04-11-2020, 07:20 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-11-2020, 07:23 AM by Grumpy Goat.)
Yesterday I took a bike like this one for a 2-hour test ride and had a great time.
I rode this one as a proxy for the one I may be interested in, which is in Oklahoma City.
One thing that really struck me was how much of a sport bike our RSs are after I got on my bike for the ride home. For one thing it seemed low and compact, and even the handlebars seemed like crotch rocket clip-ons. The handling was so much more precise and of course the power had me grinning in my helmet. I thought to myself, good thing I don't have an S1000RR to ride home after riding the Tiger as I would surely get a ticket. I could have got a ticket with the RS! On top of that it was a nice time for a ride with temps of about 72 deg.F.
So - how was the Tiger? It was very nice ... a different bike from the RS, that's for sure and what it does it does very well. The engine was superb - smooth and powerful enough for anything I'd need. The WP suspension was also quite good although I did not go over anything more serious than bumpy roads and train tracks. The gearbox was smooth if a bit rubbery with no definite click (or clunk) so there was no feedback on whether the gear change was successful. That said, the gear changes were very smooth and not at all jerky. There was zero clunk into first, and neutral was not hard to find. The RS gearbox is a lot more precise and with good feedback.
The front brakes are 308 mm floating discs and two-piston Nissin calipers, while the 255 mm rear disc has a single-pot caliper. They do an adequate job of stopping the bike which weighs 474 lb with a 200 lb rider - they are not in the same league as our Brembos, that's for sure. Had one half-panic stop behind a female driver who stopped short after deciding her contact car could not go through the mid-size space between a car in the next lane and the curb on the other side. I applied both brakes fairly hard and the bike continued to proceed (without any lockup or action of the on-board ABS) as if it was going to hit the car. It didn't. I could not help but compare that experience with my RS, which would have stopped pretty quickly with the same application of braking force despite the 50 lb weight penalty. I can only imagine hard stopping with a pillion or a full moto-camping load might have some drama. So, brakes are a weak point of the chassis.
Handling of the bike was excellent, and while some may say that it is a little top-heavy, I had no such experience. Cornering tip-in was great, especially for a bike of this type, and that is likely because the rake on these Tigers are a little more vertical than others in the class. Powering out of corners was very nice thanks to the superb triple. I was also impressed by the cornering feel of the tires which were not street tires but are probably 80-20 blocky tread tires - didn't note the name, sorry. On the street the 21" front wheel and 17" rear wheel felt no different fro normal to me. Handlebars are comfortable and gives great steering mechanical advantage. This bike had a narrow and tall Puig adjustable windshield fitted which was adequate in the lower position and in the upper position produced irritating buffeting at the top of my helmet. I had to stop to lower it back down. Poor windshield for this bike.
On the handlebars, there are two more weak points of this bike - the mirror mounts are crap, plain and simple. The bottom of the stalk is threaded and simply screws into a base on the handlebar with no locknut. This means that when tightened to stalk is at a wrong angle (too far forward) to the handlebar, and not the same as for the right side. As a consequence of all of this, the left mirror is either improperly adjusted or simply swings backwards due to wind force. Switch gear is also not as good as on our bikes and the more often used indicator switch has a long travel left or right with a very rubbery feeling cancelling press. What's with this rubbery feel in the switch and gearbox?
Engine guards are not fitted to the XC but small ones come with the XCx I am considering. Either way additional bars would need to be fitted to provide good protection for the front end in the event of a fall. The pillion footpegs are in a good position per my wife, but they have a critical flaw - they are welded to the rear sub-frame so that if they are bent they cannot be replaced, and could twist the sub-frame.
So in summary - a very nice and capable bike, that would be a great compliment to my RS. I could ride it to tour, moto-camp, go on adventures and also commute to work. And it looks nicer than its GS competitor.
I rode this one as a proxy for the one I may be interested in, which is in Oklahoma City.
One thing that really struck me was how much of a sport bike our RSs are after I got on my bike for the ride home. For one thing it seemed low and compact, and even the handlebars seemed like crotch rocket clip-ons. The handling was so much more precise and of course the power had me grinning in my helmet. I thought to myself, good thing I don't have an S1000RR to ride home after riding the Tiger as I would surely get a ticket. I could have got a ticket with the RS! On top of that it was a nice time for a ride with temps of about 72 deg.F.
So - how was the Tiger? It was very nice ... a different bike from the RS, that's for sure and what it does it does very well. The engine was superb - smooth and powerful enough for anything I'd need. The WP suspension was also quite good although I did not go over anything more serious than bumpy roads and train tracks. The gearbox was smooth if a bit rubbery with no definite click (or clunk) so there was no feedback on whether the gear change was successful. That said, the gear changes were very smooth and not at all jerky. There was zero clunk into first, and neutral was not hard to find. The RS gearbox is a lot more precise and with good feedback.
The front brakes are 308 mm floating discs and two-piston Nissin calipers, while the 255 mm rear disc has a single-pot caliper. They do an adequate job of stopping the bike which weighs 474 lb with a 200 lb rider - they are not in the same league as our Brembos, that's for sure. Had one half-panic stop behind a female driver who stopped short after deciding her contact car could not go through the mid-size space between a car in the next lane and the curb on the other side. I applied both brakes fairly hard and the bike continued to proceed (without any lockup or action of the on-board ABS) as if it was going to hit the car. It didn't. I could not help but compare that experience with my RS, which would have stopped pretty quickly with the same application of braking force despite the 50 lb weight penalty. I can only imagine hard stopping with a pillion or a full moto-camping load might have some drama. So, brakes are a weak point of the chassis.
Handling of the bike was excellent, and while some may say that it is a little top-heavy, I had no such experience. Cornering tip-in was great, especially for a bike of this type, and that is likely because the rake on these Tigers are a little more vertical than others in the class. Powering out of corners was very nice thanks to the superb triple. I was also impressed by the cornering feel of the tires which were not street tires but are probably 80-20 blocky tread tires - didn't note the name, sorry. On the street the 21" front wheel and 17" rear wheel felt no different fro normal to me. Handlebars are comfortable and gives great steering mechanical advantage. This bike had a narrow and tall Puig adjustable windshield fitted which was adequate in the lower position and in the upper position produced irritating buffeting at the top of my helmet. I had to stop to lower it back down. Poor windshield for this bike.
On the handlebars, there are two more weak points of this bike - the mirror mounts are crap, plain and simple. The bottom of the stalk is threaded and simply screws into a base on the handlebar with no locknut. This means that when tightened to stalk is at a wrong angle (too far forward) to the handlebar, and not the same as for the right side. As a consequence of all of this, the left mirror is either improperly adjusted or simply swings backwards due to wind force. Switch gear is also not as good as on our bikes and the more often used indicator switch has a long travel left or right with a very rubbery feeling cancelling press. What's with this rubbery feel in the switch and gearbox?
Engine guards are not fitted to the XC but small ones come with the XCx I am considering. Either way additional bars would need to be fitted to provide good protection for the front end in the event of a fall. The pillion footpegs are in a good position per my wife, but they have a critical flaw - they are welded to the rear sub-frame so that if they are bent they cannot be replaced, and could twist the sub-frame.
So in summary - a very nice and capable bike, that would be a great compliment to my RS. I could ride it to tour, moto-camp, go on adventures and also commute to work. And it looks nicer than its GS competitor.
Regards,
Grumpy Goat
2016 BMW R1200RS
2023 Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
Grumpy Goat
2016 BMW R1200RS
2023 Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro