TRIUMPH TIGER 1200 GT Pro
From the first meters I felt at home.
Both faster curves and tight corners are handled with ease and confidence.
The new Triumph Tiger 1200 (GT Pro version) has recently joined our motorcycle fleet.
I have been waiting for this bike for a long time, hoping that it will be the best in the segment and my favorite.
I drove it a bit on the roads of Montenegro, it was not a full test of this motorcycle in my opinion, but I can write something about it.
The engine sounds very nice, under load, a nice deep sound of three pistons, which is a bit like gunshots (currently, in my opinion, the best sound next to the Africa Twin from motorcycles with a standard exhaust).
The engine revs linearly and gives off a nice amount of power. There may not be any great emotions, but it is really enough for a very fast ride, at the same time you can drive pleasantly as a tourist and everything sounds beautiful.
There is a lot of power, it is easy to control, it is especially nice in the mid-range, which is used most often.
One of the coolest engines in general in this class of motorcycles.
What is also important, on warm days it does not warm us at all!
Gearbox - with quickshifter works brilliantly, without any hesitation. Perfectly changes gears and up and down, regardless of engine speed. Probably the best chest in the class right now.
Handling and overall driving experience.
The new Tiger is very, very agile. Changes of direction are very easy to initiate, you don't have to learn it or get used to it.
From the first meters I felt at home.
Both faster bends and tight corners are handled with ease and confidence.
It turns very, very well and at the same time it is nice and easy to drive = it is great to drive.
The brakes feel good and are strong enough for a bike like this. With all this, this bike is really very comfortable.
Suspension - The Pro version has an active suspension. There are 9 levels of suspension hardness.
9/9 is the suspension set to maximum hardness, "sporty".
I only used this setting, the others are too soft for my driving style.
In the hardest setting, the Tiger still gives a lot of comfort, it picks up bumps well, the suspension is then nice springy. For me, this hardest mode could be somewhere in the middle of the hardness scale, I wish the new Tiger could be set harder.
Especially when it comes to riding with a passenger - then the suspension was too soft for me.
Other goodies - we have everything the market has to offer, except for active cruise control.
You can connect the phone to the motorcycle and use navigation, which will show us the way on the main display. Nothing to complain about here. However, for me, these are fairy tales that do not affect the assessment of motorcycles. What matters most to me is the feeling and fun of riding as well as the comfort of traveling, and these are really great on this motorcycle.
HOW TIGER PERFORMS AGAINST COMPETITION.
Regarding the second sentence in this text, is the Tiger currently the coolest and best bike in the segment? The answer is quite difficult, but I will try to give it.
Currently, we have almost all motorcycles in the segment in our fleet, below I wrote very briefly about each of them, listing only their advantages and disadvantages to give you a picture of Tiger against the competition.
KTM 1290 SAS
PROS - a powerful big V2 that does not vibrate, has a lot of torque from the bottom. You can overtake everything and always! Good, hard suspension that gives amazing cornering stability, the best lights, good wind protection, low fuel consumption for its performance (5.5 - 6 l / 100 km when driving dynamically in one person), very good price.
CONS - the engine does not sound good at high revs, you have the impression that something is about to fall apart (it's just an impression, nothing has ever happened), less travel comfort than the competition - quite a hard sofa, a little less space for a passenger, you need driving into it, it is not "easy" to drive from the beginning.
BMW R1250GS
PROS - always keeps its price, comfortable, easy to drive, great engine flexibility, cardan shaft.
CONS - the suspension doesn't help with very dynamic driving, it's a bit too comfortable, the very mild engine in the low rev range has no character, the motorcycle is probably the least fun to drive.
Ducati Multistrada V4S
PROS - super powerful engine, super good suspension and best handling in the class, super comfortable position for both driver and passenger, you can still go fast under load, good QS, probably the fastest machine in the class, and at the same time the most comfortable.
CONS - high price, burns a lot, on hot days it warms around the thighs.
Honda Africa Twin AS DCT
PROS - comfortable position, great standing position, automatic that you can get used to and then the driving comfort increases, easy handling, great, GREAT suspension - and comfortable and hard enough, beautiful engine sound
CONS - low power, the engine needs to be turned high, a little less comfortable compared to the competition seats, a bit heavy for the amount of HP
BMW S1000XR
PROS - engine, flexible and smooth in the low rpm range, powerful and still smooth in the mid-range, dangerously strong and crazy between 8,500 - 11,000 rpm.
Super cornering, super stable at high speeds, crushing brakes, lots of fun to drive.
CONS - not as comfortable as the competition, a bit hard, not suitable for descents even on gravel
HD Pan America
PROS - Nothing to write home about.
CONS - poor build quality, nasty plastics, bad-sounding engine, exhaust manifolds that are hot and easy to burn, radiator that heats up from the other side, inconvenient for the passenger, hard to drive, expensive service. Overall, HD still has a lot of work to do on this bike.
Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Pro
PROS - great handling, nice-sounding engine with an ideal dose of power that is easy to control, very comfortable, good brakes and a perfectly working gearbox, cardan shaft, gives a lot of fun to drive, does not get hot, good purchase price, low fuel consumption, great position standing.
CONS - a bit too soft suspension settings (I only use the hardest setting, which is ok), with two people for me too soft suspension, for tall drivers the air intakes on the fuel tank can be a bit disturbing (I touched them with my knees), the factory fastener could give a better wind shield, when changing the engine load at low gears - e.g. when we are driving at low revs and without gas, and we want to add a little gas at the exit of the turn, you can feel a slight play on the cardan shaft, which causes a slight jerk.
WHICH WOULD I CHOOSE?
If I had to choose to buy one motorcycle from the travel enduro segment now, I would have a big dilemma. However, Tiger has for me the most desirable features in this class of bikes. Because:
Multistrada V4S gives the most fun to drive and great comfort, but it is very expensive, smokes a lot, and it's a bit of a pity in the field.
The R1250GS is a sensible choice, but it's not as fun to ride as other bikes, it's a bit boring.
Africa Twin - a great motorcycle, if I was looking for something big with a purpose more than asphalt, but it is a bit underpowered and a bit heavy.
And there's Tiger, which has probably everything - it's at a good price, gives a lot of fun to ride, gives comfort, standing position and agility give me confidence that it will also do great off asphalt, so it's very versatile, and it's the only with the GS it is on the drive shaft.
If they made it a bit stiffer suspension, it would be a really great bike.
But the choice would not be easy, the dilemmas of what to buy are difficult, because most of the bikes in the segment are good (except HD), I also really like the KTM 1290 ...
This in turn is just my personal opinion…
We have been organizing motorcycle testing holidays for some time, we had a lot of people here and practically everyone has a slightly different opinion about the bikes we test.
Everyone is a slightly different rider, prefers a slightly different riding style, some prefer aggressive big V, others prefer smooth power delivery.
Everyone is also built a little differently (height, weight, leg length, etc.), which means that the ride comfort will be different for everyone.
I'm not a fan of choosing a motorcycle based on motorcycle tests done by journalists (of course I respect their work and most of them know what they write or talk about), because these tests are usually quite objective and a bit emotional.
I believe that the most important are your own riding feelings, it is also often the case that the first impression is wrong, only after some time, after driving the right amount of km, we are able to get to know the motorcycle and only then "give an opinion" about it.
The holidays we organize allow you to get to know motorcycles better, because each of them can be ridden for longer (the whole day) and in the right conditions (the best motorcycle routes in Europe).
So do not treat this text as an opinion that should be suggested when choosing a motorcycle.
I always encourage you to check for yourself which motorcycle will be best for you.
But I can tell you that the new Tiger is really good, it's worth checking out.
