LONG travel suspension, flexible engine, comfort, protection, ruggedness. These are all important words or phrases in the adventure rider’s vocabulary. The best adventure bikes have these very qualities, and so does Triumph’s new Tiger 800 XC. This is not some parts bin special, it’s all-new, a truly capable and exciting motorcycle, and the culmination of over three years of hard work by Triumph’s designers.

It’s such a popular market dominated by some truly great motorcycles, and the Triumph crew knew they had to build the right bike straight out of the box to compete against such strong opposition. It’s not perfect, no bike ever is, but bloody hell it’s good, and at $16,250 ($1000 more for ABS model) it’s priced to make a big impact on its market sector.

Tantalising triple

The factory stuck to inline three cylinder engine layout it knows extremely well, although it’s not just a big bore Daytona 675 engine as most pundits expected. According to Triumph UK’s Darrell Taylor, the designers knew the peakier supersport style engine wouldn’t cut it as a adventure mount powerplant, so they built a new 95 horsepower 12-valve engine which shares only a limited number of parts with the sports bike’s 675cc engine. A 74mm bore is shared by both engines, but the Tiger has different pistons, although the same rings are used.

A longer stroke is where the extra capacity comes from. The head casting is the same but everything inside the head is new, likewise with the gearbox; the shafts are the same but the gear ratios are different, as you would expect. About 75 per cent of the engine is all-new, but there’s a couple of interesting new touches which is sure to please adventure riders.

Firstly the dipstick is gone, replaced by a sight glass. Checking your oil level in the middle of the Simpson Desert is easy now, just wipe of the dust and there you go. No chance of dirt and grit falling inside now. The other is a 645-watt alternator which is oil-cooled. With the amount of electrical gadgets you can get for, or run, on this bike this foresight by Triumph will surely be a hit with riders, especially when it’s cold and dark and the heated handgrips, spot lights (optional extras), and if you are lucky a heated vest, keeps working without flattening the battery.

A 3:1 exhaust has the catalytic converter way up front neat the collector which is to help the engine comply with current European pollution laws. Apparently being closer to the exhaust ports makes the bad gasses burn off quicker. In keeping with the bike’s design brief, the air intake is positioned high up under the seat so ingesting water and dirt is less of an issue than it could be.

Ancillaries

The all-new frame is made from tubular steel. It’s an odd shape, but cool looking. Why is it steel and not alloy? That’s because it can be easily repaired in far flung countries where alloy welding hasn’t quite become common. Just about any little town will have an electric arc welder lying around so bending, heating or welding the frame isn’t a big issue at all. Keeping the frame as minimalist as possibly, Triumph decided to run the swingarm pivot through the engine crankcases. Not new technology but certainly not common on adventure machines.

Steel is also used for the foot brake and gear levers. Those who have tried to bend a bent alloy lever back to its rightful place will know the heartbrake when you say to yourself, “i’ll just go that bit further”, and then it breaks. Not so with flat steel – bend at will.
45mm Showa forks are non adjustable and allow 220mm of wheel travel. At the rear the Showa single shock has preload and rebound adjustment, with 215mm of wheel travel. Keeping things in check are dual four-piston Nissin calipers and 308mm discs, while the rear brake is a twin-piston Nissin caliper and 255mm disc. Switchable ABS is optional but at the time of the test non were available in Australia. When you read this they should either be here or not far away.

As the XC is more off-road oriented than its standard sibling (a test of the Tiger 800 will be in a later issue) it uses a 21 inch front wheel and a 17 inch rear wheel, with a 90/90 - 150/70 Bridgestone Battle Wing tyre combination. Spoked wheels are used, with Excel rims, which interestingly aren’t tubeless like in some other adventure machines. A KTM 990 Adventure I owned used tubes, while the BMW R 1150 GS which preceded it didn’t. Truth be told, I never got a flat from either so it was never an issue. In reality I don’t expect this will either.

Seat height is adjustable which is great. Two positions are available, 845 or 865mm. It’s so easy to change the seat height it’s ridiculous. A huge elastic band holds the bars in place, and you simply put them in the lower or higher slot. In their highest position I found it nigh on perfect for me, a six footer. From there the reach for the ’bars was good. I did get the guys to rotate the ’bars forward and up later in our ride so they were better placed for standing up while on the dirt. If this isn’t enough, you can switch around the offset handlebar clamps to put the ’bars even further forward. They are nice and wide too, some 30 odd mm wider than the standard Tiger 800.
Everything else forward of the rider is very functional, like the instruments (with dual trip meters, gear indicator, fuel gauge and distance to empty etc), handguards, screen. You could say the whole bike looks very functional, designed to do the job rather than be pretty. But it’s this utilitarian style that actually makes it cool looking.

On road

The standard tyres are suitable for 90 per cent road and 10 per cent dirt riding. On the road you can push them very hard before they start to cry enough. I wasn't really surprised how much grip they had, and the front end gives enough feedback and therefore confidence to shove it into corners.
Lumps and bumps aren't an issue with the suspension fitted to the XC. At first I found the rear end a bit stiff so I just wound back the hydraulic pre-load a couple of clicks and it was fine, only giving a bit of a jolt on big sharp bumps. At the front the only time the forks weren't really happy was a series of potholes or the like. Overall though it was very hard to complain about the suspension, and I think the Triumph engineers have got it pretty close to the mark, and most riders would be very happy with the compliancy of the forks and shock. Hard core riders might like to play with it a bit but I wouldn't think their numbers will be many.

We did everything from cruising through open country roads, tight windy mountain roads, and freeway jaunts in heavy rain and high wind. I think top speed is irrelevant on a bike like this. I certainly never bothered to find it but let's just say there was enough on tap to be loads of fun, whatever the conditions. It would have to be one of the most flexible engines I've ever sampled. 100km/h in sixth gear has the motor spinning at 4500rpm. I reckon the gearbox ratios, final gearing and torque of the engine makes it a great ride in any conditions. At one stage I was in sixth and pulled off the road to barely a crawl, then rode off in top gear because I forgot to back to first. I was amazed it could do that. I was even in top gear on many of the dirt roads we encountered. This doesn't mean it's too low geared, far from it. Simply put, the engine is a gem.

Comfort is a real plus on this bike. If I've sampled a better seat on any other bike I've ever ridden I must have a short memory. It is the right density, shape and width to let you ride seemingly forever. We did close to 500 kilometres on the first day of the launch and I felt like I could have done hundreds more no probs. The combination of the seat/’bars/’pegs positioning adds to the awesome seat. I know it's a personal thing but for me Triumph got that part especially right.

Off road

If I owned an XC – and I could easily see one in my garage – I'd replace the standard tyres with something a bit more off-road oriented. Look at Pirelli's Scorpion MT90 or even its chunkier Rallycross tyre. Dunlop has its D603-607 range (plus others), Michelin's T63 is a good on/off road tyre, as is the Anakee. I quite like Kenda's new K784 Adventure, and its K270 Claw tyre too. I could go on, and every tyre manufacturer has a tyre which covers what I'm talking about. In short, I don't feel the standard tyres are good enough for the type of riding I would do if I owned the Tiger 800 XC because I like to do more off-road work than Triumph reckons most XC owners will do. This is not a criticism of the bike or its standard tyres. Many of these 70 road/30 dirt tyres give very good traction on road surfaces, and offer much better traction off road than your usual more road-based tyre.

I took the time to read an overseas test from the world launch of the Tiger 800 XC. One area the tester was a little critical was the front brakes which he deemed to be 'spongy' and lacking in bite. I wondered where most of his riding was done. On the road you could ask for better brakes when you are riding very hard in tight roads but on the dirt I found the brakes to be spot on. I like to lock up the rear wheel on the dirt to help aim the bike where I want, and I could do this while still holding a decent amount of front brake on to help me slow up without the chance of locking the front wheel. I don't agree with the particular overseas tester, I think Triumph got it right.
While the flexibility of the engine makes the XC great on the road, it's perfect in the rough stuff too. It doesn't seem to matter what gear you're in, the XC just motors along.
There were times the suspension bounced and skittered around on corrugations and the like but I never found it enough of an issue that it detracted from the bike's performance.

Verdict

If Triumph doesn't sell plenty of these I'll be very surprised. It's certainly on the money price wise, and as an adventure tourer it's an awesome first time effort from the English company. Sure, Triumph has offered the Tiger as a model for some years now but none of them have been as serious an off-road tool as the new XC.
Triumph has a shed load of accessories for the bike too. From luggage and tall screens, to alloy bash plates and Arrow mufflers.
I've owned a number of adventure tourers over the years so I've got an idea of what works and what doesn't. And the new Tiger 800 XC works.