2024 Triumph Tiger 1200 Review
When MCNews.com.au was lucky enough to attend the awesome 2022 Aussie launch of the massively redesigned Tiger 1200 Rally variants almost two years ago exactly, I came away impressed by just how cohesive a package the Hinckley crew had brought to the market. I said at the time, after an amazing five-day ride through the Flinder Ranges, that it was as good an all-rounder as you’d find from any brand. And I stand by that.
Two years on, they’ve rolled out incremental updates to the whole Tiger 1200 family that improve upon what is a cracking bike.
The summary of those updates are:
- Some engine internal ‘inertia’ focused tweaks to the wonderful T plane triple, designed primarily to smoothen but also strengthen the bottom end feel and delivery. Aimed at making it even more usable
- A revised, flatter seat shape for extra comfort and body position freedom
- An active preload reduction feature now built into the trick active suspension that allows the rider to lower the bike by up to 20 mm with the touch of a button
- And revised footpeg and foot control position for additional cornering clearance on the GT variant
I had a chance to sample these changes on all four Tiger 1200 variants at the launch of the updated model here in Victoria. Two days of touring West of Melbourne, that saw us take in everything from city streets to highway sections, bumpy tarmac backroads, sweeping gravel roads and damp forest trails.
The four variants in question are two road and two off-road focussed models. The road focussed GT Pro and GT Explorer, both getting 200 mm travel and cast wheels, the Pro getting a 20-litre tank, while the Explorer runs a 30-litre tank and a few extras like blind spot detection as standard.
Likewise the Rally Pro and Rally Explorer have 220 mm travel and spoked wheels, with the Explorer running that 30-litre tank and a few extras. Interestingly enough, global sales between the four models are shared almost exactly equally between the quartet.
Now with well over 300,000 kilometres under my belt aboard Tigers of various displacements and vintages, it shouldn’t have surprised me that I felt at home on the updated Rally Pro pretty much immediately. Relaxed ergos – check. Great build quality – check. Super comfortable ride even on rough roads – check. Glorious T plane triple engine – most definitely check.
I am openly smitten with the T plane triple. It’s one of my two favourite engines. Utterly glorious, with a level of feel and character that surpasses anything with two-cylinders, in any format. You can’t help but smile when you twist the mitt. And the changes they’ve made, have only made it better.
It’s now slightly smoother and more controlled off the bottom, and to my buttometer at least, a little stronger. The most obvious change that I noticed first? It’s now easier to wheelie! That is always going to be a win from me. There was a chance of rain coming from midday of the first day of the launch, so I made sure to get some practice in early and banker wheelie shots in the bag at my first opportunity. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
The 1160 cc triple pulls just so cleanly off the bottom, with a quick-shifter that is one of the best. It’s happy to snick through gears at almost any throttle opening or rev range, front up or down. And the soundtrack that goes with it. Oh lordy. What starts with that trademark intake growl around 4 thousand revs just builds and builds into a symphony as the revs rise, more akin to a V4 than any other configuration.
It’s a soundtrack that would give even the most pious choir boy impure thoughts. Pant stretching stuff. I can only imagine what it would sound like with a full system on it… More than once, the journos on the launch would turn at each other and just smile while listening to an oncoming 1200 being wicked up while we waited our turn for a photo.
Speaking of wicking it up, it’s not exactly short of hump either. Peak output remains at 150 horses and 130 Nm. Which is to say that there is grunt aplenty. But the ace up its sleeve is the way it’s delivered. So usable. It never seems to catch you out or do anything unpredictable.
For me the engine is the defining element of the platform. And combined with the trick rear tri-bar suspension set-up that seems to result in slides and drifts on gravel that are endlessly playful. The progression from grip to slip to grip again is so controllable with the throttle. On par with any other bike I can think of. On balance, I find the big Tiger the most usable, playful and comfortable of the big Adventure bikes.
The other changes? I didn’t notice the flatter seat shape change that much to be honest, I’m sure if you rode the old model back to back you would. But it seemed certainly easy enough to move around on fore and aft as you needed to move your weight around and was plenty comfortable for extended miles. That said – this was another change they’ve made based on customer feedback and for that I applaud them.
Continuing with the ergos – the tweak to the foot-peg and controls location on the GT versions was done with a view to increase cornering clearance and unlock some more on-road performance. Comfort-wise it seems barely perceptible which is a win, apparently they’re moved up and in-board, without shortening the length of the peg itself.
The standing position remains one of the best out there, meaning off-road and gravel shenanigans are child’s play. I’m not sure if there is another bike that betters it in that regard, though a couple are certainly up there, the Multistrada Rally being one of them.
Don’t get me wrong, these are big bikes and like the other big Adventure bikes only an experienced pilot will want to be punting these through very tricky terrain. But man… do they rip a decent skid. Gravel road slides for days. If you’re into drifts. You need one of these under you. Harness the inner Red Bull on a deserted bit of gravel backroad and you’ll feel like a hero in no time.
Speaking of tricky terrain and being big. I was surprised at just how well balanced and behaved they are at low speed, even with full tanks. As long as you keep these bad boys moving that weight is barely noticeable.
That weight becomes more apparent when manoeuvring at standstill or doing things like 180-degree flick turns or three-point turns on uneven single lane tracks for the snapper. Certainly enough to keep you on your toes. Lean it over too far and you’ll know it. Good thing those crash bars are proper sturdy.
It’s unsurprisingly more noticeable on the big Explorer variants when fully fuelled (those 30-litre tanks will get you past 600 kms by the way). Even more challenging for those amongst us who might be a little vertically challenged. Which is where the new suspension tricks come into play.
While it retains the active suspension from the previous model, it now adds active preload reduction to its suite of tricks. Holding the home button on the right switchblock will lower the bike by up to 20 mm depending on what the active pre-load already has you at for the load.
That might not sound like much, but could come in handy in those tricky situations. Getting your way through a tricky rut or manoeuvring around at standstill as mentioned.
Probably the only ‘miss’ that I would have liked to have seen in the update is in the electronics department. Traction control related. There remains only a TC ‘on’, or ‘off’ state for the Off Road Pro mode – with the levels of intervention not able to be dialled up or down.
The on state is slightly more conservative than I’d like so I end up running it switched off. Which I personally don’t mind, but it’s a workaround. In an ideal world you’d have a few stages of intervention to choose from. You certainly don’t need eight or ten. But three or four would be the ducks nuts. Particularly if the two lowest settings allowed front wheel loftage…
The plus side is that each of the multiple riding modes are able to be fine tuned for ABS, suspension, map and TC settings. My sweet spot was in Off Road Pro mode, suspension as firm as it would go, TC off. I left it that way even on tarmac. I preferred the Off-road map rather than the Sport map, which I found a little more eager than necessary. Road map was fine though.
The only other negative I can call out is that the funky rear suspension set-up requires a little more knowledge and time to remove the rear wheel than a ‘regular’ swing-arm. While that won’t be an issue for 90 per cent of riders, those wanting to go fully off the reserve and into remote outback areas unsupported will need to consider it and learn the technique. But for most riders, in most markets, I don’t think that’d be a show stopper at all. It’s not stopping me from shortlisting it for my next purchase…
I’m told the Triumph boys got pretty good at it when they recently set the world record for distance travelled in 24 hours on a motorcycle. Spanish Motocross and Enduro legend and now brand Ambassador Ivan Cervantes managed a staggering 4,012 kms at the Nardo high speed ring in Italy. On a fully standard bike. Through the night. Some of it in the rain. That’s an average speed of almost 170 km/h including stop times. Amazing. They absolutely smashed the previous record by around 600 km. I wonder how far I’d get in 24 hrs of seat time of mostly gravel… That’d be interesting… Hmmm.
I’ll have one for an extended video review soon, so I might just have to try and find out. In the meantime, blag yourself a test ride. If you haven’t ridden one before, I think you might be surprised… Plenty of fresh stock just landed and available now too apparently. That Matt Sandstorm colour is even better in the metal than in pics. That’d be my pic – in Rally Pro guise. Yummo.
I like the Tiger 1200 because:
- That T plane triple engine is just utterly glorious and now even smoother and more usable down low
- It remains one of the best full sized all-round Adventure bikes. Capable, comfortable, easy to ride and loaded with kit
- Such a great standing position and the connection between the throttle and the rear wheel will make you look like a slide king on a bit of gravel…
I’d like the Tiger 1200 more if:
- I’d love a few levels of TC settings rather than just on or off
- And stopping to put it into and out of Offroad Pro is a bit annoying. Which is why I’d probably just leave it Off Road Pro unless I was doing big highway seat time and wanted to use cruise control
Triumph Tiger 1200 range at a glance
- Tiger 1200 GT family; for the road-focused adventure ride,
with 19” front and 18” rear cast aluminium wheels
Tiger 1200 GT Pro (20-litre tank)
Tiger 1200 GT Explorer (30-litre tank) - Tiger 1200 Rally family; for the all-terrain adventure, with 21” front
and 18” rear tubeless spoked wheels
Tiger 1200 Rally Pro (20-litre tank)
Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer (30-litre tank) - Dedicated wheel dimensions for enhanced capability tailored to the ride
21” front / 18” rear tubeless spoked set-up for off-road supremacy (Rally Pro & Rally Explorer)
19” front / 18” rear cast aluminium set-up for dynamic road riding capability (GT Pro & GT Explorer) - Large fuel tank capacities
20-litre (GT Pro & Rally Pro)
30-litre (GT Explorer & Rally Explorer) - Triumph Blind Spot Radar System, developed in partnership with Continental (GT Explorer and Rally Explorer only)
- Showa semi-active suspension set-up for dynamic rider control
- 7” TFT instruments with integrated My Triumph Connectivity System
- Optimised Cornering Traction Control with IMU
- Up to six riding modes
- Keyless system, including ignition, steering lock and fuel cap
- LED lighting with DRL, plus Adaptive Cornering Lights
- Triumph Shift Assist as standard
- Heated grips and seats (heated seats standard on GT Explorer & Rally Explorer only)
- Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (standard on GT Explorer & Rally Explorer only)
- Hill Hold
(click to enlarge in new window)
Triumph Tiger 1200 Pricing
- Tiger 1200 GT Pro from $30,790 ride-away
- Tiger 1200 GT Explorer from $33,390 ride-away
- Tiger 1200 Rally Pro from $32,490 ride-away
- Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer from $34,690 ride-away
