RIDE IMPRESSION – Triumph Tiger 800XC

Greg Smith

Adventure riders, step up! There is a new ride in town and it’s ready for anything you want to throw at it. The all-new Triumph Tiger 800XC is geared squarely at BMW’s F800 buyer and produces enough of “everything” to demand the attention of all adventure riders, existing owners included.

The adventure market sells many idealistic riding scenarios in their brochures when, in the real world, those same conditions can soon turn torturous if you’re not well prepared both on and off the bike. Triumph’s new Tiger 800XC is more than capable of doing anything that you are likely to see in those glossy brochures – or at least, anything you’re willing to put yourself through in real life. So far as preparation goes, the 800XC has more than enough available accessories for any adventurer. They’ve even gone so far as to offer a “create my Triumph” web page that shows what the bike will look like with all of your must-have accessories mounted.

Enough of the lead-in. ‘So what’s it like?’, I hear you ask. Well, as a long-retired motocross rider and occasional enduro rider, I can honestly say this bike outperformed all the expectations in my mind when I first viewed it. Yes, the bike is heavy on paper. But on the trail, it feels light and nimble, handling anything I threw at it. And believe me, plenty was definitely thrown at it!

The engine – 799cc, liquid-cooled, 12 valve, DOHC, in-line three-cylinder number – is an amazingly well mannered off-road power plant. It got enough bottom-end to short-shift on the open road, and more than enough top-end to help loft the front while swallowing up fire-break roads at speed. The engine was the highlight for me; most big-bore adventure bikes have an uncanny knack of locking the back wheel when getting off the throttle quickly, which can be disastrous in the wrong conditions. This engine has a two-stroke-like feel on deceleration. And even at high rpm deceleration, it doesn’t lock the rear enough to upset the bike’s balance under braking. The power is strong and feels almost electric the way it’s spread across the entire rev range. On the open road, I found it better to sit around 4500-5500rpm, but on the dirt the engine suited the conditions around the 6500-7500rpm range. How smoothly the engine runs is largely due to the Keihin EFI system, which was developed by both companies behind closed doors. The bike does have a small “pop” from the exhaust on deceleration, but that’s just the Euro3-compliant components doing their thing.

A six-speed gearbox uses a gear monitoring system to help the EFI understand how it needs to treat the fuel delivery. That is, there’s a custom fuel map for each gear. Sixth gear is an overdrive to help with economy on the highway. The gearbox isn’t clunky, but I would assume it will become a little smoother as time goes on. I did hit a false neutral once or twice while trying to navigate through some tight single track. The clutch felt fine for me, but I was surprised to see it was still cable-operated and not a hydraulic unit like most of its competitors.

Suspension is always the difficult thing to get right in this all-purpose segment of the market. It has to cater for all shapes sizes, and rider abilities. And then pillions and accessories come into play as well as! Triumph elected to use Showa components front and rear with a quality ride as the result. The bike is remarkably well mannered in all scenarios with it bottoming only in extreme off-road scenarios. I reckon the balance between its on-road and off-road performance is right on the money for most riders. The bikes were fitted with Metzeler Karoo T hoops that did a good job on the varying surfaces we tested. But I’d like to see what the bike could do on a set of aggressive knobbies.

Ergonomically, the XC feels large when you first get onto it, but nothing anyone familiar with the adventure segment would call big. I’m 184cm and weigh around 90kg, so most bikes in the adventure segment suit my height and weight, but not many have the ability to feel comfortable both sitting and standing. The 800XC also gives people on either side of “general/average/boring = my size” the ability to adjust the seat height and move the handlebars in many, many configurations. Externally, the bike has little damageable bodywork, meaning only the front guard and tank need to be polished after a ride.

QUICK MENTIONS

The 800XC has the ability to power a small town with its class-leading 645W liquid-cooled alternator. It starts charging from 600rpm and was a design priority. Which is little wonder, considering all of the electric accessories available, such as heated grips, driving lights, GPS mount, etc.

There are a large number of tie-down points and helmet hooks, and a storage area on the back of the bike as standard. The front headlight has a quick adjuster on the back that lets you dim the light if you’re pointing at the treetops. The digital dash is easy to read and relatively easy to use. When the fuel light came on for me, I got a further 40km out of the tank. The 19-litre fuel tank is good for 300km plus.

THE WRAP

The 800XC has definitely been a welcome addition to the increasingly popular mid-sized adventure category, and only time will tell if it can gain some market share from BMW’s class leading F 800 GS. In saying that, I’m sure the bike won’t disappoint anyone who finds time to take it for a test ride. With the BMW priced at $17,490rrp and $13,999rrp for Yamaha’s XTZ660 Ténéré, the 800XC definitely delivers a great bang for buck ratio coming in at $16,290rrp.

It’s now time to park that big-bore enduro bike and join the masses that are trading their 1 hour rides on the weekends for a two day long getaway. We now have choice!

Specifications:

View the gallery of the test ride.

Links:
Triumph: http://www.triumph.co.uk/australia/8278_8280.aspx
Create my Triumph: http://www.triumph.co.uk/australia/Create%20My%20Triumph.aspx
Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPy3Lndjx1A