New Tiger 1200 XRt Test Ride

A warm and sunny afternoon in Somerset so what better to do than pay a trip to my friends at Total Triumph to have a quick spin on the new Triumph Tiger 1200.

Jumping off my current Tiger Explorer XCa (Khaki Green that I have customised with Tiger Stripes) and straight onto a New Tiger 1200 XRt (White) I was able to compare my "old" 2017 with the new "2018"

Here are my thoughts

The Name: Explorer has now gone and it is just called the Tiger 1200. I liked the name Explorer as it sums up what I do with the bike however, a name is just a name. I understand the desire to strengthen the Tiger name however, it would be nice if Triumph would do a special version with a bigger tank, off road tyres, full crash bars and a few other "expedition" extras and call it an Explorer

The 1200 Tank Decal: Can't see it when riding and clearly I thought the tank was bland on mine as I added tiger stripes, but can't help thinking it is just following BMW's lead. Anyway, if you are going to put the bikes engine size on the tank why not put 1215?

Keyless Ignition: I do see lots of issues here with starting the bike, riding off, stopping at cafe, can't start, realise key is at home etc. I am still not sure on how secure it is, time will tell. I would really like this to be an option rather than an as standard

The Display: Nice, clear, no issues in bright sun, easy to read but all of the same applies to my current display so can't see any particular benefit here other than keeping up with BMW.

The Ride: Something felt different, a little more "flickable" maybe? But bear in mind I have large crash bars on mine so it may have been the difference in high up weight. The arrow can sounded nice but can't say I noticed the extra 2 bhp. The quick shifter worked well but again not sure it was really needed.

Rider Position: Here I really noticed the bars being a little closer to the rider and this definitely made it far less of a stretch for me (5' 6") to the bars. So much so, I have ordered a set of the new 2018 bars to be fitted to my current bike when it goes in for is 10k service next month.

LED Lights: No comment as day time ride only

The Weight: "Up to 11kg lighter" are the claims, well yes it would be as the new model comes with either no or much smaller engine bars and no pannier racks. There is clearly some massive weight saving here along with the much lighter Arrow exhaust. I reckon this accounts for about 8 to 9 kg of the weight saving.

The Verdict: A very nice bike and the only thing I really don't like is the keyless ignition. It is certainly not a different enough bike for me to consider upgrading at this time (having only had mine 11 months) as the differences are not significant enough but it certainly is a great bike.
 Maybe in a few years time when all the problems are resolved and these things are proved to be secure, I may change my mind but right now it is a no no.

Should you buy one? Honestly I would be tempted to grab one of the deals on existing 2017 models that are available for well below list price but when these stocks run out, then yes, it is a great bike.