05 Tiger advice needed

[roller]

I own a Ducati ST4S and am considering changing to a GS1200 or 05 Tiger. I often ride with friends on sports/sports tourer bikes on continental trips. Would the the BMW or Tiger have much diffculty performance or handling wise keeping up with the faster bikes?

Also, any pros & cons of the Tiger versus BMW would be very helpful.

Thanks

Mike

[sweetpete]

I often go out riding on my 05 Tiger with my mates, two of them have GSXR1100's the other two have ZX9's i have no trouble keeping up with them on all but the longest straights and on the twisties i can easily pull away from them...................... Hope this helps....

[desert rider]

Roller -



I have ridden both the Tiger and the R1200GS.  They both handle great.  Riding in twisties, I think the Tiger and the GS will keep up with any sport bike.  They may be slower on long straights.



The R1200GS feels lighter and handles better than the earlier versions.  It also has a lot more power, and shifts more smoothly.  That said, it still doesn't shift as well as the Tiger.  



The Tiger's engine is definitely smoother, and makes more horsepower at high RPM, but the GS has more grunt down low.  



The GS has shaft drive, so it should take less maintenance.  I think the wind protection is better, and in my opinion the Telelever front end gives it an edge in handling.  Routine maintenance (valve adjustments) are more frequent, but also very easy for the home mechanic.  It also has ABS linked brakes, which some love and some hate.  My experience was that they work _very_ well, but don't give the feel you get from regular brakes.  The Tiger brakes are great too, just not as automated.  The tach and speedo are easy to read on the GS, but everything else is on a hard-to-read LCD.  I'll bet that will be fixed in a future version.  The Tiger is well laid out and easy to read, as long as you don't care about the clock.



The GS will cost you $5,000 more, and you still have to buy bags.  It is also in it's first model year, maybe not a good time to buy it.



I like shaft drive and abs, but if I was going to buy a bike tomorrow I'd be at the Triumph dealer.



Tim

[Brock]

Anyone who knows what they're doing should be able to keep up with anything on a Tiger in the twisties. But on the straights you'll always lose out 'cos she aint that kind of bike. I'm not going to get sucked into the Tiger versus GS thing again!

[52blackshadow]

Desert Riders comments, but having also riden the GS1200 and the Tiger I think the gearshift on the GS is sweeter than the Tiger, mine is a sod for downshifting if you really push it.



I also disagree about the risk of buying in the first model year. BMW have been making the GS range for long enough now to be aware of most of the potential problems. I know the engine has been changed a lot, but the basics are still the same as the GS1150 and / or others in the boxer range.



I bought the Tiger instead of the GS1150, but had the GS1200 been available at the time I'd have been tempted to spend the extra couple of thousand pounds!



Cheers,



Keith.