Triumph Speed Twin Cafe Racer Is More Style Than Speed

Remember the cafe racer craze? A decade ago, you couldn't throw a rock without hitting someone's Instagram-core CB750 build with unbearably loud pipes, unrideably aggressive ergonomics, and immaculate paint that never saw road wear. Now, those bikes have nearly all gone where motorcycling trends go to die (Brooklyn, New York), and it seems even the cafe racer builders are catching on to the changing trends. Take Triumph's new Speed Twin Cafe Racer, for instance — it's more about beauty than anything else.

The Speed Twin Cafe Racer is a limited-edition variant of the Speed Twin, my favorite bike I rode in 2025, and don't let its name fool you. Those two words may bring back memories of back-breaking custom builds, and you'd be forgiven for thinking this Speed Twin 1200 with clip-on bars would be the same, but look closer. The clip-ons have built-in risers, the foot controls aren't rearset, and the whole bike seems more built to be beautiful than be fast. 

That's not to say that the Speed Twin Cafe Racer won't be a performer when its 800 units hit dealers this March, with its 1200cc engine pushing out 103.5 horsepower and 82 lb-ft of torque. That power is all suspended by Ohlins rear shocks and Marzocchi forks, borrowed from the Speed Twin 1200 RS, and stopped by 12.6-inch front rotors grabbed by Brembo calipers — the special edition isn't about making the bike faster. Instead, look at that gorgeous paint. Look at all the flake in the green. This edition is about being beautiful, and at that it excels. 

This really seems like it's going to be a year of incredibly sparkly flake paints on motorcycles, and Triumph's entry is — as one would expect — stellar. The cafe racer trend may be dead, but this isn't the hellish display-piece cafe racer of your memory — it's something more comfortable, more usable on the daily, and arguably even more beautiful. All that for $18,895 at your local Triumph dealer, just under $2,000 more than the Speed Twin 1200 RS on which it's based. If you can get your hands on one of the 800, at least.