the Kawasaki ER-6n, Harley-Davidson Street 750, Triumph Street Triple and Triumph Daytona 675R. This is the middleweight class, all bikes below litre class, but there’s no dearth of enjoyable performance on most of the contenders and this is where things get highly entertaining.

For the jury it was a near unanimous choice and the winner of the best premium bike over 500cc is the Triumph Street Triple!

Sure, there were other contenders which also vied closely for top honours. For starters, the Harley-Davidson Street 750 impressed jury members with a very nice and responsive engine, but overall build quality and performance of brakes failed to make it a winner.

The Kawasaki ER-6n was also a worthy contender and with a very attractive price tag too, but it just didn’t have that entertaining character which was so noticeably evident in the two Triumphs – the Daytona 675R and the Street Triple. The Daytona emerged as a superb track tool - it was the bike made to cover endless laps around a race track. But that track-focussed character also is the Daytona’s drawback making it less of a practical, everyday bike.

In the end, it was the Street Triple which waltzed off with top honours. And what makes the Street Triple a winner is that it’s a practical street bike with entertaining top notch performance. What also works for the Street Triple is that it can double up as a track toy too for those who are so inclined to test their skills on a race track. Add to that superb handling, great ergonomics and an addictive three-cylinder whine, it’s difficult to find fault in this Triumph.

And the jury has spoken. Whether ambling along leisurely along a long road or twisting from corner to corner with adrenaline rushing performance, the Street Triple emerges as the ZigWheels Premium Bike of the Year (above 500cc).