Middleweight contender
Most things grow with careful attention: grass, trees, children, electricity bills. And motorcycles, particularly of late, middleweight motorcycles.
This is possibly because the socalled Middleweight category (800900cc generally) is the fastestexpanding segment, and with good reason. The modern generation of power plants punch out stacks of horsepower and torque, thanks to increasingly sophisticated engine management systems and refinements to things like internal friction and so on. Weight is the enemy of power output, so equally intense scrutiny has resulted in chassis and suspension components that do the job better, and are lighter. A case in point is the new range of Triumph Tiger 900s – what were, when introduced around 2011 – Tiger 800s. The term Dual Sport comes to mind, because this style of machine has largely replaced the high revving, ultra compact and bullet-like Sport bikes. Dual Sports are required to be able to easily handle off-road, rough road, heavy loads, and to provide a sensible, comfortable riding position for extended periods in the saddle. And that’s just what the one tested here – the Tiger 900 GT Pro – does with aplomb.
The heart of the matter is the triple cylinder engine, enlarged from 799cc to 888cc, and with a crank layout that Triumph call T-Plane. This spaces the crank pins in a 1, 3, 2 firing order to increase tractability on all surfaces. There is also a 10% increase in torque and a 5kg reduction in weight achieved mainly by a lighter main frame with a bolted-on aluminium sub frame.
The Tiger 900 range embraces five different models; the base model Tiger 900, the GT and GT Pro, which are slanted more to normal road touring and urban use, while the Rally and Rally Pro have greater dirt capabilities. Accordingly, suspension differs, with the GTs using Marzocchi front and rear, with longer travel Showa equipment on the other pair. Uniquely, the GT Pro, tested here, has electronically adjustable rear suspension; a big plus when compensating for varying loads. As has become de rigueur, a full colour TFT dash screen is mounted in full view, with an extraordinary amount of data capabilities contained therein. The Pro model also comes with heated grips, heated seats (yes, both of them), tyre pressure monitoring, a quickshifter and what Triumph calls ‘My Triumph’ connectivity. ►
All aboard
The first thing that grabs your attention when you climb on is the big 7-inch TFT dash – I’ve had television sets smaller than this. It has every bit (or byte) of information you could wish to know and you can take it all in without diverting your vision from the road ahead. It’s definitely the best such device I have seen, and is quite user-friendly once you get your head around the almost limitless choices and combinations. This dash has built in My Triumph connectivity so you can have all your comforts seamlessly; phone, music, navigation, camera, all displayed on the screen. Another thing I instantly liked was the self-cancelling turn indicators – every road motorcycle should have these. As supplied, our test bike had the seat in the higher (830mm) position, but it still felt too low to me. Either way, it means knees well bent which can be uncomfortable after a while. The solution for me was to crank up the rear spring preload and the damping, which effectively raised the back end a bit, and is a simple task as the process is electronically controlled. But that was the only real gripe, because the Tiger’s new motor delivers a quality ride, with a constant surge of power, even in the standard Road mode. Flick it up to Sport and things happen a lot quicker, especially in the mid range. – Triumph claim a 10% increase in torque over the 800.
As to be expected, there is a vast range of over 65 genuine accessories for the range, including luggage created in partnership with Givi, top boxes, backrests and so on.
To go back to where we started, the Middleweight class is currently a hotbed of action, with players from virtually every major manufacturer. Everyone is taking this category very seriously, and in the new Tiger 900 range, Triumph has every base covered. ■