Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
The best middleweight adventurer just got a whole lot better
The Tiger 900 is all-new this year, from the front wheel to the back, and from the screen (in any of its five, easy to adjust positions) downward.
It’s stuffed with clever electronics, but the single biggest change is the crankshaft – on a motorcycle you don’t get much more fundamental than that. So, for the first time we’ve got a Triumph triple that doesn’t feature a 120° crank layout and the evenly spaced firing intervals that go with it. Triumph refer to the new crank as a ‘T’, so the pins are arranged at 180°90°-90° intervals. This allows the firing order to be managed so that two cylinders (one and three) fire close together, then there’s a gap to the third (actually the middle one). It feels more like a lumpy twin than a turbine triple. In theory this should improve its off-road ability – the longer gaps give the rear tyre more chance to find grip on loose and slimy surfaces, and it sounds different too.
The new engine makes a big difference to the Tiger’s trailability. Faced with rocky climbs or nadgery wiggles the bike has a responsive, but beautifully smooth throttle action and easy power delivery, and it feels more comfortable pulling a gear higher than the old bike, in any given situation. Where you’d been in second gear on an 800, the 900 pulls third.
The extra torque and low rev performance that come from the extra 100cc is useful too. Absolute power is a claimed 94bhp at 8750rpm, and peak torque happens at 7250rpm, but Triumph also boast an increase across the rev range. Off road you are mainly using fractional throttle openings, and at 3750rpm the bike is producing over 40bhp, which is quite enough to get you into all sorts of bother.
Of course, there are rider modes, between two (base model) and six (Rally Pro) depending on model. On the Rally Pro I spent most time in Offroad, with dialled down TC and ABS, but hardcore riders can enjoy Off-road Pro, which removes your safety net. The rest of the bike is almost as ingenious as the engine. It’s a superb package that’ll take you anywhere.