Tiger 1200 mergefest **all 1200 chat here

[PeteH]

Went to  the launch at my local dealers in Chester and have to say I was somewhat underwhelmed, 4k more than an 800 :shock:
Ok, its bigger, and er bigger...

It sits too low for anything off road even though a decent bash plates fitted.
It sits too low with the standard seat fitted...good for shorties tho
It wears the same tyres as mine and I`m a good 37 horses less
The exhaust looks like... well...not a nice as the 800`s :(
Oh, and it needs a front fender extender as standard.

Looks well enough tho :lol:

[bosun]

I'm 6'4 & found the seat height was fine. There is a taller seat option too.

I doubt anyone is seriously going to take these offroad any way. People tend to become fixated with the whole offroad thing. It's a tourer than can cope with dirt tracks.

Don't worry about the tyre size. The traction control takes care of the rear. Tyre sizes mean it's alot more nimble than you would think it should be.

You won't be ROFL if you take one for a test ride, but you will come back with a stupid grin on your face.  :D

[Chris Canning]

Good grief! What reviews are you reading? I've read just about every review going & I've hardly seen anything bad written at all. I've ridden it & can confirm it's all true. It is a very, very good bike.

You see!! you've fallen for the old 5 card trick,it's not a case of saying anything bad but write ups have been hardly stimulating either have they!!,this is a brand new bike the very least you would expect is that it blows the doors of the BM,you'll be hard pressed to find any write up saying any better than a GS apart from when the motor gets going in the mid range,at best the write ups were pleasant,you wait till the new GS turns up,you'll get the real right up on the Explorer.

As Triumph have a Tiger sport in the wings,they'll have all bases covered,but as time goes on my bet is Triumph will cus having not done their own thing(like Ducati) instead of just doing a 3 cylinder GS copy,my interpretation of the write ups 'Better but not by much'

[bosun]

Chris,

I've ridden it myself, so I know how good it is.

There are plenty of reviews now from the public & they are all saying how good it is too. There are plenty of GS's being traded in for it aswell.

A GS fanatic took one out from my dealer the other day. His words on returning were "After that I'll never touch another GS"

The GS is the acknowledged market leader & Triumph seem to have built a bike that is better. Can't you have at least a tiny amount of pride in that?

At least have the decency to test ride it before you slag it off any more.

[Chris Canning]

I'll tell you a trick about testing a bike always take a mate with you on his, so you've something to compare,in isolation doesn't mean a thing,you've ridden it and know how good it is,thats fair enough,against what??

I see even you are cute enough to use the word 'Seem' to have built a bike that is better,it needs to be shit loads better!! BM are just around the corner with a dam sight more than what they have now,at the mo the Explorer is up against a poxy air cooled twin for god sake.

As for pride  :? ,I couldn't care less,I've owned a Tiger for 11 years from new and have a couple of BM's and a Yamaha,if it's good I'll buy it,who the hell make's it is a minor detail.

Like I said, read the tests,their nice and pleasant but gushing they ain't and they should be,read the MCN test and read between the lines,this was about a new model and there were still references to both GS and Multistrada which didn't bode well,not in my book anyway.

By contrast,I've been reading for years that the GS is the best bike(traillie),I've never had a GS owner prove that to me yet,so I'll be interested to see if anyone on an Explorer can,their limited to 135 so one isn't going to out run a 955 with a 19t sprocket on,it has a smaller fuel tank and it's a bigger bike,yea yea I know I'm poo pooing the party,lets have a look at it in 12 months time   ,I've never been one for the 'Kings Clothes'

[bosun]

Do you read any other forums? Others have other bikes to compare it with. There's a fair few on the GS forums saying how good it is.

Me, I've only had 2 955 Tigers & a 1050, so what would I know.

As for top speed, this is about the real world, not a game of Top Trumps. Same goes for the tank size. For most situations it is perfectly adequate.

Exactly how do you define how much a bike is better than another?

Personally I don't give a flying fig about which is better. A bike is a personal thing. What is better for one person may not be so for another. Ride what you like and enjoy it.

What does make me laugh is the way you seem to be able to read between the lines & interpret all the reviews as bullshit.  :roll:

[Chris Canning]

Do you read any other forums? Others have other bikes to compare it with. There's a fair few on the GS forums saying how good it is.

Me, I've only had 2 955 Tigers & a 1050, so what would I know.

As for top speed, this is about the real world, not a game of Top Trumps. Same goes for the tank size. For most situations it is perfectly adequate.

Exactly how do you define how much a bike is better than another?

Personally I don't give a flying fig about which is better. A bike is a personal thing. What is better for one person may not be so for another. Ride what you like and enjoy it.

What does make me laugh is the way you seem to be able to read between the lines & interpret all the reviews as bullshit.  :roll:

There's some good stuff on there  :D

Read other forums
Oddly enough there's only one forum for my Xt660X

There are 6 for the K1200 lot as I have an R sport

2 For the Tiger(955) and 2 for the r1100s

I don't dispute that some folk will rate the bike,but what is required is a big sale in units,there's a lot hanging on this bike,and while I can understand that folks say it's better than a GS(marginally) it's needs to be better than the new GS by some margin that'll be the acid test.

We've had as many Tigers as each other,although yours have been better than mine as I had 2 885i's,although on here is a posting of me travelling with 2 guys last year who were on 1050's and I was suprised at their short fuel range.

How do I define a bike,well for me it's when one comes past and buggers off into the distance and I can't do a dam thing about it,be it speed/brakes/suspension.

Your right about the personnel thing,hence why 3 of mine ain't stock,but have been in their modified state for some years after I got e'm how I wanted e'm.

How can I read between the lines,lets just say I've had a bit to do with these guys,the type of review your looking for is say like the Panigali reviews,nothing to do with being a sport bike,just a new model,when a manafacture launchs a new bike he wants 9.9 on the Richter scale not a pleasant tremor,I'm as keen as anyone to see Triumph do well,but my take is this new 1200 it has just edged the old GS and I would have expect a lot more to counter the new GS,but hey maybe the new GS will be a cockup  :roll:

Blimey nearly forgot speed!!!,the faster the bike,the better it operates in real world 80/120

[Sin_Tiger]

I think I'll take one for a test ride, take the missus to see if she is comfortable on the back. Not take a mate to compare it with his bike as I don't go for rides other than to enjoy the ride. If I feel comfortable with it and like the look of it, I spend almost as much time looking at the Steamer as I do riding it, then I might decide to buy one, end of story, for me at least.

[Bixxer Bob]

+1 on taking Mrs BB on a test ride. Not planning to buy, just curious.  Lings did us proud with Wotsits and softies (inc Irn Bru) before the unveiling and a free hog roast afterwards.

Very disracting young lady running the raffle, Tshirt and dark tights but appeared to have forgotten her skirt... :oops:

[KuzzinKenny]

Very disracting young lady running the raffle, Tshirt and dark tights but appeared to have forgotten her skirt... :oops:

 

 :shock:

KK

[Sin_Tiger]

:roll:  I was more interested in the free Irn Bru comment, no really  

[Nick Calne]

Dear lord Sin, really?  You been away too long.  :shock:

There is a massive test and review in BIKE this month.  They think it's better than the GS too.

There is a big article on the success of the GS and it makes for an interesting comparison.

[Bixxer Bob]

Very disracting young lady running the raffle, Tshirt and dark tights but appeared to have forgotten her skirt... :oops:

 

 :shock:

KK

One can get locked up for less  :roll: She had a really cheeky little errr oops here's Mrs BB.....

Irn Bru  was good

And I'm half way through the BIKE article.........

[Robbie]

Had a date with Dora yesterday
Only had an hour so thought I would explore a few small lanes as the bike was not run in a top speed blast was out
1st impressions
The seat is narrow so even my 31" legs could paddle it backwards; I normally wheel the 955i backwards
You can feel the weight as you pick it off the stand but once upright the low and narrow seat give you control
Switching on gives you a light show and a tach flick. Clutch in and a press the button. Clutch is hydraulic and light; lever is adjustable for span (positioned to low for me, just needs adjustment)
Selecting gear is again light but with a tight detent so you know you have selected the gear.
The fly by wire throttle is very light and this gave me a few moments during the ride.
Now I need to explain:- a few years ago I had an accident that left me with broken hands and wrists and I have limited movement in the wrist that means getting to full throttle is a two bites affair, I have a technique of sliding my palm forward against the stop so I can grab more of the throttle with the angle of movement in my wrist.
After the ride when talking to the boss he showed me what my problem was.
The bike has cruse control and to switch it off without touching the brakes the twist grip is moved forwards against a spring. With my technique I was pushing the twist grip to this CC off position, but only sometimes. This gave me the feeling that the bike had a slack throttle cable and needed a good handful to get it moving and then the next time the same movement gave me a lot more throttle than I wanted. If I knew about this function before the ride then I wouldn't have been so confused about what was happening.
Once on the move the bike looses the weight and steers nice. The front brakes are very powerful and being new also gave me a shock, not like the clapped out ones on my 955i. The rear pedal was placed in the right place but lacked feel and power, this could be because they where not bedded in yet.
On the twisty bits I was surprised by the lack of engine braking, with a tight engine and the shaft drive I thought this would be more pronounced, a few times I found myself needing to touch the front brake to control my entry speed, the power of the brakes had me shedding to much speed.
The engine as you would expect is very powerful even with my 5000 rpm rev limit, the bike accelerated on medium throttle like the 955i with a 17 tooth sprocket. I think the bike is limited in the first 3 gears as 4 seams to have more urge than 3rd. 1st seams low for a bike with such torque but makes for a quick get away. There is a bit of high frequency vibes at 3000 but not too obtrusive.
The demo had the tall screen and this was very good, no buffeting at the slow-ish speeds I was travelling at (5000rpm = 80 mph) same as the 955 with 19 tooth sprocket.
The bike handled well on poor roads but the front jolted a bit too much for my liking. There is a preload adjustment but no damping, so messing about with oils unless they bed in with time.
The bike responded well when standing on the pegs but my throttle problem had me nervous and I would like the bars higher.
The antilock braking came on only once, on gravel when I was using only the back, the TC only made itself known when I was playing on the soft stuff.
In conclusion
I was very impressed, considering I didn't want to like it. The performance and handling are up there. It is a while since I took a R1200GS out but the engine is better
Brakes as good but the GS has that front end, comfort and riding position about the same.
I think a second date is on the cards but it isn't luv yet
my 9 year old 955i will be a hard act to follow, it is good but!!!!!!!!!

[Robbie]

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