Triumph Tiger 1050 £3695
Yes, it is the most road-biased bike here. But there’s more than one way to reel in an adventure…
WHEN WE SPOT an enticing trail leading into the Shropshire hills near Church Stretton, it’s the Triumph we’re most nervous about. With all three of our trio wearing road tyres, none are going to be easy if the going gets muddy, but the Tiger has the least off-road pretensions – a 17in front wheel, handlebars positioned for happy cruising not standing on the pegs, no engine crash bars and, most worrying of all, it’s got a lovely shiny bellypan instead of a bash plate. It might be classified as an adventure bike, but it’s a tall road bike really, with all the damagepotential that implies. But what a fine road bike it is. The previous model (pre-2007, 955cc) was still trying to clamber onto the GS bandwagon, but by the time this version arrived Triumph had realized that no owners actually went off-road so they might as well concentrate on making it a tall sports tourer – the 1050 has Nissin radial calipers (with braided hoses on this example), beefy upsidedown forks, proper road tyres on 17in wheels, a racey cast swingarm and a detuned version of the Speed Triple and Sprint ST engine. It’s a storming combination. Though making ‘only’ 115bhp, most of it happens in the low and midrange, which means for most rides and riders it feels properly fast – churning out of slow corners and dispatching overtakes before you’ve even considered changing down. It’s nearly ten years since this bike rolled off the production line, but the engine feels entirely modern in its delivery, dragging away from the new-fangled Africa Twin when the roads open up. And, should you choose to go touring two-up, we’d wager the old Tiger would happily haul rider and pillion with an ease the new Africa Twin could never manage. The engine is in remarkable physical nick too – the finish is still perfect after 32,462 miles. In fact, the overall condition of the Tiger is deeply impressive. ‘Triumph do get knocked for some of their build quality,’ says Chris peering at the Tiger, ‘but for a 30,000mile bike it looks very good. The overall condition is excellent.’ As you’d expect there are a few tatty areas – paint is flaking off the oil-cooler and the rear hub – but the plastics, tank and engine are immaculate. The two previous owners have loved this bike. Get on a motorway and it’s easy to see how you could rack up big miles. The saddle is large and soft and the aftermarket screen leaves you in a cocoon of still air (the standard screen is much lower and widely slated by Tiger owners). Heated grips help make life tolerable, the ABS is reassuring and – when you come off the motorway and find some corners – the rear shock still feels like it has some life left in it. OK, so you have to reach forward and prod at the clocks to set trips rather than do it with your thumb on the switchgear, but otherwise the Tiger feels modern enough. In this trio the riding position is the most sporty, leaning the rider forward a fraction to get some weight over the front. It’s by no means an R1, but compared with the other two it feels inherently more aggressive and up for cornering japes. Firm up the suspension and a good rider on a Tiger 1050 will embarrass sportsbikes on a trackday, no bother. Back in Shropshire, I’m looking at the trail winding into the forest and am suddenly less keen to stay on the Tiger. My off-road skills are modest on a good day, and I seem to be shaking slightly, possibly because of a huge cappuccino I gulped this morning, or perhaps because a Tiger, trail and road tyres is no combo for an idiot. I tell off-road genius Chris I urgently need to ride the Africa Twin and give him the Tiger. Two tense hours later and all three bikes are safely at the end of the trail with plastics completely intact. Chris reports that my earlier instinct about the Tiger was correct: ‘The Triumph made the situation hardest because of the fuelling – that old Triumph problem – feeling like it’s surging slightly. That makes life difficult when there’s not much grip – you really notice it. Also, it’s got an awkward riding position for off-road compared with the Honda Africa Twin and BMW. It always sounds like a small point but if the bike is fighting you by putting weight too far forward or back, that’s an issue. The bars on the Tiger are closer to the rider and canted down which feels fine when you’re sitting down, but as soon as you stand up you’re unbalanced, and off-road that’s not a good place to be. ‘Obviously it was never meant to go properly off-road, but if the trails were dry it would actually be fine.’
‘It’s a tall road bike, with all the damage potential that implies’