The 1200 Tiger Explorer Mega Thread

[Jonny955]

Originally Posted by creggur

wish a Japanese manufacturer built it...

Wow - quite a statement these days! Why would you want to spend more?

Jon

[creggur]

Originally Posted by Jonny955

Wow - quite a statement these days! Why would you want to spend more?

Jon

Good point. It's simply ignorance (I've got plenty) and fear of the unknown as I've always owned Japanese bikes, and I'm familiar with them. I've had at least one of all the big four over the years and never had a lemon. Two years ago I returned to motorcycling after a 13 year hiatus and immediately went with what I thought I knew.

[Yankee Dog]

dont worry about Triumph reliability. I am on my 5th and they have all been rock solid bikes. On a par with anything Japanese and far ahead of anything built in Europe or America.

[lonerockz]

Interesting MCN article scanned:

[Daytonacharlie]

Originally Posted by lonerockz

Interesting MCN article scanned:

Great posting Lone!

[Rick West]

Originally Posted by creggur

Fair enough. But there are things I don't like about the Explorer(wish it had 120/180 series tires

Who is making knobbies in those sizes? The wider the tires, the worse it is in mud and sand. Narrower is much better on a bike that is intended to be ridden off pavement.

[scottie boy]

Very informative article. Thanks for posting it. There were a couple of interesting points.

First, Triumph didn't beat around the bush. They pretty much said, "watchout BMW because we're gunning for you". For good measure they even threw a few shots at BMW's reliability issues.

Secondly, late in the planning process Triumph scaled down the fuel tank due to negative public reaction. I guess that they never come here because there was been nothing but wailing and gnashing of teeth over the tank not being large enough.

[Jonny955]

Originally Posted by scottie boy

Secondly, late in the planning process Triumph scaled down the fuel tank due to negative public reaction. I guess that they never come here because there was been nothing but wailing and gnashing of teeth over the tank not being large enough.

Yes, thanks for posting the article here.

I believe for every extra sale Triumph have secured by 'improving' the styling with the smaller tank, they have lost a sale from a customer who wanted the range.

135bhp would logically drink more than 105-110bhp (BMW) so I wonder how the real-world tank range will compare to bike they are gunning for with the same capacity?

The test mule looked ugly but it wasn't the finished job and some of the sketches in the article look way better.

Jon

[markbvt]

Originally Posted by Adv Grifter

I guess those Alpenfurher wins over 20 other bikes mean nothing to you? (Motorrad magazine)

I dunno, I kind of have to agree with Red Cat. I happily put 40k miles on my Wee-Strom in the three years I owned it, and it was certainly a great bike in every objective way... but compared to the XC, it is dull. The Wee is extremely competent for touring and day rides, but exciting? Can't really apply that word to it. It's got no personality. It's a riding appliance -- an eminently reliable one to be sure, but an appliance nonetheless. I don't hesitate to recommend it to friends who want to get a do-almost-everything bike for little money, but if they have a little more to spend, I tell them to bypass the Wee and get a Tiger.

--mark

[markbvt]

Originally Posted by creggur

Good point. It's simply ignorance (I've got plenty) and fear of the unknown as I've always owned Japanese bikes, and I'm familiar with them. I've had at least one of all the big four over the years and never had a lemon. Two years ago I returned to motorcycling after a 13 year hiatus and immediately went with what I thought I knew.

The irony is that the motorcycle landscape has basically inverted itself from where things were in the '70s-'90s. The Japanese have tended to rest on their laurels and become a bit complacent while it's the Europeans who are now pushing the envelope with exciting new designs and quickly entering growing market segments. Triumph and Ducati have been proverbially knocking balls out of the park with their recent bikes (Triumph especially), and BMW did so with the S1000RR; and Triumph was quick to notice that the ADV segment was beginning to boom and gave us the outstanding Tiger 800 and now the Explorer. Meanwhile the only new ADV design we're seeing from Japan is the Super Ténéré (and to a lesser extent the Honda Crosstourer, though that barely qualifies IMO, and I still haven't heard a straight answer as to whether it's coming to the US -- why no updated Africa Twin from Honda?). Furthermore, KTM, Husqvarna, and Husaberg are building pretty exciting dual-sports, while Japan just keeps giving us the same 10-, 20-, 30-year-old designs. And in terms of reliability, Triumph's bikes are as good as Japanese ones at this point, and Ducati has come a long, long way.

So the motorcycle world you knew 13 years ago is no longer the state of things today!

--mark

[bigdave-gs]

Originally Posted by Jonny955

Yes, thanks for posting the article here.

I believe for every extra sale Triumph have secured by 'improving' the styling with the smaller tank, they have lost a sale from a customer who wanted the range.

135bhp would logically drink more than 105-110bhp (BMW) so I wonder how the real-world tank range will compare to bike they are gunning for with the same capacity?

The test mule looked ugly but it wasn't the finished job and some of the sketches in the article look way better.

Jon

I think if you read the article closely it said the New Explorer is compared to the GS not a GS Adventure. So the tank was scaled down so it would not be intimidating to some like the BMW GS Adventure is. They did not say they would not build an adventure model in the future, just that this bike was targeting the GS. As for the fuel milage, the article stated that even though the Explorer has more power, it had better fuel economy than the GS. I personaly have been keeping an eye on this bike and a couple of others as a replacment for my aging GS Adventure. I do like the fact that this bike has more power and that the only cap was put on top end speed, not bottom end gears like the Super Tenenre and that the speed limiting was done for safety reasons only. I will sit back for a little while and watch this new Tiger grow and see how it handles real world riding before I buy anything, but it is looking good so far. I do hope that Triumph comes out with an Adventure model for us long range riders but I think they are at least on the right track so far with product and accessories.

[Narsisco Lopez]

Originally Posted by bigdave-gs

I think if you read the article closely it said the New Explorer is compared to the GS not a GS Adventure. So the tank was scaled down so it would not be intimidating to some like the BMW GS Adventure is. They did not say they would not build an adventure model in the future, just that this bike was targeting the GS. As for the fuel milage, the article stated that even though the Explorer has more power, it had better fuel economy than the GS. I personaly have been keeping an eye on this bike and a couple of others as a replacment for my aging GS Adventure. I do like the fact that this bike has more power and that the only cap was put on top end speed, not bottom end gears like the Super Tenenre and that the speed limiting was done for safety reasons only. I will sit back for a little while and watch this new Tiger grow and see how it handles real world riding before I buy anything, but it is looking good so far. I do hope that Triumph comes out with an Adventure model for us long range riders but I think they are at least on the right track so far with product and accessories.

Finally... a calm voice of reason in a sea of rampant speculation

[RED CAT]

Sure hope you are right about the gas milage being better than a GS. Mine only gives me 60mpg Imperial. Thats pathetic.

[creggur]

Originally Posted by markbvt

And in terms of reliability, Triumph's bikes are as good as Japanese ones at this point, and Ducati has come a long, long way.

So the motorcycle world you knew 13 years ago is no longer the state of things today!

--mark

This is great news to me!

Explains why I got such a great deal on my VFR a couple years ago. Out the door for $4k less than the MSRP - now, it has been dead-on-reliable, and the V4 has a bunch of character...but - the design is 10 years old now.

[bigdave-gs]

Originally Posted by RED CAT

Sure hope you are right about the gas milage being better than a GS. Mine only gives me 60mpg Imperial. Thats pathetic.

Me too ! ! ! I just read the article like everyone else. That's why I will sit back and watch the bike in real world situations and then we will know for a fact what type of fuel milage it gets. My 04 GS Adventure will average 40 mpg, 35 mpg if I'm riding it hard, but with 8 gallons of fuel, I still have a good range.