You like pussy? Try a Tiger

[MD]

Well by odd circumstance it seems I have found myself with a Triumph Tiger demo bike in my gagre for the long weekend. Weird thing is I took this bike out for a weekend a month ago and it was a black Tiger. Here it is, the exact same bike in my gagre but this time it's white. Someone wanted to buy a Tiger from Motorad but not their white one for sale, so they swapped the panels off their black demo.

Anyway, sitting here relatively pissed at this point after a pleasant barbie, flushed down with a couple of Summer ales, followed by a couple of Mr J Walkers best, now I'm on to Jim's best bourbon. Always mix your drinks. That way, when you chuck up no one has any ideal what you have been drinking. Shit, sorry, where was I... no bloody idea? Oh yeah, Tiger review.

This bike is really growing on me. In the shop, as so often happens, the colour white looked like puke to me. Get it outside, ride it, park it up and wow, it works. White IS the new black. Purrfect. (that is such a crap phase but what's a person to do)

Don't tell anyone but I've racked up far more than a few hundred klicks on this big cat now. Each mile and I like it more. Yes the suspension is super plush and soft but it still seems to get around a bend bloody well. Ground clearance is way better than expected. I've touched down the pegs and considering the touring Metzler Road something or other tyres that I've never been on before, that's a big tick in the "it can carve a corner" box.

Next box. Brakes. Yep, similar brand to my Daytona I think. Didn't even need to read the manual. They must be the same brand because they work the same way- If you pull the lever on the right bar rearward the front brakes apply. Press down with your right foot and the rear locks up and gives you a fright. Must be the same type of brakes. Pull the front lever back hard enough, after a brief gentle moment to compress the, oh so soft forks, and it will either skid or if you do it right... launch the rear sky high. Another tick in a box. Actually I found this quite amusing to endo such a high/non-stunt type bike. And it does it well.

Power is as power is...Sorry, a Forest Gump mindless comment that I have no idea how to finish. But it sounded good for a moment. Well it's a triple so power is just silky smooth and all over the bloody place. Handy if you are one of those people always losing stuff. You just can't find yourself lost for power on a triple. One of my favourite sensations on the Tiger is rising out of an apex and just feeling the torque rip your arms out as it blasts you out the other side of the bend. Great fun. Tick box.
And yes, it has ample power to wheelie if required.
COMFORT is in another world to anything I've owned for years. In a good way if you're not sure what I mean. So easy to ride, so easy to flick from side to side. The weight, which I think is quoted at 198kg dry, but don't quote me on that, disappears once on the move. Much like most of our licences.

My only gripe is the seat is ridiculously high. I know , I know, I look so silly riding along with a step ladder strapped to my backpack. I have sat on one with the alternative lower seat, and just as the name suggests, it's lower! Wow, why can't they make that the standard and put the high seat in the accessories brochure under - f@%$#ing stupid tall seat suited for 1% of the world population, only $10,000 extra. Maybe the panniers come with a built in ladder system?

Mirrors work great. Gauges are good but it lacks a gear indicator which is just odd since Triumph have similar looking dashes fitted across the range but some do and some don't. Instead the Tiger has a nice readout of how many Ks to go until you can take the step ladder off your back for a moment.

I would write more but it's time to replenish my glass. Give me a sec and I will add a picture just to show what a professional I am.

[zadok]

I love my pussy. A newer model may be nice, but nothing wrong with the old one.

[MD]

See. It's a white Christmas

[98tls]

I love my pussy. A newer model may be nice, but nothing wrong with the old one.

Ive a mate(member on here) with a blue example of the old model and he to loves it to bits,be nice to read a comparison (real world) between the two,i long ago stopped taking any notice of bike magazine comparisons.(sorry Dave)

[_Shrek_]

I love my pussy. A newer model may be nice, but nothing wrong with the old one.

if you tend to ride on the metal then the bike you have is the right one the newer one's rear break hangs off the bottom or have mag rims but they are nice to ride and handle well

[86GSXR]

Couldn't agree more with your write up there MD. I got myself one of these beauties a couple of months back and LOVE IT. 10K service next week in fact. Funnily enough, mine started out as Blazing Orange, but I got the shop to change the panels to blue. But the Orange still looks damn good imo.

I've cranked up my suspension quite a bit and the scraping isn't too much of an issue now, I was initially quite surprised by that though as they look so high eh. If you buy one, you may be able to get hold of the Triumph magazine, issue 2 I think it is which has a feature on Kevin Carmicheal stunting the hell out of it and loving it.

God it's comfortable and, Triumph being Triumph, naturally have an 'low' seat as an accessory. And a 'high' seat for those real lofty buggers.

Totally flickable

[NZsarge]

Couldn't agree more with your write up there MD. I got myself one of these beauties a couple of months back and LOVE IT. 10K service next week in fact. Funnily enough, mine started out as Blazing Orange, but I got the shop to change the panels to blue. But the Orange still looks damn good imo.

I've cranked up my suspension quite a bit and the scraping isn't too much of an issue now, I was initially quite surprised by that though as they look so high eh. If you buy one, you may be able to get hold of the Triumph magazine, issue 2 I think it is which has a feature on Kevin Carmicheal stunting the hell out of it and loving it.

God it's comfortable and, Triumph being Triumph, naturally have an 'low' seat as an accessory. And a 'high' seat for those real lofty buggers.

Totally flickable

Love that second pic, miss the FZ1 a bit but life goes on, agree the Tiger is a lot more capable at scratching that the high riser looks suggest it might be and yes it is supremely comfortable.

[86GSXR]

I thought you'd like that one

[zadok]

God it's comfortable and, Triumph being Triumph, naturally have an 'low' seat as an accessory. And a 'high' seat for those real lofty buggers. Totally flickable

I'm only just 6' and when I first got the cat it felt really tall. The seat is on the lowest setting as well. I got used to it in no time and can't imagine going back to something much lower. I tried out the new Bandit 1250 for size and it felt small!
The new 1050 is lower I notice.

[86GSXR]

That's interesting, as the 1050 is still quite high. I'm about 5 11 and sometimes have to reach for the ground, but it's never been a major issue for me.

The other thing I didn't quite like initially was the position of the gear and rear brakes levers, as they are both set quite close to the engine which caused a few fluffed gear changes as your boot can quite easily slip up or down off the lever.

The rear brake is very sensitive as well and you do have to be careful under heavy braking due to the large mass upfront. The front brake really makes up for this though with superb feel and stopping power. I'm totally used to both of them now though.

It's quite competent on gravel although I haven't as yet given it a real test. On the shortish sections I have done the bike was definitely telling me to use caution given the 17 inch wheels and quite high C of G.

It's definitely very much at home on the road, and every time I ride it on such I appreciate it more and more.

I would like a performance pipe though, as it has a really deep triple boom, which the stock pipe can't convey unfortunately. Luckily there are a few available.

[Elysium]

Saw a nice looking Tiger at BP Rangi this morning, was that your bike 86GSXR?

[86GSXR]

Yes it was. I was gassing up and I briefly saw you doing the same, nice machines those Hornets. There was a Speed Triple in there as well.

[robo555]

Slightly silly question, I understanding swapping the panels for a different colour, but how did the tank change colour, did they swap that as well?

[86GSXR]

Yes they did, everything coloured came off and swapped over. I got a bit of a deal on a brand new chassis and engine as there were a couple of nicks in the blue paint, doesn't worry me and ANZA came through very nicely on sorting that out too

[oldrider]

That's interesting, as the 1050 is still quite high. I'm about 5 11 and sometimes have to reach for the ground, but it's never been a major issue for me.

The other thing I didn't quite like initially was the position of the gear and rear brakes levers, as they are both set quite close to the engine which caused a few fluffed gear changes as your boot can quite easily slip up or down off the lever.

The rear brake is very sensitive as well and you do have to be careful under heavy braking due to the large mass upfront. The front brake really makes up for this though with superb feel and stopping power. I'm totally used to both of them now though.

It's quite competent on gravel although I haven't as yet given it a real test. On the shortish sections I have done the bike was definitely telling me to use caution given the 17 inch wheels and quite high C of G.

It's definitely very much at home on the road, and every time I ride it on such I appreciate it more and more.

I would like a performance pipe though, as it has a really deep triple boom, which the stock pipe can't convey unfortunately. Luckily there are a few available.

Had a Thunderbike can and tune on my 955i, very impressed, in fact loved it but I tended to ride 20mph faster and it gave my wife a headache with a following wind.

She said get one by all means but she would not ride with me any more if I do. Case closed, damn it! John.