The sink’s an extra...
The standard feature list for Triumph’s new Tiger 1200 reads like the glossiest accessory catalogue. But crucially they’ve improved the ride too
WEARING MY CYNICAL hat, the ‘all-new’ Tiger 1200 XRT is nowt of the sort. It’s just the previous Explorer, simply loaded up with every electronic whatsit and superficial trinket from the accessories list. Sure, Triumph’s nd engineers have shaved some weight off and played with the response of the 1215cc three-cylinder engine, however the Tiger’s dry weight (so with no fuel or engine oil, and probably no fork oil or battery acid either) is still the same as the wet weight of BMW’S oh-so-popular R1200GS. In a nutshell? The British adventure giant is the same, weighty, not-quite-as-good-as-rivals that it’s always been, but with more bits. Yet when you ride the 1200 it’s more agile, supple and eager than the Explorer. And the new widgets and fripperies make is slicker and easier to use, too. It all feels considerably finer than I expected. Triumph are using both hands and a shoulder barge to push the new electronics, modes and light-up parts on the 1200. Standard-fit extras are all the rage. We’ll come to them in a moment though, as the interesting bit is a change inside that towering, weighty triple. Mentioned almost as an afterthought during the pre-ride (and on is allows swiftly, and now Triumph’s with missing the around as presentation the there’s motor ride-by-wire from website), 3kg to less lighter the pick mass at ‘new the the up than throttle to crank bike’s revs features’ get before. more spinning, assembly launch update listed This makes effect Lighter that’s the engine Tiger just crisper as internals significant, and have keener. though. another Crankshaft effect just like inertia a bike’s creates wheels a gyroscopic do, which tries to prevent you from turning the bike or changing direction. The lighter crank assembly has reduced inertia, so has less gyroscopic influence and means the 1200 flits about more easily than the Explorer. Three kilos or so doesn’t sound a lot, and at 243kg (dry, remember... and that’s 2kg less than the departing XRT, meaning some bits must surely have got heavier) the 1200’s overall weight is reduced by less than 1%. But if someone slashed three bags of Tate & Lyle from the weight of your bike’s wheels it’d feel like the tyres were pumped full of helium. The crank’s as heavy as the wheels, and carried higher, so its effect on handling is equally important. And genuinely noticeable. Heading off into a road ride in southern Spain, my first job during a caffeine intake session is to harass a Triumph shirt about the chassis – there’s no way the bike’s agility and accurate handling are simply down to the crank. But they say it’s the same geometry – the changes are microscopic – and a similar set-up. Imagine what a Motogp-style counter-rotating crank could have done; the Tiger would dance like a 250. (Actually, given its shaft final drive would be easier to reconfigure for rotation direction than the
extra layshaft needed for a chain, I can’t help wonder if it was considered.) Not that the 1200 doesn’t already jig surprisingly fervently. Rock the bike between your thighs at standstill and each of its very many kilos test your leg muscles, but on the move the Tiger is extremely manageable and easy to toss. Triumph are experts at using super-sporty steering geometry without suffering instability, and on ever-dancing, mid-speed mountain roads the 1200 flicks peg to peg with remarkably little effort, yet gives total reassurance. And the upgraded four-pot front brakes, with a more aggressive pad compound, are truly brilliant. Fine suspenders too. As before there are two versions of the biggest Tiger, the castwheel XR and the spoke-wheel XC, with various versions of each offering ever-more extras (see box-out). This £16,150 XRT version tops a road-biased XR line-up that starts at £12,200, and has WP suspension with semi-active damping and automatic preload adjustment. Have a massive lunch and offer to transport a side of beef for the local butcher, and the rear shock is altered for you. Damping set-up is pre-configured depending on riding mode, be it rain, road, sport or off-road (or the customisable ‘rider’ mode). However, you can also change the setting on the move to suit the road or your mood. The upper-level Tigers now have the full-colour screen from the Street Triple, controlled with a natty joystick on the left switchgear, and you can scroll through to the damping and set it to suit. There are nine levels, going from comfort to sport, displayed on an easy-tofathom graph, and I can really feel the difference. Go from full comfort directly to full sport and it’s like leaping from a sofa to a bar stool. I think the comfort end isn’t quite supple enough and the full-on sporty end is too firm for the road. But I like being able to have sport’s slightly sharper throttle response with the damping backed off for ride quality. Swanky suspension and dash aren’t the only XRT goodies, the standard-fit extras now including cornering lights, leansensitive traction control, crash bars, keyless ignition, full LED lights with daytime running function, heated grips and seats, updated cruise control, and even switchgear that lights up. It also comes with an Arrow exhaust that’s lighter and freer-flowing than the redesigned system on lower-spec bikes. In fact, the bolt-on bits are responsible for another 9kg of weight loss compared with the outgoing XRT… and so also for some of the reinvigorated handling. The XRT gets a two-way quickshifter as well, for open-throttle upshifts and also clutch-free downshifts. Like most systems
it’s cleanest with plenty of gas and more revs, and it isn’t quite as silky on downshifts as, say, Suzuki’s GSX-R1000R. But this is nit-picking; in 90% of situations it performs smoothly and accurately, and it’s surprising how quickly using it becomes second nature. Super-smooth throttle, too. There are simply no steps or glitches in the triple’s fuelling, just the fluid outpouring of whooshing thrust. Power is up by two ponies to a claimed 139bhp at 9350rpm (based on our dyno results for older bikes, more like 115bhp at the wheel), but it’s impossible to notice and irrelevant anyway. It’s all about the 90 lb.ft of torque and the Elmlea delivery. After 200 miles of motorway thrumming and mountainous wriggling the Tiger’s proving comfortable as well. There’s something called 3D mesh in the two-height seat – I don’t know what this is, but it keeps buttocks free of numbness. The electric screen’s effective too. The XRT’S is higher than other XRS as standard, and I only have to raise it a few millimetres to get the balance of noise, windblast and back pressure pretty much spot-on. At this point Triumph peel us off the XRT, pop us on the XCA variant (£16,950) and lead us down dry river beds. Although the XCA is essentially the same as the XRT apart from spoked wheels, they class it as having a more adventurous leaning and have fitted proper chunky Pirelli knobblies (now officially approved) to demonstrate the bike’s abilities. Fair idea, but the need to pick a route suitable for over-tense off-road novices like me means it’s hardly serious off-roading; you could have paddled a Speed Triple down here, as confirmed by the old dears in a mobile home going the other way (turns out we’re on the access road for the Fort Bravo film set tourist attraction). The XCX’S new Off-road Pro mode is wasted. The only thing I actually learn is that to enjoy a quarter-of-a-ton adventure bike on terrain like this you need
to be a skilled off-roader. Or, it seems, a couldn’t-care-less journalist not worried about trashing someone else’s bike. Back on the XRT, blowing away the dust on a blast back to base, and it’s clear that all versions of the Tiger are still comfy highspeed tourists at their core. And that Triumph’s prediction in selling more XRT and XCA versions seems probable, given how even a Luddite like me takes pleasure from the light-up switches, and the traction control safety net on polished roads, and how the cornering lights genuinely help as it gets dark. Viewed as the adventure-tourer it is, after a full day of riding my only real criticisms are blurred mirrors, a few footpeg rumblings at motorway speed, and that despite keyless ignition I still need to forage for the key to fill up. Triumph say they’ve not fitted an electronic tank release as ‘it’s something else that could go wrong’. Hmm. Should we be worrying about the heated bits, fancy dash, self-cancelling indicators and electric screen? Despite all this, for my taste the 1200 is actually still a tad too like the Explorer, a bit too big and touristy – if I was looking for a ‘proper’ adventurer I’d go for the lighter feel and slender physique of Honda’s Africa Twin. As a mile-muncher the Tiger doesn’t really do anything better than Yamaha’s overlooked (and cheaper) XT1200ZE Super Ténéré, and the revised Brit still doesn’t inspire me in quite the same way as that certain astoundingly-adaptable German alternative with the sticky-out cylinders. But that’s just me. Given the popularity of previous Tiger models and our everincreasing desire for trinkets and baubles, Triumph’s method of taking an established, proven bike and turning the specification up to eleven has to be the sure-fire – and straightforward – route to success. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it... just make it even more sparkly, creamier and easier to enjoy. And price it keenly given all the toys and extras. There’s no reason why the full-spec XRT won’t be a best seller.
‘Upper-level Tigers have the Street Triple’s dash with natty joystick control’