A serendipitous ride on the Triumph Trident 660 Triple Tribute Edition

According to Oxford Languages Dictionary, coincidence is “a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection”. There are those coincidences, or seemingly random occurrences, that you did not know you needed until they happen. 

I have been wanting to ride Triumph’s Trident 660 since it was launched and finally had it lined up for a couple of days during which I planned to go on one of my usual solo rides on the outskirts of Joburg. I also had meetings planned for the Friday, which give me the chance to commute on the Trident and get a sense of how it handles in the city. The day before I was to pick it up at the main Triumph dealership in Sandton, something came up and I had to postpone.

Fast forward four weeks later and my date with the Trident 660, the Tribute Edition specifically, was back on. And, out of the blue, a friend (and my former business coach) who I hadn’t seen in a while shared a photograph on the socials from a ride that we did together about three years ago, with the caption “we should do this again soon”.

“Soon” became the next Sunday, with a short ride to Muldersdrift for breakfast and a catch-up, where we shared motorcycle stories for the first 30 minutes out in the sun, starting with his experience of the standard Trident 660 in Cape Town in which he confirmed what I had realised. The Trident is a great, nifty, easy-to-handle motorcycle for city riding.

The Tribute Edition is a celebration of Triumph racing pedigree, particularly the racing motorcycle with the 750cc Trident three-cylinder engine, nicknamed “Slippery Sam”. This comes across especially in the white, blue and red colour scheme with the number 67 race graphic on the top and sides of the fuel tank.

According to Wikipedia, “the Slippery Sam name was acquired during the 1970 Bol d’Or, a 24-hour race for production-based machines held in France, when engine difficulties and escaping oil covered the bike of Triumph employee Percy Tait and co-rider Steve Jolly, who managed to finish in fifth place to winners Paul Smart and Tom Dickie on another works Trident.”

Slippery Sam reached legendary status when it became the winning motorcycle for five consecutive Isle of Man TTs between 1971 and 1975.

The Trident 660 Tribute Edition mirrors the standard Trident 660 in specifications, with a 660cc liquid-cooled, 12 valve, in-line 3-cylinder engine delivering maximum power of 60kW at 10,250rpm and maximum torque of 64 Nm at 6,250rpm, ensuring one can zip into the gaps with ease.

The exhaust is a stainless steel 3-in-1 header system. Front and rear wheels are cast aluminium with the front being 17 x 3.5-inch and the rear 17 x 5.5-inch. The suspension, both front and rear, is Showa, and the brakes are Nissin ABS. The tank capacity is 14l, which is more than adequate for both commuting and short runs outside the city.

It also has a colour TFT screen in a circular housing that harks back to classic motorcycle instruments and provides the rider with the basic multifunction instruments including gear selection, riding modes (road and rain), speedometer and trip information. To be honest, one doesn’t need more.

The Trident 660 isn’t a tall motorcycle. This enabled me to have both feet comfortably on the ground when stopped at traffic lights. It feels stable in traffic, on the highway and wide open roads.

The Tribute Edition comes standard with the Triumph Shift Assist, an up and down quickshifter, as well as a colour-matched fly screen and belly pan.

After breakfast, I parted ways with my companion and decided to ride out past Maropeng and onto Satellite Road towards Hartbeespoort to see how the Trident 660 Tribute Edition handled on wide open roads. I was not disappointed. It did so with aplomb. For the rest of my ride, I dialled the throttle back a tad and just enjoyed the ride.

The standard Trident 660 is priced from R175,000 while the Tribute Edition is from R180,000.