Triumph Tiger Explorer

[la-motor]

Camera angles can be deceiving. Don't the wheels/tires on the S10 look a lot bigger than the Triumph's? They're exactly the same size.

- Mark

Very true...but camera angle doesn't explain the difference in handlebar height, seat height, and the headlights/tail lights height in the front and rear pics.

 

[Venture]

I'd say you see it the way it is.

Really? All the specs showed it to be the taller bike.

I'm going to demo ride both the Tenere and the Explorer on May 12th at a local demo day. I'm going in with an open mind, and I'm really curious to see which bike impresses me more.

 

[Z06]

Really? All the specs showed it to be the taller bike.

I'm going to demo ride both the Tenere and the Explorer on May 12th at a local demo day. I'm going in with an open mind, and I'm really curious to see which bike impresses me more.

Very interested in your report. Have been interested in Explorer since it was announced. Still seems to be a neat bike from all I have seen. Not sure I want to ride one. Have alot invested in the Tenere time and $ wise.

 

[GrahamD]

Really? All the specs showed it to be the taller bike.

I'm going to demo ride both the Tenere and the Explorer on May 12th at a local demo day. I'm going in with an open mind, and I'm really curious to see which bike impresses me more.

Interested to read you report as well. Is there a gnarly dirt road section involved though. (say for 100Km )

I can see YAMAHA (depending on what motivates them) having to move this bike more toward the street end of the spectrum and away from the initial dirt/tarmac compromise because of the reality of test days and magazines that don't touch dirt and the reality that I think for a lot of people this is a "lifestyle" purchase not a "need" purchase.

 

[Paulvt1]

I have a test ride booked on the Tiger for Wednesday. It'll be interesting for sure. As for a street version of the S10 - how about a TDM 1200? - with 17 inch wheels, it should be a tool to be reckoned with.

 

[Paulvt1]

Had one for an hour this morning. Impressive. I think for anyone who finds the S10 motor lacking, then the Tiger may be one solution. Very fast and capable. Good chassis. All in all, a damn good machine.

 

[snakebasket]

MCN in the UK tested all the Adventure bikes a couple of weeks back and got an experienced off-road rider (Enduro chap) to try the Explorer Vs KTM Vs GS (No idea why the excluded the Tenere from this part of the test) on some loose ground (Woods, gravel tracks) and he rated the Triumph very good and better than a GS. They did rate the Yamaha as decent off-road though, pity they did not include it against the others as I would expect it to be second to the KTM.

Overall they rated the bikes:-

1. Explorer
2. Honda Cross-Tourer
3. Ducati MTS
4. BMW GS
5. Yamaha tenere
6. KTM
7. Kawasaki Versys
8. Moto Guzzi Stelvio

The test was mainly on UK roads and most of it on Motorway (Typical of UK bike mags, a romp up and down the M1 is an "Adventure" to them - much further than the normal 50 laps of the nearest race track they base all their opinions on)

MCN seem to have a good relationship with Triumph, they have had several competitions where the prize is a Triumph and in the test edition they were giving away an Explorer..........

 

[hANNAbONE]

...I'd own the Explorer, I'm lovin' that triple howl.!!

not right now though - as I'm having a love affair with my new sweet sinister black mamba Supa10

 

[Venture]

Had one for an hour this morning. Impressive. I think for anyone who finds the S10 motor lacking, then the Tiger may be one solution. Very fast and capable. Good chassis. All in all, a damn good machine.

This could get interesting. I've decided instead of doing the demo day on May 12, I'm going to step up and do a private demo of both bikes. I have a part on order for the KLX so I need to head over to the dealer anyway. I figure they can give me a number on the trade-in for the 1050 if I decide to go that route instead of a private sale.

This is going to be interesting. I'm going to have to remind myself that there is more to life than just the engine, because the engine is what sells the Triumph bikes. It inspires...lust.

How did you feel about the weight distribution of the Explorer? Is it up high as everybody is suspecting?

Remember, you can always pop on over to http://triumphtigers.com and share your experience for the good of the masses.

 

[eemsreno]

Interested to read you report as well. Is there a gnarly dirt road section involved though. (say for 100Km )

I can see YAMAHA (depending on what motivates them) having to move this bike more toward the street end of the spectrum and away from the initial dirt/tarmac compromise because of the reality of test days and magazines that don't touch dirt and the reality that I think for a lot of people this is a "lifestyle" purchase not a "need" purchase.

I sure hope not, there is enough fake Adventure bikes out there allready.

 

[GrahamD]

I sure hope not, there is enough fake Adventure bikes out there allready.

Same here, but the reality I think is that people make lots off assumptions about big bikes off road and if you can't get off road then YAMAHA is behind the eight ball from the start.

I hope they do parallel model not a replacement. This bike is exactly what I want, but I had to do the homework first, just to make sure. not many people tend to do that. It's almost exactly the same thing I learned years ago when I was making things.

 

[Paulvt1]

The weight distribution of the Tiger is excellent. it does feel heavy with a full tank - but on the move it feels very good.

 

[RockyDS]

Personally I see all these big bikes as Adventure bikes, not wanabee dirt bikes. If you want a dirt bike, buy a dirt bike. There's plenty of very capable dirt bikes available and if you need to be legal on the street, there's choices there too.

A 450lb + motorbike is not a dirt bike and those people who buy them thinking they are, will be disappointed. Can top class riders ride them at high speed across difficult terrain in endurance races like the Dakar? Yes, of course.

We'd all like to be able to do that, but most of us can't and never will. However awsome it would be, that's not the sort of anventure 99 percent of us will ever do.

The big bikes are built for the highway, the road and trail, for riding two up if you want and for carrying your gear - all in relative comfort. They're not designed for riding to and around the local gravel pit (but you can do that if you want and I have). They're designed for riding any distance, loaded up, and not restricted to the smooth asphalt. Anything a road bike can do an adventure bike can do, but then the adventure bike takes to the gravel, the rough farm track or the logging road. It's all an adventure.

::009::

 

[GrahamD]

Personally I see all these big bikes as Adventure bikes, not wanabee dirt bikes. If you want a dirt bike, buy a dirt bike. There's plenty of very capable dirt bikes available and if you need to be legal on the street, there's choices there too.

Thought you might find this interesting...

Sorted by Rake

Model Rake / Trail
T800XC 23.1 91
GSXR100023.5 97
T800 23.7 86.2
T1200 23.9 105
YZF-R1 24 100
MTS1200 25 109
VFR1200F 25.5 101
DL650 26.5 110
DL1000 26.5 110
DRZ-400 27.5 109
XT1200Z 28 126
XT660Z 28 113
VFR1200X 28 107
DR650 28.5 111
M109R 32 103

And just for reference...A sports bike from 30 years AGO.

GSX1100S Katana 28º50". Trail, 118 mm.

Interesting that the Big S10 is down there with the DRz and DR650 XT660 and the Tiger is up there with the Gixxer and R1.

Which engine would be closest to a thumper?
Which bike most resembles a nuclear powered dirt bike?

So yes I agree to a point, but just because a bike weighs X doesn't automatically disqualify it off road.
Nor does the fact that it has 500Metres of suspension travel alone make it work well off road.

So I agree, most people ASSUME that that big bike they are riding will be a handful off road based on some experience with road bikes.

But if they are set up like a dirt bike the on road (test ride) experience may be a bit dull but then off road it may be a damn sight easier than people expect based on weight alone.

I think Suzuki keeps claiming that the DL650 will never really see off road 95% of the time. And I think it is also fair enough that most people will really want a Jacked up road bike just like most people don't buy "real" 4W drives because of the weight and lack of "Sporty" character.

But there is still a bunch of different compromises going on and in the case of the S10 I would say that most people who don't ride them will get the assumptions a bit wrong.

BUT it will be a bit of a job to control a 260Kg bike with a 50Kg Jocky sitting up top. Small people may want to gravitate to the smaller models.

All i am saying is that some of the Adventure bikes are designed from the start to work better off road and some aren't.

 

[Rasher]

It also depends what you call "off-road" as I (probably like many others) like to take to the odd "unpaved road", very few of these in the UK but in Europe they are quite common.

This does not involve berms, table tops and 70 degree inclines, but the odd bump, loose dirt / gravel and maybe some pot-holes and ruts - for the most part you could ride them on a sportsbike, but an "adventure bike" will do these roads with ease and without tearing off the lower fairings / killing your wrists / arse.

I think any of the bikes with a 19" front rim will do this easily enough (so includes Triumph and Honda) although I suspect the Yamaha (and BMW) will probably do it better. The ability to explore these rarely travelled tracks and trails is a huge benefit to me, but as the bike is going to be used 99% on the road then the bike must perform very well on tarmac first and foremost.

None of these bikes (Yamaha Included) are really designed for full-on off-roading and will all look pretty poor after a few drops and I certainly cannot afford to turn a £10k+ machine into an almost wortheless wreck.

 

[eemsreno]

Thanks Graham

Model Rake / Trail
T800XC 23.1 91
GSXR100023.5 97
T800 23.7 86.2
T1200 23.9 105
YZF-R1 24 100
MTS1200 25 109
VFR1200F 25.5 101
DL650 26.5 110
DL1000 26.5 110
DRZ-400 27.5 109
XT1200Z 28 126
XT660Z 28 113
VFR1200X 28 107
DR650 28.5 111
M109R 32 103
And that's just how it will handle off road, just like an R1

 

[RockyDS]

All i am saying is that some of the Adventure bikes are designed from the start to work better off road and some aren't.

Absolutely correct. And generally speaking if they're better off road, they're less capable on road.

The rake/trail info is very interesting.

 

[Venture]

Thanks Graham

Model Rake / Trail
T800XC 23.1 91
T1050 23.2 87.7
GSXR100023.5 97
T800 23.7 86.2
T1200 23.9 105
YZF-R1 24 100
MTS1200 25 109
VFR1200F 25.5 101
DL650 26.5 110
DL1000 26.5 110
DRZ-400 27.5 109
XT1200Z 28 126
XT660Z 28 113
VFR1200X 28 107
DR650 28.5 111
M109R 32 103
And that's just how it will handle off road, just like an R1

I added the rake and trail of the Tiger 1050 to that list as well. This discussion is helping me remember all the things I dislike about the Tiger 1050, and the off-road capability is one of them.

I'll keep telling myself not to get too thrilled with that Tiger 1200 engine...

 

[GrahamD]

None of these bikes (Yamaha Included) are really designed for full-on off-roading and will all look pretty poor after a few drops and I certainly cannot afford to turn a £10k+ machine into an almost wortheless wreck.

Well, my experience with a DL1000 taught me that it would have a higher chance of turning into a "worthless wreck" than the my experience with the S10 off road.

But in both bikes favour was the fact that the plastics were about the only things that ended up damaged. The radiator on the DL was in the wrong spot and I had a few occasions when I had to go and hose it out after it got clogged with mud but I felt the need to fit crash bars pretty quickly after my first off road experience. It was just a bit nervous that was all. Definitely doable but it was not "in its element". took a lot more concentration than the S10 does. But both bikes are pretty tough and have unboltable bits so you don't have to replace Whole frames if a back peg hanger gets damaged. (See Tiger800). Just some more things that add weight but don't have the bike written off at the slightest whiff of damage. Hopefully that will keep the premiums down a bit as well.

I am not about to join a group of thumpers on a cross dunes safari on the S10 though, but it just makes it a lot easier to do all terrain than the Strom did.

The slower steering I have now gotten used to and don't think about it anymore on road, but off road where things are less predictable I still notice the difference.

So yes the fact that you have money sunk into a bike like this will be add a bit off nervousness for some people, me included, but on the other hand I could have sunk a lot more into another popular brand so I am a long way ahead already.

::021::

 

[Rasher]

I started to go off the Triumph before riding it, just got back from a weekend trip, obviously the GS suffered a few faults (Blown Bulb / ABS Warning / Failed Heated Grip) but this was pretty insignificant compared to the Brand New (400 miles when we left the UK) Tiger 1050, by the 1,000 mile mark it was vibrating badly at cruising speeds. this started off as a shaking at 85mph and by the time we got home (with about 1800 miles on the bike) it was vibrating at anything over 70mph.

The 7 year old / 50,000 mile TDM 900 with us had no such drama's, the same guy has a simialr age / mileage Thundercat that has also been completely reliable, in fact the pair if them have had a set of fork seals and one coild pack during the combined 100,000 miles - my GS at under four years old and under 20k has had six faults since I bought it at 6k - and if some stuff was not dne under warranty would have cost over £1200.

The one thing driving me to the Yamaha over the Triumph / Honda / Another GS is the fact it will almost certainly be reliable and relatively easy to self service - and if you do need a pro they can be had for about £50 and hour for Yamaha as opposed to £80 - £100 an hour for BMW and Triumph.

Tempted to NOT even test the Triumph, just in case I end up buying a Lemon :exclaim: