Triumphrat

RT · 11-22-2012, 07:46 AM

Am looking to upgrade my 06 tiger to either a r1200gsa or tiger explorer. Here is my dilemma. Right now I can buy a r1200gsa triple black 2012. 21,000 plus prep etc etc. the kicker is I get scheduled maintenance free for warranty period. Pretty big savings along with $1000 store credit. Have ridden the boxer and have no issues with engine or ride.

Or go with a explorer which kitted out the same would be less money up front but pay for service. At least it's 10k service vs bmw. Have not ridden explorer.

Bike would be used primarily as road bike with limited off road. Nothing extreme. Want to be able to use 2 up.

Any major issues with explorer? Guess fly by wire throttle seems to be getting mixed reviews. But must not be to bad if rider mag bike of year.

Kicker is if I want bmw need to buy on Friday. Any former GSA riders out there

GearHd6 · 11-22-2012, 08:13 AM

Both are great bikes. BMW is known to have its problems as well as the Explorer. The fly by wire issues are mostly worked out with a new fuel map so I wouldn't let that steer me from it. I do have an acquaintance who has an Explorer and he has been having issues with it. It likes to just randomly shut off while going down the road. Last I knew Triumph didn't know what the problem was but they were working on it. BMW's are known for rear axle seals leaking and faulty fuel strips that are very pricey to replace if you're stuck paying for it. I'm not sure if they have cured that issue or not, I know my dads 09 R1200RT has had the issues.

As far as the maintenance, It will take a lot of maintenance to surpass the cost savings on the Explorer over the BMW.

If you like the BMW, buy it. They're both great bikes. The GSA in my opinion is a more off road oriented bike than the Explorer and even the new XC Explorer.

zelatore · 11-22-2012, 01:44 PM

As pointed out, I think you should be looking at the GS instead of the GSA since you said very limited off-road use. Why pay the extra for the GSA's off-road bits if you don't need them?

Another question re: value would be how many miles do you think you'd put on the bike during it's warranty period? If you ride it 10K during that time you're not going to have all that much scheduled maintenance anyway so you're savings will be minimal. If you'll put on 50K during that time then your free service work has some value.

I'd also assume the free service work is only at the dealer you buy the bike from, so if you're planning long road trips, say to Alaska or something ambitious like that, you may not be able to take full advantage of the free service.

lastly, make sure that's parts and labor on the free service instead of just labor to do the math correctly.

As for which is the better bike, I can't really say. Both seem like good choices, with the Triumph being a little more street oriented while the GS would likely do a bit better off the pavement. Both should make good 'non-traditional' touring mounts.

Joe S. · 11-22-2012, 01:59 PM

I owned an R1150GS and have test ridden the R1200GS, no experience with the Explorer.
I considered the R1150GS to be the most competent and confidence inspiring bike I've ever owned. I mainly sold it because of problems with dealership service in my area. I think the R1200 just seems to be more of the same, an improved 1150. I would have no hesitation about owning one and would probably be my first choice if only because i know what they are.
The Explorer has a lot of nice features and looks well thought out. I love our Triumph dealer and if I felt the bikes were equivalent or very close that might easily sway me to buy the Explorer. Heck, its how I ended up replacing my 955i Tiger with the 1050, i just wanted to do business with them.

RT · 11-22-2012, 07:53 PM

Thanks for the replies. All good points. Based on miles not sure that the savings would be as much as it am thinking on maint. Yes I would have to go back to the dealer i purchased bike from and it does include parts and labor. Am going down in morning to look at explorer and if I like what I see am going to buy it instead of GSA. The upfront cost savings between the two is quite a bit of money. I would love to have a BMW but don't think the time is right at this point. Plus the dealer is not my favorite. The dealer I am going to see in morning has been around forever and is a great bike shop. Still a family run operation and I have total confidence in service dept there as they have done maintenance on my 955i and do all the work on my friends bikes. Plus I just don't know if I can handle not having a triple in the garage. I absolutely love the Triumph triple.

ride4321 · 11-23-2012, 04:32 PM

Why give up that perfectly good Tiger? I rode the Explorer this summer and was quite happy getting back on my Tiger. Personally I don't think all the gizmos make for a better bike and will likely just cause issues down the road. The fly by wire is becoming more common and I wouldn't worry about that too much. I didn't find it an issue on the Explorer at all. I'd probably go for the Explorer if I had to pick between the two, it's a triple thing. I'm afraid you'd miss character in that in a BMW lump.

mcghan · 11-28-2012, 06:33 PM

because you want too

SalisburyGuy · 12-05-2012, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GearHd6

Both are great bikes. BMW is known to have its problems as well as the Explorer. The fly by wire issues are mostly worked out with a new fuel map so I wouldn't let that steer me from it. I do have an acquaintance who has an Explorer and he has been having issues with it. It likes to just randomly shut off while going down the road. Last I knew Triumph didn't know what the problem was but they were working on it. BMW's are known for rear axle seals leaking and faulty fuel strips that are very pricey to replace if you're stuck paying for it. I'm not sure if they have cured that issue or not, I know my dads 09 R1200RT has had the issues.

As far as the maintenance, It will take a lot of maintenance to surpass the cost savings on the Explorer over the BMW.

If you like the BMW, buy it. They're both great bikes. The GSA in my opinion is a more off road oriented bike than the Explorer and even the new XC Explorer.

I'm the acquaintance... Yes the bike has shutdown several times. Earlier this summer the bike would accelerate like as if on cruise control. I'd start up the bike, no matter hot hot or cold it would rev up to 5K rpm's then settle down. My dealer had the bike for a couple weeks and was in constant contact with the Triumph techs. Couldnt solve it. I needed the bike for a ride and took it back. It shut down five times. It would start after about ten minutes. All this time I had a fog light burnt out. It was the next day I had a new bulb to change the bad one. Once I did that the bike smoothed right out and ran great, for a little while. It started runing like crap and shut down. Long story short, Triumph is replacing my Explorer with a brand new one (2012) out of the box new. Triumph of North America and my dealer relized it was a saftey issue of course. Just waiting for all the accessories to come it and I had a ton of them. I had a Launch Model Explorer.

duncan67 · 12-05-2012, 06:49 PM

wait a few months to see what the Tiger sport looks like.

GearHd6 · 12-06-2012, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duncan67

wait a few months to see what the Tiger sport looks like.

Pictures have already been leaked. It's basically a reworked 1050 Tiger.