‘My first Explorer lasted 98k miles’

RIDE reader John Young has covered over 218,000 miles on Triumph’s triple adventure bike. He’s now on his third example

Rider John Young, 62 Bike 2012 Triumph Tiger Explorer XC

Total miles 65,152 Miles per year 35,000

“I BOUGHT MY first Explorer the day before they were officially released in 2012. As I already owned a Daytona 955i with 100,000 miles on it, I was friendly with the local dealer so they gave it to me a bit early. In 2012 I was heavily into the Iron Butt Association so I knew I’d cover big miles but rather than go for the obvious BMW GS, I wanted the Explorer as I believe in buying British when I can. Also, as the factory was based just down the road, I figured if I had any issues it was close!

“As with any first-generation bike the Explorer had a few teething issues, which I expected but, as my 955i was so reliable, I was confident in the brand.

After four months I had done 15,000 miles and it started to overheat. I took it to the dealer and the next day I got a call from Triumph, who apologised and put a new engine in! Then the cylinder head recall was announced...

“A year or so late, at roughly 50,000 miles, the shaft-drive started to weep, which was fixed under warranty, and the heated grips delaminated but other than that, all was fine. In late 2014 I decided to replace it as it had covered 60,000 miles and I bought a firstgeneration Explorer again, but the XC version as I liked the spoked wheels.

“As I’d gone through the initial teething issues, I was confident in its reliability but at 50,000 miles the rear bevel box failed again, which was changed under warranty. All was well until 2017 when at 95,000 miles, the universal joint on the shaft-drive failed then at 98,000 miles the economy dropped and once again it started to run hot. It turned out cylinder one had burnt out its exhaust valves and lost compression, which was enough to write the bike off, so I kept it for spares and bought another first-gen Explorer.

“My third 2012 Explorer is now showing just over 65,000 miles and aside from the rear hub failing (again!) it has run perfectly. I’m not interested in the newer Explorers as they are too complicated with more to go wrong; I like the more basic nature of the original.

“I know the GS is a better bike but that’s not the point. Any modern bike will go wrong, especially when you hammer the miles like I do, but I love the Explorer even though the rear hub will fail. But best of all; it was built in the UK!”

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