Maddmatt
Explorer
OK, I'm putting this post up for several reasons:
1) There's not enough posts in this forum
2) It's a rainy Sunday morning
3) I had a phenomenal 10 hour day on the bike yesterday, and I'm still charged up from the awesomeness that is the Tiger 800 XC
So, about me - 49 years old, father of 2 teenage girls (Happy Father's day everybody!), faithful EXPO follower/lurker since the Expeditions West Tacoma days, and casual/armchair adventurer, but relatively new to motorcyles. That's enough of that.
About the bike: 2012 Triumph Tiger 800 XC. Perfect. I bought it with 20k on the clock, every farkle known to man, every service record since new (including a folder with the receipts and manuals for every farkle) and exactly one (1) scratch. I know, right? I saw it online at a consignment only dealer about an hour's drive away, thought it looked too good to be true, so I drove down there just to remind myself that internet pictures don't usually hold up in real life. But I brought the checkbook just in case.
It was so nice I had to sit on several other bikes to try to talk myself down. But I was sold when I walked in. After the usual but easy back and forth, I wrote the check and we loaded it onto my truck. I also brought the ramps, you know, just in case....
Pictures or it didn't happen, here it is the day I brought it home, panniers taken off just because....
If you're looking for the Tiger 800XC review, here it is: Perfect.
Not enough? Upright riding position is comfortable for hours. Incredibly deep torque well means you can pass at any time, in any gear you happen to be in. I weigh just over 200lbs without gear, and riding at high altitudes, uphill, I can tell you for a fact that it can safely pass a slow moving semi, starting at 45 mph, in 4th gear without downshifting, ending at "did I already pass him?" speeds, with zero drama. And then the exhaust burble from the inline triple when you back off the throttle has to be one of the best sounds in the world.
Stable and predictable on dirt, but take that with a grain of salt. I have decades of mountain bike experience, but am new to dirt riding on the motorcycle. But I'm learning.
So that's hardly an unbiased review. I love this bike.
It replaced a 2006 Ninja EX500R. Also a great bike, and was my first. When I decided to finally get a motorcycle, I bought a helmet, took the MSR class (highly recommended), and then bought the Ninja on Craigslist. And then put 4,000 miles on it in three summers, and minus consumables (oil changes, tires, carbs rebuilt) I sold it for $50 more than I paid for it. The Ninja was not without it's charms, and was a fantastic learning bike, but in reality the Tiger is much easier to ride in every situation. I don't regret the Ninja at all, I think the height, weight and power of the Tiger would have made it a challenge as a first bike. Here they both are before the Ninja went to it's new home.
Forgive the messy garage...
So that brings us to yesterday. My location at the base of the Rockies means worldclass riding is easy to access. For those keeping track, yesterday's ride consisted of Rist Canyon, Poudre Canyon and then some Forest Service roads until lunch, then back down the canyons, hanging out at a Starbucks while the downpour passed (lucky timing) and then home. Total mileage was right around 280, and plenty of time to stop and take in the scenery. I didn't take any scenery pictures, but here we are at our lunch stop.
Eagle eye'd readers will notice that I was riding with two other Tiger riders. Strange coincidence, a guy I've been friends with for 12 years or so, unbeknownst to me, bought his Tiger right around the same time I did. And he has a friend from work who also has one, so there you go. And yes, we are treading very lightly, we stopped for lunch in a designated ( but unused at the time) National Forest camp site. So all is good...
That's it, like I said, no real point to this post, other than I had time to kill on a rainy morning. Safe riding everybody....
1) There's not enough posts in this forum
2) It's a rainy Sunday morning
3) I had a phenomenal 10 hour day on the bike yesterday, and I'm still charged up from the awesomeness that is the Tiger 800 XC
So, about me - 49 years old, father of 2 teenage girls (Happy Father's day everybody!), faithful EXPO follower/lurker since the Expeditions West Tacoma days, and casual/armchair adventurer, but relatively new to motorcyles. That's enough of that.
About the bike: 2012 Triumph Tiger 800 XC. Perfect. I bought it with 20k on the clock, every farkle known to man, every service record since new (including a folder with the receipts and manuals for every farkle) and exactly one (1) scratch. I know, right? I saw it online at a consignment only dealer about an hour's drive away, thought it looked too good to be true, so I drove down there just to remind myself that internet pictures don't usually hold up in real life. But I brought the checkbook just in case.
It was so nice I had to sit on several other bikes to try to talk myself down. But I was sold when I walked in. After the usual but easy back and forth, I wrote the check and we loaded it onto my truck. I also brought the ramps, you know, just in case....
Pictures or it didn't happen, here it is the day I brought it home, panniers taken off just because....
If you're looking for the Tiger 800XC review, here it is: Perfect.
Not enough? Upright riding position is comfortable for hours. Incredibly deep torque well means you can pass at any time, in any gear you happen to be in. I weigh just over 200lbs without gear, and riding at high altitudes, uphill, I can tell you for a fact that it can safely pass a slow moving semi, starting at 45 mph, in 4th gear without downshifting, ending at "did I already pass him?" speeds, with zero drama. And then the exhaust burble from the inline triple when you back off the throttle has to be one of the best sounds in the world.
Stable and predictable on dirt, but take that with a grain of salt. I have decades of mountain bike experience, but am new to dirt riding on the motorcycle. But I'm learning.
So that's hardly an unbiased review. I love this bike.
It replaced a 2006 Ninja EX500R. Also a great bike, and was my first. When I decided to finally get a motorcycle, I bought a helmet, took the MSR class (highly recommended), and then bought the Ninja on Craigslist. And then put 4,000 miles on it in three summers, and minus consumables (oil changes, tires, carbs rebuilt) I sold it for $50 more than I paid for it. The Ninja was not without it's charms, and was a fantastic learning bike, but in reality the Tiger is much easier to ride in every situation. I don't regret the Ninja at all, I think the height, weight and power of the Tiger would have made it a challenge as a first bike. Here they both are before the Ninja went to it's new home.
Forgive the messy garage...
So that brings us to yesterday. My location at the base of the Rockies means worldclass riding is easy to access. For those keeping track, yesterday's ride consisted of Rist Canyon, Poudre Canyon and then some Forest Service roads until lunch, then back down the canyons, hanging out at a Starbucks while the downpour passed (lucky timing) and then home. Total mileage was right around 280, and plenty of time to stop and take in the scenery. I didn't take any scenery pictures, but here we are at our lunch stop.
Eagle eye'd readers will notice that I was riding with two other Tiger riders. Strange coincidence, a guy I've been friends with for 12 years or so, unbeknownst to me, bought his Tiger right around the same time I did. And he has a friend from work who also has one, so there you go. And yes, we are treading very lightly, we stopped for lunch in a designated ( but unused at the time) National Forest camp site. So all is good...
That's it, like I said, no real point to this post, other than I had time to kill on a rainy morning. Safe riding everybody....
and 2) on the rare occasions when I ride at night I found the reflection from the lexan cover distracting.
