Adventurer
Gentleman Dog
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2006
- Messages
- 17,108
- Reaction score
- 4
- Location
- Kempen Germany
- Bike
- KTM 1290 Super Adventure
Triumph Tiger/XC launch
I was lucky enough to have access to both the new Triumph Tiger and the XC the weekend before the official press launch, Biker Lifestyle needed them for the centerfold photoshoot, naturally I asked to ride the XC, it came fitted with all the Triumph accessories, centrestand, crashbars, headlight protector and aluminium bashplate, a big selling feature of these items is that if you have them fitted when you purchase the bike brand new, they also have a 2 year warranty.
We (Kings Mountain Offroad Training Academy) were hosting a training day on the Saturday so naturally I used the XC, ideal to get a feel for this new 800. Out on the highway the XC is great, the triple 800cc motor is an absolute gem, silky smooth with a nice surge in power after the 6000rpm mark, I found myself wishing the robots red, just so I could scream off the line each time, and revel in the sound the stock exhaust emitted, the 800 revs to 10 000rpm, it will top out at around 210kph at Reef altitudes.
Out on the farm I found myself enjoying the XC more and more, it’s supple motor, good suspension and linear throttle made it a very easy bike to ride, this bike was still virginal though, there was NO OPTION of falling, KMSA would not have been happy…and unfortunately for those on the course I could not allow any test rides. The only thing I wished for was more aggressive tyres, the standard Bridgestone Battlewing tyres were a bit slick for wet grass use. What made me realize how good this bike was, after a hard day of training I found myself planning a long route home, instead of the shortest quickest route to a hot shower and a comfortable chair; I could not get enough of the bike.
The next day I took Kaylee with me to the photo shoot, wanting her impression of pillion comfort, and how much her extra, albeit very light, weight would affect the performance. She was quite happy with the pillion seat, and I found her extra weight had very little effect at all, the XC is a very comfortable two up bike, I’m sure the addition of luggage and kit for a long trip would be handled with ease.
Then, the day came when we could give it horns, ride the bike without fear of reprisal, we met at Fourways Kawasaki, where Arnold Olivier, the main spanner of KMSA, went through the bikes with those that were still unfamiliar with the bikes, we headed off to Gerotec, Arnold deliberately took us down all the horrible roads, just so that we could appreciate the Tiger’s suspension, and good it is, although the front suspension is not adjustable it is still very good, firm and confidence inspiring, not once could I upset the bike. We arrived at Gerotec, had a quick snack then headed off to the handling track, this track undulates all over the place, has steep uphills and downhills, off camber corners, switchbacks and all sorts of conditions designed to upset and test any vehicle in creation…we were told the Tiger could do the whole track in 6th…..uuhm…ok…I tried it, it actually did! This motor is incredibly flexible, from idle in 6th it just pulls, no snatching or jerking, it just accelerates!
We then were let loose on a mini race track, reasonable straights connected to a variety of corners, I first rode the XC and then the Tiger, the Tiger felt a bit more nimble simply because of it’s slightly shorter wheelbase, and the 19” front wheel, thankfully Triumph saw fit to have the Tiger put out the same power as the XC, no rebadged detuned ‘soft’ version.
Rupert Culwick was one of the group, this guy can pedal, he took the hero blobs right off the Tiger’s footpegs, managed to put the XC pegs on the deck on a few occasions, luckily the XC pegs don’t have hero blobs…
Then the fun began, we were now allowed to ride on dirt..I hooked up with naughty boy and all round biking nut, Glenn Foley, if ever you want to get nice and dirty, he’s the guy to ride with…
We arrived at a nice muddy section where Nic from Traditional Triumph, one of the event organizers, recommended we go AROUND this mud section, not THROUGH it…well, today I don’t have to keep the bikes pristine do I??
So, THROUGH the mud I went, got stuck up to the axles, the bashplate became a glideplate, I was properly stuck,,,Nic in his curiosity enquired of me “which part of ‘don’t go that way’ don’t you understand?” ‘Well you see, I thought you Triumph guys are trying to say that the Tiger won’t go through that slimy sticky mudhole’…I managed to get the Tiger out, judicious use of throttle coupled to a very torquey motor and a lot of luck got the Tiger going, just enough to claw it’s way out of the mud…The rest of the route has fairly tricky dirt sections with steep ‘tweespore’, the XC was extremely easy to flick from side to side, I found it a very stable bike with impeccable manners. Arnold just shook his head as I emerged from the route with the filthiest Tiger he had ever seen…
We headed back to Gerotec’s restaurant where a tasty meal awaited us, a few curious Japanese tourists wondering why we were so dirty…
Thereafter we headed back to Fourways Kawasaki, and of course when you get a bunch of biking journos together there will be the inevitable drag racing off the robots, heeltyd speeltyd…
Back at base I handed back the now thoroughly dirty Tiger XC, quite happy that I didn’t have to clean it…
Triumph have a winner here, before there was only really the BMW 800 GS to choose from in the midrange dual sport segment, now there is not only the Triumph 800 XC, but also the Tiger, the XC being more dirt road orientated, but the Tiger will also do pretty well offroad, it does not have the higher ground clearance and longer suspension that the XC has, but it will certainly handle good to intermediate dirt roads with ease. If more hardcore dirt road exploring is your thing, go for the XC, that 21” front wheel, longer suspension and slightly wider handlebars are more suited to offroading. Onroad they are fairly equal, the Tiger being slightly better, both are extremely comfortable, have good wind protection, a 19L fuel tank offering a claimed 320km before the warning light (I did not get anywhere close to that, but the way I rode it was not expected), VERY comprehensive instrumentation, I could not find a feature missing on the instruments, it has it all!
Triumph also have all the goodies you might need, from extra bike protection, all the hard luggage you might need, and some fantastic riding kit, jacket and pants all in for around R5500.00, Triumph enduro type boots at very reasonable prices, and naturally the range of Arai helmets also brought in by KMSA, you could kit yourself out from head to toe in Triumph kit, and ride away on one of the nicest midrange dual sport bikes available.
Many thanks to Arnold Olivier of KMSA, and Dudley Fourie of Biker Lifestyle who somehow organized that I do this launch for the Wilddog forum, people…..before you buy another midrange DS bike, go test ride the Tiger/XC! (And y’all know how KTM befark I am…..)
I was lucky enough to have access to both the new Triumph Tiger and the XC the weekend before the official press launch, Biker Lifestyle needed them for the centerfold photoshoot, naturally I asked to ride the XC, it came fitted with all the Triumph accessories, centrestand, crashbars, headlight protector and aluminium bashplate, a big selling feature of these items is that if you have them fitted when you purchase the bike brand new, they also have a 2 year warranty.
We (Kings Mountain Offroad Training Academy) were hosting a training day on the Saturday so naturally I used the XC, ideal to get a feel for this new 800. Out on the highway the XC is great, the triple 800cc motor is an absolute gem, silky smooth with a nice surge in power after the 6000rpm mark, I found myself wishing the robots red, just so I could scream off the line each time, and revel in the sound the stock exhaust emitted, the 800 revs to 10 000rpm, it will top out at around 210kph at Reef altitudes.
Out on the farm I found myself enjoying the XC more and more, it’s supple motor, good suspension and linear throttle made it a very easy bike to ride, this bike was still virginal though, there was NO OPTION of falling, KMSA would not have been happy…and unfortunately for those on the course I could not allow any test rides. The only thing I wished for was more aggressive tyres, the standard Bridgestone Battlewing tyres were a bit slick for wet grass use. What made me realize how good this bike was, after a hard day of training I found myself planning a long route home, instead of the shortest quickest route to a hot shower and a comfortable chair; I could not get enough of the bike.
The next day I took Kaylee with me to the photo shoot, wanting her impression of pillion comfort, and how much her extra, albeit very light, weight would affect the performance. She was quite happy with the pillion seat, and I found her extra weight had very little effect at all, the XC is a very comfortable two up bike, I’m sure the addition of luggage and kit for a long trip would be handled with ease.
Then, the day came when we could give it horns, ride the bike without fear of reprisal, we met at Fourways Kawasaki, where Arnold Olivier, the main spanner of KMSA, went through the bikes with those that were still unfamiliar with the bikes, we headed off to Gerotec, Arnold deliberately took us down all the horrible roads, just so that we could appreciate the Tiger’s suspension, and good it is, although the front suspension is not adjustable it is still very good, firm and confidence inspiring, not once could I upset the bike. We arrived at Gerotec, had a quick snack then headed off to the handling track, this track undulates all over the place, has steep uphills and downhills, off camber corners, switchbacks and all sorts of conditions designed to upset and test any vehicle in creation…we were told the Tiger could do the whole track in 6th…..uuhm…ok…I tried it, it actually did! This motor is incredibly flexible, from idle in 6th it just pulls, no snatching or jerking, it just accelerates!
We then were let loose on a mini race track, reasonable straights connected to a variety of corners, I first rode the XC and then the Tiger, the Tiger felt a bit more nimble simply because of it’s slightly shorter wheelbase, and the 19” front wheel, thankfully Triumph saw fit to have the Tiger put out the same power as the XC, no rebadged detuned ‘soft’ version.
Rupert Culwick was one of the group, this guy can pedal, he took the hero blobs right off the Tiger’s footpegs, managed to put the XC pegs on the deck on a few occasions, luckily the XC pegs don’t have hero blobs…
Then the fun began, we were now allowed to ride on dirt..I hooked up with naughty boy and all round biking nut, Glenn Foley, if ever you want to get nice and dirty, he’s the guy to ride with…
We arrived at a nice muddy section where Nic from Traditional Triumph, one of the event organizers, recommended we go AROUND this mud section, not THROUGH it…well, today I don’t have to keep the bikes pristine do I??
So, THROUGH the mud I went, got stuck up to the axles, the bashplate became a glideplate, I was properly stuck,,,Nic in his curiosity enquired of me “which part of ‘don’t go that way’ don’t you understand?” ‘Well you see, I thought you Triumph guys are trying to say that the Tiger won’t go through that slimy sticky mudhole’…I managed to get the Tiger out, judicious use of throttle coupled to a very torquey motor and a lot of luck got the Tiger going, just enough to claw it’s way out of the mud…The rest of the route has fairly tricky dirt sections with steep ‘tweespore’, the XC was extremely easy to flick from side to side, I found it a very stable bike with impeccable manners. Arnold just shook his head as I emerged from the route with the filthiest Tiger he had ever seen…
We headed back to Gerotec’s restaurant where a tasty meal awaited us, a few curious Japanese tourists wondering why we were so dirty…
Thereafter we headed back to Fourways Kawasaki, and of course when you get a bunch of biking journos together there will be the inevitable drag racing off the robots, heeltyd speeltyd…
Back at base I handed back the now thoroughly dirty Tiger XC, quite happy that I didn’t have to clean it…
Triumph have a winner here, before there was only really the BMW 800 GS to choose from in the midrange dual sport segment, now there is not only the Triumph 800 XC, but also the Tiger, the XC being more dirt road orientated, but the Tiger will also do pretty well offroad, it does not have the higher ground clearance and longer suspension that the XC has, but it will certainly handle good to intermediate dirt roads with ease. If more hardcore dirt road exploring is your thing, go for the XC, that 21” front wheel, longer suspension and slightly wider handlebars are more suited to offroading. Onroad they are fairly equal, the Tiger being slightly better, both are extremely comfortable, have good wind protection, a 19L fuel tank offering a claimed 320km before the warning light (I did not get anywhere close to that, but the way I rode it was not expected), VERY comprehensive instrumentation, I could not find a feature missing on the instruments, it has it all!
Triumph also have all the goodies you might need, from extra bike protection, all the hard luggage you might need, and some fantastic riding kit, jacket and pants all in for around R5500.00, Triumph enduro type boots at very reasonable prices, and naturally the range of Arai helmets also brought in by KMSA, you could kit yourself out from head to toe in Triumph kit, and ride away on one of the nicest midrange dual sport bikes available.
Many thanks to Arnold Olivier of KMSA, and Dudley Fourie of Biker Lifestyle who somehow organized that I do this launch for the Wilddog forum, people…..before you buy another midrange DS bike, go test ride the Tiger/XC! (And y’all know how KTM befark I am…..)
