2013 Triumph Street Triple spotted

Triumph's middleweight naked gets updated for 2013

NEXT year looks set to be a big one for Triumph with the launch of the new Trophy tourer being supplemented by a new Daytona 675 and this, the new Street Triple.

Seen, like the Trophy, by photographers for Spanish magazine Motociclismo, the Street Triple keeps the slanty headlights of the current offering but adds a new back end to match – losing the twin high-level pipes that have long since been a trademark feature of the bike in favour of a low-slung side-mounted exhaust, and gaining a slim new seat unit, a new subframe and swingarm, and revised styling around the sides and belly.

The engine and chassis are unchanged, as we revealed a few days ago when Triumph registered the bike with California's Air Research Board (the capacity, weight and emissions all remain unaltered for 2013). However there is a new swingarm, redesigned to clear the new exhaust.

Although the Motociclismo pictures only show the standard version, with conventionally-mounted brakes,  the CARB documents show that both the Street Triple and Daytona will also be offered as “R” models. For the Street, that means radial brakes, higher-spec suspension and different paint.

This prototype is using the optional Arrow performance exhaust, but even the stock version will look similar, exiting in the same spot just ahead of the rear wheel.

The early CARB registration of the new model hints that Triumph may be scheming to launch both this and the new Daytona sooner rather than later; the 2012 Street Triple appeared way back in March last year, so the 2013 machine could conceivably be 'official' in a month or so.