Triumph Tiger 800XC test ride.

[Davy F.]

I took out a Tiger 800XC today as it was almost like summer here today. So here's what I thought.



Really lovely bike, loads of poke, smooth gearbox, good ergos, handles nicely and makes a lovely lovely noise.

Oh, you want more ?  OK.  

The engine is terrific and although some have said it lacks torque compared to other similar machines, it certaintly doesn't lack any in the real world. 6th gear overtakes are dead easy and it picks up really fast. The gearbox is very slick, no missed gears and quite quiet snicking into first from a standstill. It is very smooth and as I've said above, makes a lovely noise on the go. Wind it on and it flies. The digital speedo blurs with the increase in forward thrust. It's a very tractable unit too and is willing to lug itself in a high gear with low revs without complaint.

It feels nice and light on the move and felt just as quick as my old BMW 1200GS,  which taking into account the lower power figure was very impressive. Again, in the real world it's just about perfect IMO for this type of Adventure bike. Someone said that they felt it was too small, but maybe they're built like Chewbacca as it fitted my 5' 11" frame nigh on perfectly. The XC is taller than the road version, but not unweildy and I could easily get both balls of my feet on the deck easily. The handling is superb and even taking into account the 21" front wheel, it grips and corners with aplomb instilling confidence to the rider. Some of the roads I rode along are in pretty bad shape with many repairs/over-banding and potholes from the severe winter we had. The Tiger took them in its stride and not once did I grimace when hitting several bad bits.

The seat is firm and unlike the Super Tenere 1200 I rode last year, comfortable for a lot longer. In fact, I did around 90 miles with none of the dreaded numb bum setting in. I could only manage 50 miles on my 12GS until I bought a Sargent seat, so not bad at all. Wind protection is very good from the standard screen and I'd probably wait to see how things worked out if wearing an Arai TourX in regards to changing it.

I also took it for a little bit of gentle off roading. The limiting factor was the tyres which are road biased, but none the less, it handled pottering about in the lower gears very well. It was more than manageable and I didn't even drop it when I did manage to stall it in a boggy bit.  

The only thing I can come up with in a negative way is the front brakes. As expected, there's plenty of dive from the forks and I suppose that makes the brakes feel a bit lacking. But they're not as a good squeeze has the front tire smeared into the tarmac. Off road (this was the non ABS version), they're terrific, so maybe a bit of compromise is built in ? Saying that, I had arrived at the dealers on my Fazer thou and its brakes are ferocious, so some acclimation was needed.

In summery, Triumph have done a terrific job and it comes as no surprise to find out my dealer can't get enough of them and has sold 37 to date with more orders on his books. There are loads of offiical Triumph accessories available (engine bars/auxillary lights/alloy bash plate to name a few) to splash more cash on and as these have been designed alongside the bike during its development, everything fits perfectly and nothing looks like it has been bodged on.

(UFO Edit:  Slight tweak to make it front page friendly.)

[miles]

Smeggy!  Where have you been?


Good to see you are back to writing reviews.

[1000lbs]

Nice write up  , and thanks for the input.  I'm keeping a close eye on this one.  Did you notice what rpm you were running in in top gear cruising at "?" mph?  Just curious where 6th puts the tack at highway speeds.

[Rincewind]

I now have a serious case of 'the wants' !!!  

I think it's infectious!  That last pic just makes me want to jump on it and GO!  What a sweat looking ride, thanks for doing a review.  

[County Tar]

Thanks.

I'm surprised they would put those "80/20" road tires on the XC.  You would think they would put on some TKC's or Karoo-T's or the like.

[Davy F.]

Did you notice what rpm you were running in in top gear cruising at "?" mph?  Just curious where 6th puts the tack at highway speeds.

Sorry, but I don't remember.   What I can say is that it doesn't feel buzzy.  The clocks are nice and clear, but I actually didn't spend much time looking at them as I just  went with how the bike felt through town, open roads and motorway (plus my little bit of dirt riding). And it felt great !!!!  

[crispiegee1]

I've been following the Tiger 800 for a long time and have been very excited about it. The only thing that disappointed me is that, from what I could glean from articles, the Tiger doesn't get nearly as good fuel mileage as the BMW F800. I read low 40's for the Tiger, but high 50's for the Beemer. (I've even heard 65 once for the F800ST.)  

Now, to me, the Triumph soundtrack is FAR superior, but I do factor fuel consumption among considerations for a bike. I don't suppose you figured out what you were getting, did you?

[Davy F.]

It will defo not compare with the 800GS in a fuel comparison competition as BMW have perfected the art of squeezing amazing MPG figures lately. Testers here have been averaging about 45 mpg out of the Tiger. Now factor in how they thrash the nuts of demo bikes and I believe it would easily top 50/55 mpg under normal (sane) conditions. I did get to chat with a guy who had bought one (he had traded his BMW1200GS for it and was at the dealers to buy an R&G hugger for it) and during our conversation, he mentioned that he had achieved 58mpg during the break in period. Like everything, it'll also depend on your riding style.  

[crispiegee1]

Good point. Depending on my front tire size (whether I was using a 60 or 70 series tire), I used to calculate the mileage on my YZF600R to be 53-58 mpg. I've heard other people saying low 40's!  

So perhaps the Tiger would be the same sort of thing. The one thing I miss about the 800 motor is that extra 3000+ rpm you get out of the 675. I know it doesn't need it (and I'm not normally the type to redline my engine), but the 675 at 13000 rpm is just extraordinary!

My next new bike is going to be a bear to decide on: Stelvio 1200, Sprint GT or Tiger 800 XC... they're all so nice!  (I need to land some really high paying voice over gigs one of these days. Either that, or get a few more big, long-term clients for copywriting.)

[Brad1445]

I'm 80% sure this is my next bike purchase.  I'm 6'2" 33" inseam.  I like he tall seat of the original Ulysses, I think it was 35" high.  What are your thoughts on the seat height.  I like high on this type bike.

[Davy F.]

I've a 31" inseam and I could get the balls of my feet down on both sides, so you'd have both feet down flat. The 800XC is noticably taller than its more road focused brother. You're a good 4" taller than me, so you would possibly end up being more comfortable with a taller screen.  A test ride would be a must.

[1000lbs]

I rode the 1050 out to take a short demo on the standard Tiger 800 today at Doug Douglas in San Bernardino, CA. It was the first 800 they got in and its their demo unit.  They put together a lunch and went over some of the highlights of the bike, followed by demo rides. Some of the features were a standard powerlet outlet near the ignition, +600w output, adjustible headlight angle, and the same service intervals as the rest of the triples (valves at 12K), with bigger oil and water pumps as compared to the 675.  Their were about 8 of us there and they asked we keep to rides short so anyone that wanted to go out wouldn't have to wait too long.  They did say to come back anytime for an extended ride.

Impressions... I was probably most impressed with the gearbox, it was very slick with light clutch pull and great feel.  The motor was a little weak off the bottom from a dead stop, but there was plenty there after about 2,500rpm. It reved quickly, but I didn't take it much past 6k with only 130 miles on the clock. The power matches the bike well, though not in the same ballpark as the 1050 obviously.  Fueling was also very good with no snatchiness from the closed position. The suspension is set up the best I've sampled striaght from Hinkley, which is good since there are no adjustments up front. Under hard braking there isn't too much dive and it was very controlled.  The damping soaked up potholes without jolting the bike and the rear didn't squat too much under hard throttle.  The brakes felt pretty good with enough bite to bring it down from 60mph with a firm two finger squeeze. The seating position match me perfectly both in the saddle and standing on the pegs. The windscreen works and provides enough of a clean pocket of air for my needs.

Would I buy one? Yes, if I didn't have the 1050 and the DR650 this would fit my real world needs very well. Of the adv. bikes on the market, this presses the right buttons for me.

Will I buy one? Not anytime soon.  I need to become a better dirt rider before taking something this nice (and large) off the pavement.  On the pavement, I was hoping for a much lighter and compact/nimble package in comparison to my 1050. In truth I felt the 1050 with the engine and suspension setup I've done, offers a much sportier ride.

If down the road I move on to a more sport/track oriented bike, I could easily see replacing my current rides with an 800xc for the road/trail work and a Daytona for the carving/track sessions.  I'll just have to wait and see how the 1050 handles Pridmore's Star school @ Chuckwalla in May, and how hard that track bug bites   .

 

[HeavyHustler]

Great ride!  I concur with pretty much everything said.  I'm 5'10" & 1/2    and could touch the ground on the T800XC.  The only thing I didn't like was that gynormus exhaust!    Seems a bit over kill.... even the Arrow looks hefty....
Great bike though!  Time for a second job!

[Cricket1]

It will defo not compare with the 800GS in a fuel comparison competition as BMW have perfected the art of squeezing amazing MPG figures lately. Testers here have been averaging about 45 mpg out of the Tiger. Now factor in how they thrash the nuts of demo bikes and I believe it would easily top 50/55 mpg under normal (sane) conditions. I did get to chat with a guy who had bought one (he had traded his BMW1200GS for it and was at the dealers to buy an R&G hugger for it) and during our conversation, he mentioned that he had achieved 58mpg during the break in period. Like everything, it'll also depend on your riding style.  

Smeggy-

Welcome back- good to see you on here again.

Just for us 'mericans, I assume your MPG figures are based on an Imperial Gallon?

[Davy F.]

Smeggy-

Welcome back- good to see you on here again.

Just for us 'mericans, I assume your MPG figures are based on an Imperial Gallon?

Yes, figures based on the proper Imperial gallon.........

[Brad1445]

ME WANT BAD!!!!!!

[crispiegee1]

Yes, figures based on the proper Imperial gallon.........

Oh crap!

[Davy F.]

Oh crap!

Don't be too worried. The UK bike press are renowned for getting low fuel figures as they tend to thrash the fleet bikes to within an inch of their lives.  

[pushr0d]

Consider the US gas, with Ethanol added, will give less mpg.

IIRC, when we broke in the bikes we had, they were getting somewhere in the high 30's/low 40's, and we were either zipping around on 2-lane rural roads, or doing 75+ on the SuperSlab.

[BlueRidgeKat]

my dealer can't get enough of them and has sold 37 to date with more orders on his books.

Is the rumor here in the states true that there will only be two bikes per dealer available??