Triumph Trident vs Kawasaki Z650: Image Comparison

How does Triumph’s new affordable middleweight stack up against one of the segment favourites?

Even before its partnership with Bajaj begins to bear fruit, Triumph is making itself more accessible with this, the new Trident. The 660cc triple-cylinder bike will make its way to India next year, so we’re seeing how it looks against one of India’s most popular middleweights, the Kawasaki Z650.

There are two conflicting design approaches here: while the Z650 features strong “Sugomi” design language to make it look mean and futuristic, Triumph’s designers have taken a more old school approach with a classic round headlight.

At the opposite end of things, the Trident’s tail section looks wonderfully clean and slender, though it remains to be seen how a saree guard will affect this. The Z650 sports its signature Z-shaped tail-lamp which is quite striking.

The heart of the Trident is a 660cc inline-triple motor producing 81PS and 64Nm, developed from the Street Triple S’ motor. The Kawasaki, meanwhile, is powered by a 649cc parallel-twin developing a more modest 65PS and 64Nm.

While both bikes feature swanky TFT displays, the Trident ups the ante by offering on-screen navigation and GoPro control, which the Kawi misses out on. However, Bluetooth connectivity is an optional extra on the Trumpet, while Kawasaki offers it as standard.

Holding the Trident together is a tubular steel frame with a steel swingarm, compared to the Street Triple’s aluminium construction. The Z650 is developed along similar lines to the Triumph, with a funky green trellis frame tying everything together.

Both bikes are suspended on 41mm front forks but while the Kawasaki’s is right-side-up, the Triumph gets a USD fork from Showa. Rear suspension is preload-adjustable monoshocks on both bikes.

The Trident has a slight edge in the braking department too, with twin 310mm front discs compared to the Z650’s pair of 300mm discs. The Triumph’s 255mm rear disc is also larger than the Kawasaki’s 220mm unit.