‘Basically brilliant’
Does Triumph’s new road-targeted middleweight Tiger cut the mustard?
ON TESTWhy you need a new Tiger 850 Sport
As adventure bikes have replaced sports tourers, the lines between the two have blurred. While adventure bikes retain rugged silhouettes, their components have become evermore road targeted. Is it time we just accepted that an adventure bike is unlikely ever to go off-road? Triumph obviously think so as the new Tiger 850 Sport is billed as ‘a road-focused adventure bike.’ Is this a smart move? Over to the MCN250 to decide...
How do you classify the new Tiger 850 Sport? It’s obviously an adventure bike but where
does it sit in this category? It is a middleweight adventure bike? Not really, it may carry an 850 badge but it is powered by a 888cc triple, making it far beefier than the likes of a £7549 Kawasaki Versys 650 or £7999 Suzuki V-Strom 650.
Is it a budget middleweight? Again, £9300 puts it higher than the established budget middleweights but far less than the likes of the premium £10,999 KTM 890 Adventure or £11,995 Ducati Multistrada 950. And while it can be made A2-legal, it’s not just a ‘new rider’s bike’. So where does it sit? Do you know what, who cares? How about we stop pigeon-holing bikes and instead just enjoy them for what they are…
Visually you can’t help but appreciate the Sport. Unlike the similarly-priced £8600 BMW F750GS, which lacks kerb appeal with its conventional forks and non-radial brakes, the Sport appears a premium product. As well as standout features such as the Brembo Stylema calipers, TFT dash and USD forks, the bike looks identical to its more premium siblings, the Tiger 900s – just with a bit more pizzazz in its graphics. The corners that have been cut to meet the £9300 price, such as reduced suspension adjustability and a few less electronic gizmos, are all hidden beneath its skin and that means a lot to buyers as you want your bike to feel special when you open your garage door. And once out of the garage it gets even better. A few miles in and I can’t help but click with the Triumph. It’s one of those bikes that you instantly feel at ease riding; everything is designed to make life easy. The seat is comfortable, the riding position spacious and the pegs pleasingly low. It’s an all-day riding position and although ‘all-day’ does get shortened slightly by a lack of brush guards and a screen that could do
with being a bit more effective, but throughout the whole 250-mile route and roughly seven-hour nonstop ride, I didn’t once find myself squirming in discomfort. And I didn’t stop smiling either. Taking to the MCN250’s more fun A- and B-road routes, the Sport lived up to its billing as a roadfocused adventure bike. So often ‘basic’ adventure bikes, by which I mean ones lacking semi-active suspension, let themselves down on the bumpy sections as they are softly sprung and poorly damped. Triumph have hit a nice balance by adding a degree of firmness while not going over the top.
You can attack bends by braking fairly hard and accelerating out without the bike pitching yet it never feels harsh or unforgiving in its damping. On the firm side, certainly – but not uncomfortably so, and that’s a major positive. Although one downside is that due to this sure-footedness, and the Sport’s impressively agile chassis, you do end up noticing its ground clearance isn’t that generous, especially on tighter bends where you quite often feel a toe kissing the tarmac. Keep it smooth and flow through the bends and it’s not a huge drama, which is exactly how the engine wants you to ride. Retuned compared to the Tiger 900 models (it makes 84bhp with 60lb.ft whereas the 900 produces 93.9bhp and 64.2lb.ft) the triple perfectly matches the bike’s easygoing nature. If you want a bit of a thrill you can feed it some revs and it responds with a lovely off-beat growl and rumble (and a fair few vibes...), it is a far better idea to just enjoy its smooth throttle connection and surging midrange by simply rolling the throttle on and off rather than working the gearbox – which lacks a de rigueur quickshifter as standard. When it comes to riding for the sheer enjoyment of twowheels, the Sport ticks every box and although a bit keen to interfere (partly down to the too off-road focused Michelin Anakee Adventure tyres. Why didn’t Triumph go for a more road-biased choice?), the ABS and traction control systems certainly do their job.
With the fun section out of the way and over 130 miles together under our belt, the next section of the MCN250 sees the Tiger head onto the A-roads that link Boston, Grantham, Leicester and Stamford. Not exactly the most enjoyable of rides, it is this section that really highlights day-to-day usability. Chances are that riders who buy the Sport will be looking at using it for just about everything and that means practicality will be high up their list. Although the weather protection could be a bit better, for 60mph commuting the Sport is perfectly acceptable and I like the fact Triumph have given it a 12v socket as standard as well as selfcancelling indicators and a cool TFT dash. Once you get used to the dash’s mode button being a bit too close to the indicator switch and stop hitting it by accident the Sport makes for an excellent commuter. Far from a ‘budget’ middleweight, this is a really well balanced road bike that delivers on every level, including its price. It’s a thoroughly sorted and well thought-out adventure bike that is ideally suited to enjoying the UK’s roads. Or maybe even a few of Europe’s when we are allowed to escape the confines of lockdown.
‘Feed it revs and it responds with an off-beat growl’