Triumphrat

Durk · 12-11-2006

Europe's biggest motormagazine, Motorrad, tested the Tiger 1050.

Lets start with the negative: soft spring, anti-hop clutch would be useful, brakepads could have better 'bite'. (Bike tested was without ABS).

For the rest: the Tiger is up and over. Brilliant. Test shows that the Tiger "ein neues Fass aufmacht", read: opens up new territory.

It eats the BMW 1200 GS when it comes to handling (didnt I read otherwise in MCN?), Motorrad says it joins the league of Supersports or Sport-Nakeds.
Thanks to the 17' wheels and street-bias, thereby skipping the enduro part.
"Der Tiger macht in Sachen Handling, Kurvenverhalten und Fahrdynamik seinen Konkurrenten nicht nur Beine, er frisst sie einfach auf."
Read: When it comes to handling, cornering and riding abilities the Tiger not only tackles the competition, it eats them alive.

Motorrad says all of them.
Personally I cant wait for the the next issue (Dec 22nd), when they will test the Tiger against the BMW 1200 GS, Buell Ulysses, Ducati Multistrada and my favorite, the KTM 990 Adventure.

One thing though: according to Motorrad the Tiger will damage Triumph too: the Tiger will draw customers away from the Sprint ...
Maybe thats the price Triumph has to pay for so much road-bias.

OKCTriple · 12-11-2006

Quote:

One thing though: according to Motorrad the Tiger will damage Triumph too: the Tiger will draw customers away from the Sprint ...
Maybe thats the price Triumph has to pay for so much road-bias.

I dont' think that will be the case, There are many people that would rather have a sport bike looking touring machine than the tall all rounder that the new Tiger has been dubbed. Myself, I like the tiger and thanks for sharing the review. It just confirms my instincts were correct. :razz:

Durk · 12-12-2006

More from Motorrad:

They award the Tiger 672 (out of 1000) points, whereas the GS got 720.
The Tiger has a better 'engine' (144 vs 126 points), is a better 'ride' (161 vs 158), but in 'safety' it scores 110 when the GS got 152. Due to fading brakes, no ABS (on this bike), and the view the mirrors provide.
On 'everyday use' the Tiger scores 62, the GS 72, Motorrad prefers the cardan to a chain drive.
On 'comfort' its 72 vs 74. Guess the windscreen of the Tiger still isnt perfect.

It takes too far to go through every aspect of the test, hey, its in German! But as the Germans also take things like depreciation and maintenance costs in account, the GS scores more points in total. But wait till the Tiger gets ABS.

Big thing is: it is not a BMW, and the RIDE is better than the Beemers. A lot better. (Now read the first post again, and again, and ..)

And hey, these are Germans. And do they love, excuse me, did they love the GS...

ChuckofTahoe · 12-12-2006

The GS is a quality machine. You can see the German craftsmanship in each weld. The feeling you get is that it is carved out of a block of granite.

That said, around here it runs substantially more than the Tiger. Like 30% more at least. The ones I saw at the Reno dealer had stickers on them > $17K US.

Pansmiker · 12-14-2006

Quote:

On 2006-12-12 19:51, ChuckofTahoe wrote:
The GS is a quality machine. You can see the German craftsmanship in each weld. The feeling you get is that it is carved out of a block of granite.

I think you are wearing rose tinted spectacles. RIDE magazine in their annual rider survey shows the 1200GS low down in the pecking order with various problems recorded.

In a recent 2500 miles-in-a-week trip to France with 2 BMW 1200 GS's they both needed the oil and 1 needed the headlight bulb replaced. Apparently this was about the eighth or ninth bulb in 18mths.

oh I should in fairness mention that the Tiger handled as well, was quicker and didn't need any oil or bulbs. The only bike that let me personally down mechanically was a BMW GS. the only bike to let a friend down whilst riding on the Continent was a BMW RT.

Paul

Banjax · 12-16-2006

Quote:

On 2006-12-12 19:51, ChuckofTahoe wrote:
The GS is a quality machine. You can see the German craftsmanship in each weld. The feeling you get is that it is carved out of a block of granite.

That said, around here it runs substantially more than the Tiger. Like 30% more at least. The ones I saw at the Reno dealer had stickers on them > $17K US.

Chuck,all that fresh mountain air must be affecting the brain.
The GS1200 has reputation on the US (ADVrider) and UK (UKGSER) websites as a bit of a dog.
Poor finish,electrical problems and clutch/gearbox and final drive problems mean that anything out of BMW warranty can be a serious financial risk.OK,there are plenty of good ones out there have not had problems,but i would not upgrade my GS1150 to the 1200.Take a look at the pictures on ADVrider of the few months old 1200 with FLAMES coming out of the crown-wheel housing.
I will be seriously looking at the new 1050 Tiger when it finally arrives at my local dealer,but i must admit i would prefer to see a more "adventure" kitted version in the near future. Cheers,Col.

ChuckofTahoe · 12-17-2006

The GS I checked out looked very high quality and was loaded with some cool accesories. Like I said though, the price was pushing $19K U.S..

I do admit that I have no first hand experiece riding and operating the GS or other BMWs and havn't done any real research either. But my impression of the fit and finish on the shop floor was quite good.

I went by the Triumph dealer here today to see if they had an '07 Tiger yet. No dice but they said maybe next week. The new Tiger seems like a more modern chassis than the GS.

Quote:

On 2006-12-16 07:13, Banjax wrote:

Quote:

On 2006-12-12 19:51, ChuckofTahoe wrote:
The GS is a quality machine. You can see the German craftsmanship in each weld. The feeling you get is that it is carved out of a block of granite.

That said, around here it runs substantially more than the Tiger. Like 30% more at least. The ones I saw at the Reno dealer had stickers on them > $17K US.

Chuck,all that fresh mountain air must be affecting the brain.
The GS1200 has reputation on the US (ADVrider) and UK (UKGSER) websites as a bit of a dog.
Poor finish,electrical problems and clutch/gearbox and final drive problems mean that anything out of BMW warranty can be a serious financial risk.OK,there are plenty of good ones out there have not had problems,but i would not upgrade my GS1150 to the 1200.Take a look at the pictures on ADVrider of the few months old 1200 with FLAMES coming out of the crown-wheel housing.
I will be seriously looking at the new 1050 Tiger when it finally arrives at my local dealer,but i must admit i would prefer to see a more "adventure" kitted version in the near future. Cheers,Col.

Durk · 12-23-2006

Sorry guys,
I would have like to update you on the performance of the new Tiger, tested against the GS, Ulysses, Multistrada and Adventure 990.

However, the issue didnt came with the mail today in Amsterdam. Neither will it the coming days due to Xmas. And on Wednesday morning I will be travelling (for three weeks to Brazil). So no time to wait for the mail and to tell you guys all about how the Tiger (b)eats the competition.

Read the announcement of Motorrad:
"Niemand aus der Redaktion wollte auf den Ausgang dieses Vergleichstests wetten. Denn dass die Briten ihre Hausaufgaben mit Bravour erledigt haben, davon konnte sich das Testteam schon beim Tiger-Top-Test überzeugen: Im Handlingparcours stampfte die neue Triumph sämtliche Bestzeiten der bisher getesteten Reise-Enduros einfach ein und legte die Messlatte in puncto Handling und Motorpower höher. Als Mischung aus Reise-Enduro und Funbike bringt sie alle Anlagen mit, um die Szene richtig aufzumischen. Ob ihr das gegen BMW R 1200 GS, Buell Ulysses XB12X, Ducati Multistrada 1100 S und KTM 990 Adventure gelingt?"

Quick translation:
Nobody dared to bet on the outcome of the test because the Britons did their homework, as was seen in the single-test: it had (b)eaten all laptimes of competitors, and put handling and power to another level. Being a mixture of enduro and funbike it has everything to stir up the scene completely. Has it done just that?

I am as curious as you guys are, also because I have already decided to buy a KTM. Will update you asap.

Merry Xmas and a happy 2007!

Durk · 01-20-2007

Brilliant, but in the end not good enough to beat the GS.

Just got back from Brazil, and there is the promised Motorrad-issue. Here is what Motorrad says abt the Tiger (tested against the BMW 1200 GS, Buell Ulysses, Ducati Multistrada and KTM Adventure):

The Tiger has the best engine in the class (though between 3k and 7600 rpm the BMW has more hp and torque).
The steering is excellent, the Tiger feels lighter than it actually is. Only the steer itself could be better shaped.
The suspension be a bit stiffer, especially when riding with pillion.
The gearbox isnt that good, shifting to third is hardly possible. And the frontbrake is poor, fading. Maybe that problem can be solved when the ABS-version arrives.

But if u want to have a dynamic bike with the best engine, take the Tiger. Its because of the gearbox and the breaks (no ABS yet) that the BMW still wins.
But when it comes to the cost vs performance, the Tiger wins easily, even with an ABS costing almost 1000 Euro.

Tassie_Tiger · 01-21-2007

Quote:

Take a look at the pictures on ADVrider of the few months old 1200 with FLAMES coming out of the crown-wheel housing.
Cheers,Col.

Could you post the web address of these pictures please?

Many thanks,