So near, yet so far
The Tiger 1200 XCA is good but it’s hard to feel the love
Riding 20,000 miles is a bloody long way. It’s the distance the average motorcyclist does in five years. In fact, in the last 11 months, I’ve basically done The Long Way Round except instead of traversing the globe, I’ve done laps of the A-roads and M-ways of Britain. Sort of like a crap, twowheeled Bill Bryson. And what have I learned on my endless journeying? That the Tiger is, at heart, a good bike... but with flaws.
Triple treat
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the best bit of the Tiger is the engine. The 1200cc triple is an absolute delight. You can leave it in third all day and lug it out of corners to your heart’s content, or you can work the gearbox like crazy and rev the knackers off it. The Tiger’s main rivals are big twins, so it delivers an engaging ride in a way the others can’t quite manage. And it’s helped considerably by a brilliant ride-by-wire throttle, an excellent electronics package and a decent gearbox. In the handling stakes, it doesn’t do too badly either.
Keep to smooth, flowing roads and the Tiger is a joyful companion both solo and two-up. It struggles with quick changes in direction, no doubt due to its colossal kerb weight, but as long as you don’t push too hard it’ll cope just fine. It’s this sort of relaxed attitude that seems to suit it best. Put the other half on the back, bung the luggage on and take an easy cruise around the North Coast 500, the sort of task a traditional tourer would have done 15 years ago. It’s this sort of riding where you’re drawing the best out of the bike.
And while we’re at it, don’t venture off-road unless you really know what you’re doing. I’m confident with big, heavy bikes and have owned quite a few but that hasn’t stopped me dropping the Tiger three times this year. And once I had to get a mate to help me pick it up…
Stable mates
So, how does the Tiger compare to its adventure rivals? Well, this is where it really begins to look a little confused. While the Triumph’s suspension is comfortable, the ESA on the BMW GS reacts much faster giving a more seamless ride. Although the Hinckley triple is powerful, it doesn’t have quite the same lung-collapsing thrust of 1290 KTMs. And although the Tiger’s finish is excellent (and it’s survived winter virtually corrosion-free), it doesn’t quite manage that luxury feel Ducati have nailed on their Multistrada. From a purely financial perspective, the Tiger is also a bit of a disaster.
Of all the big adventure bikes the Triumph depreciates the quickest. It’s not uncommon to see three-year-old Tigers fetching similar money to 10-year-old GSs. As much as I like the Tiger, if I was investing my own money this would be enough to make me look elsewhere. Unfortunately, there is something else that would dissuade me, too: fun. While the Tiger is an incredibly competent motorcycle and does many things well, it has also failed to inspire any real love. It’s rather damning that in the 11 months I’ve had it, I’ve not once woken up, spied a dry, sunny day through the curtains and immediately hatched a plan to spend the next few hours in the saddle.
Miles adrift
In creating the Tiger, Triumph have made a bike that does lots of things well but which doesn’t excel in any one particular aspect. If I was going touring I’d buy a BMW; if off-road I’d buy a KTM and if I wanted to go peg-scraping I’d buy a Ducati. When I think about why, it mostly boils down to weight. All the right constituent parts for a great bike are there in the Tiger but they’re all let down by 35kg of excess baggage in the middle. Some might argue that the tester suffers the same ignominy!