‘Spend time with the Tiger and you’re engulfed by brilliance’

With 100s of years of riding bikes between them the word ‘brilliance’ is not bandied about lightly by the Bike test team. But then there is Triumph’s new Tiger 900…

Let’s start with what might appear to be a rash statement. 2020 is not a landmark year for new motorcycles. Yes, there are some brilliant bikes, as the preceding pages have demonstrated, and some welcome improvements to established favourites. Never had it so good and all that. It’s unlikely, though, that this year’s new bikes will make us look back in the future with soft-focus adoration – there isn’t a 1992 Honda Fireblade or 2004 BMW R1200GS moment. It very much feels like a year of honing and refinement, not revolution (brave new Livewire accepted).

This certainly applies to the new Triumph Tiger 900 Rally. On first contact it feels pretty much like a Tiger 800, only with the whirring, droning exhaust note replaced by one that gurgles like a classic sixcylinder Jag at tickover, then thuds and resonates like a twin under load. And if you’re like Hugo and I, you’ll wonder quite what the benefit of all this T-shape crank caper is for road riders. It feels a bit like when Honda would do fancy engineering for the hell of it, to prove a point when there perhaps isn’t one. Or maybe someone in marketing has decided Triumph need a T-shape crank to go with all the ‘maker’s marks’ that they dot over their bikes in increasing numbers, and let the engineers worry about making it. There are also a few details that won’t be to everyone’s taste. I’m not a fan of the latest dash, and the screen doesn’t move with the simple ease of the natty system on a BMW F900XR.

Spend time with the new Tiger 900 and rack up the miles, however, and you’re engulfed by its brilliance. Triumph have looked at the already excellent 800, worked out where they could make incremental improvements and buffed the result to a blemish-free shine. Agility, chassis balance, midrange response, appearance and technology are all improved, creating one of the most ‘together’ bikes of recent times. ‘The 900’s integrity is its standout feature,’ praises Hugo. ‘The previous 800 was not far off being perfect, and this feels like that bike with a final polish. The way the whole bike gels together is astonishing. Triumph have built a bike that’s a viable contender for BMW’S bestselling R1250GS.’

High praise indeed. Though of course it doesn’t really matter how the Tiger 900 Rally Pro performs, as it’s got a white frame – so it was always going to be Bike of the Year. They should give it coloured wheels next year as well. Might make Bike of the Decade.

‘Agility, midrange response and technology create one of the most “together” bikes of recent times’