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The current edition of Motorcycle Trader (Australian) features a comparison of 8 dualsport bikes. They took 8 bikes on a 9 day 4,400km ride over all types of surfaces. The report runs to 30 pages (!).
The results of voting by the 8 testers were as follws:-
1. BMW R1200 GS - 38.94
2. KTM 950 Adventure - 38.50
3 Triumoh Tiger - 37.00
4. Cagiva Navigator - 36.71
5. Suzuki V-Strom 1000 - 32.56
6. Yamaha TDM 900 - 31.94
7. Buell Ulysses - 30.69
8. Honda Transalp - 30.19
The report is far to big to place on this website, but here's a couple of extracts:
Triumph Tiger. Excellent value with colour-matched panniers and heated grips. No-one expected the Tiger to be so good on the dirt. Well finished and amazingly robust considering the cast wheels and the bodywork that survived without working loose, it's probably the best chain drive Adventure Tourer on the market. Despite the slightly soggy suspension on the road, the Tiger is a serious and classy touring motorcycle that will appeal to people in the market for things like VFRs or even Triumph's own Sprint.
- Stroof, this is fast! Fastest bike in the pack in my opinion. “Engine and gearbox born for each other”. Engine feels like donk in Yamaha FJR1300: full of raging hormones at any speed and as smooth as rich man’s peanut butter. Easier to position coming into a fast turn than Yamaha TDM, for this dirt rider anyway, and feels solid all the way.
- Super comfortable when I’m sitting. I can ride it with a ‘light touch’, not gripping the bars until my hands blister.
- Problem though: standing on the pegs is impossible because the bars have the dreaded ‘Japanese speedway’ bend. It’s like riding with my hands in my pockets. Pegs feel higher but I don’t mind that. Windscreen very effective. If this bike was easier to stand on it would rank higher for me. It’s a slick package.
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Roger Harvey
Hobart, Tasmania
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