The Tiger XC (left) shares much in common with its sibling but the differences are significant I let out the light clutch to pull away. Before we’d even reached the twisty roads of Montserrat it was clear
that Triumph had put a lot of thought into the Tiger’s design. Bikes of this type will never be ideal for short riders, but most will find the fairly slim Triumph manageable with the seat in its lower, 810mm high position, especially given the bike’s respectably light wet weight of 210kg. Once under way the upright riding position gives good visibility. There’s plenty of steering lock, clear mirrors, and provision for purpose-built hard luggage. The Tiger promises to be a rugged and useful commuter. There is some evidence of cost saving, because the Tiger is designed to compete on price with rivals including BMW’s F800GS. But it’s a sign of how good the triple is that almost wherever I’d expected to criticise, instead I found myself thinking: well, that’s fair enough. For example changing the instruments’ display is done via a button on the console, rather than a convenient switch on the handlebar. But at least, unlike most of its kind, the Tiger can display fuel consumption and average speed (and even tyre pressure, with an accessory fitted). It also has an immobiliser, a power socket, and a lever to adjust the headlamp beam when two-up. The Triumph’s screen is quite small and can’t be adjusted, which I regarded as a drawback… That’s until we reached a stretch of motorway, where I realised that although I’m tall, the Triumph was doing a good job
of protecting me from the cold wind, without generating much turbulence. For longer trips I’d still like to try the taller and wider accessory screen, which is adjustable for angle, but other riders agreed that the standard one is very effective.
The best example of clever compromise is with suspension, where the
Tiger has a simple specification of non-adjustable 43mm Showa usd forks, and a shock with hydraulic preload but no damping adjustability. Given the generous travel (180mm front, 170mm rear) typical of the class, I’d expected that to mean a bike that felt rather vague and bouncy, dived under braking, and squatted on acceleration. But not for the first time, Triumph’s development team has done an outstanding job of choosing geometry and suspension rates.
Steering geometry is racy by dual-purpose standards, with rake and trail figures (23.7 degrees and 86.2mm) that are more typical of a sports bike, despite the 19-inch front wheel. That meant the Triumph could be flicked around respectably rapidly, needing only a nudge of its fairly wide handlebars to counter-steer it down into a turn. And although the suspension at both ends gave a comfortable ride with the help of that generous travel, the Tiger had enough damping to feel poised and controllable round the string of hairpin bends on the way up Montserrat. Its Pirelli Scorpion tyres did a decent job of gripping the road, although the mostly damp surface gave little opportunity to make the most of the
The ROAD Mar/Apr 29
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