To Tiger or not to Tiger...

[High Center]

I have a K7 DL650 Vstrom and have enjoyed the bike a great deal. I've logged over 30 thousand trouble free miles over my years of ownership and it has shown no signs of flagging.

In spite of this....I feel like a move to something different, perhaps a bit bigger. Maybe its the persistence of highway travel or the I-95 commute? For whatever reason, the Tiger 800XC has popped up on my radar and seems to have achieved some residence in my searchtempest habit.

Firstly (and most importantly:ylsmoke it like its looks; fierce in that refined British way...It also looks a bit like some dystopian cyborg thing at times- which has to be loved. Moving on to more practical things: the greater displacement has to help on the highway without too much penalty in weight over the smaller vstrom. I also assume that the inline 3 cylinder well be substantially less buzzy at "herd speed" on I-95.

("Herd speed"- one of my defensive tactics while riding the highway is to imagine myself jogging amid a herd of stampeding Buffalo.)

Off (or unimproved) road riding has been a bit less than I would have wanted for my vstrom and I see no change in those habits going forward. My guess is that the Tiger would probably do everything the vstrom could do and certainly everything that I would ask of it.

Lastly, its British, don't you know?

Anyway- Has anyone here made this switch? I would love to hear your experiences. For that matter any Tiger owners input would be valued.

Best,
DB

 

[jkam]

I had an 04 DL650 and beat it up pretty good. It was a very reliable bike for me.

While I don't own a Tiger I have ridden a friends and it is a very fun bike to ride and seemed to do well in the day that I got to ride it. Mostly back roads in the Texas hill country which it was perfect for. A little freeway riding which it had no problems doing.
I liked the way the throttle response was, it was smooth and no hunting or surging.
It is a great looking bike as well and plenty of goodies available to make it how you want it to be.

I'd say, go for it.

 

[hansrober]

I have a few modern Triumphs, including a Tiger Explorer. I have had excellent experiences with Triumph and great service from my dealer. Those triple cylinder engines have wicked smooth power that sounds just rite.

 

[Martinjmpr]

I'm on Hinckley Triumph no. 3, mine is a 2002 Bonneville but previously I've had an '08 Scrambler and an '01 Thunderbird triple. All great bikes, very well made and can keep up with the best of them.
.
The biggest "issue" you may have is not with the bike itself but the fact that your nearest dealer may be a good distance away (although I believe Triumph USA is headquartered somewhere near Atlanta?) And some MC shops won't work on Triumphs for some reason.
.
I ride with a local RAT group (Riders Association of Triumph) here in Denver, that's the manufacturer sponsored [although just barely] club. Lots of guys in the club have Tiger 800's and they all rave about them. The only negatives I've heard is that some of the early models had EFI mapping issues that I think were resolved by a dealer service, and one guy had a 1200 XC Explorer that I think the dealership ended up buying back under the lemon law. We are fortunate to have not one but FOUR Triumph Dealers in the Front Range area of Colorado so that makes them a bit more attractive to a potential buyer here. Triumph has been doing very well sales-wise and I think (not sure) that they are the 2nd best selling Euro brand after BMW.
.
I currently have a BMW as well for my long distance riding needs (a 2002 R1150R) but I have to admit that if I won the lottery tomorrow the first thing I'd do is sell the Beemer and get a Tiger 800 road bike (I prefer the "road" version to the XC because of the cast wheels that allow the use of tubeless tires.)

 

[High Center]

Great thoughts gents. Thanks.

Martin: One of the attractive things about Triumph to me is the tradition behind the bikes and the apparent fraternity that accompanies it. Have your bikes been generally reliable? Most of what I read leads me to the assumption that they are.

Hansrober: Is there a good dealership in Jax?

 

[hansrober]

The long answer is:sombrero:......The dealer here in Jacksonville might be great, but after stopping in there several times I was never treated very seriously or very well. Daytona BMW Triumph Ducati on the other hand has been awesome to me. I have purchased 4 bikes from them so far. They have always gone out of their way for me. Last time I was down there for service the owner came out and thanked me for my business at the dealership. He then told me about an awesome Caribbean restaurant (Caribbean Jacks) a few miles down the road on the water and if the wife and I were hungry to go have lunch and bring him back the receipt, it was on him! I have never been treated like that at a dealer! The place was pricey and awesome! To boot, my sales guy let me borrow his car while they were finishing up my bike! They have treated me very well.
Recently I traded my Thruxton for a new Ducati Hyperstrada. I hate to admit it but I made an trade inquiry at our newly opened Ducati dealer here in Jacksonville. I was shocked when I was offered 2 grand less on my Thruxton than Daytona was willing to give, and they discounted the Hyper $1500. Sorry if thats to much info but I am usually not impressed with the way businesses do business , but they have consistently impressed and gone out of their way for me and I like to brag on them when I can!
They are about 90 miles south of me so its a ways to go but they keep proving its worth the ride.

 

[High Center]

Daytona dealership it is....
We need more people like that in business (all business) and I am more than willing to do my part to keep them going. Thanks again for the info.

 

[BADDANDY]

I'm totally happy with my Tiger 800XC. 30,000+ miles. Nothing has gone wrong with it since I bought it at the 5,000 mile mark.

 

[High Center]

That....

....is a good looking bike, friend. I notice the windscreen visor. Is the buffeting bad? The Vstrom took some getting used to in that respect (I'm no shrinking violet- the DRZ has nothing up front and I like it just fine.)
What year is your bike?

 

[BADDANDY]

It's the tall screen which still needs to be 8" taller for clean air. The visor helps, but with some buffeting. It's a 2012.
My 12 year old DRZ is again ready for the trails after only one riding weekend last year.

 

[KiwiKurt]

for highway commuting get a BMW touring bike....

but if that just isnt your style, the tigers seem pretty cool. the new 2015 models got all sorts of upgrades, the biggest being the suspension and cruise control.....pretty sweet.

 

[High Center]

Mine (DRZ) is about the same vintage and has been similarly neglected. I put a Safari tank on it while fantasizing about a TAT assault...
I love that thing- pure motorcycling.

I wonder how the buffeting compares to the vstrom?

 

[BADDANDY]

Over 13,000 miles, mostly single track.




Had this for 6 months and hated it. Overweight and oversized KLR which I hated also.

 

[High Center]

Kurt- those bikes really are good but not at all to my taste. I rode a friends 1200 RT. It handles like a bike half it's size but felt....sterile for some reason.

Bad- I'll post a pic of mine when I'm back at the barn. I painted it black...to help with being seen....you know...

 

[dhally]

Did you ever get a Tiger? I switched from an old style WeeStrom to a Tiger 800 Roadie. Even though the specs on the bikes are very similar, I liked riding the Tiger a LOT more. Handling, riding position, and of course the motor were all just "right" for me. The Tiger had a Madstad windscreen which almost eliminated buffeting. I tried several different setups on the Weestrom and could not get rid of some very annoying buffeting. The Tiger XC probably handles a bit different due to it's height.

The Tiger did have some negatives - fuel range was barely 200 miles, the transmission was somewhat narrow ratio (tall first, short 6th), and my right leg/foot got hot on hot days.

I liked riding the Tiger (fast) so much I decided to get away from street riding and concentrate on dirt/dualsport to lengthen my lifespan. Now I've got a WR250R and a Sherco 300i (4stroke enduro racer).