August 14^th 2011

To see our posts while we were on our trip look in the archives of  this blog for the date June 29th – August 11th 2011.  We did the BLOG live from the road while we were away.

By Cheryl & Leslie

After riding the Tigers that were loaned to us by Triumph Canada for 13673 KM or 8496 Miles we both feel confident that we have an informed opinion. We spent 44 days on the some of the harshest roads we have ever ridden on in BC, the Yukon and Alaska.

This bike was truly put through an average ADV rider’s trip. No magazines, no professional photographers, no back up team, we are not professional riders or reviewers. We are normal hard-working grrls who commute to work every day and try to get in one decent trip per year. We ride on the street a lot but also head into the back woods on forestry roads and some that would be considered ATV like.

Like we said in our first review we do not beat on our bikes. They are an investment and we try to take care not to dump them while definitely having a great time. This is why we ride dual sport bikes, we love getting off the main roads and find one’s that we can be by ourselves.

Let’s quickly talk about the obvious stalling issue we had throughout our trip. If you were following our ride than most are aware our bikes randomly stalled when the bikes got down to 1200 RPM’s. We still to this day cannot figure out the root cause so Cheryl learned that in order to finish our trip if she opened the throttle just a bit while tweaking the throttle cable and sort of tightening it the bikes would start and not stall for an unknown period of time. We also let the bikes completely reset before making any adjustments to the throttle cable. We tried while on the road disconnecting the batteries and doing a complete reset of the bikes which appeared to work for a few says but the bikes ended up stalling throughout the rest of the trip.

Both bikes had exactly the same problem just at different times. Triumph tried to get the bikes “fixed” while we were in Anchorage and we thank the Motorcycle Shop and Triumph for doing their best but it only lasted until we got to Skagway. To reiterate, we learn to live with this stalling and are not aware of a fix yet but we are confident Triumph is on top of this and should be rectified as soon as possible. Our thoughts are that the Throttle Position Sensor is involved and has nothing to do with the integrity of the triple engine.

Despite the stalling problems we think the world of this bike.

OK, so enough of the stalling issue.

The TIGER XC:

Cheryl LOVED the bike the moment she got on it. It took me about 2500 KM until I realized this was a very capable bike on the road. By the time we got to Dawson Creek from Maple Ridge we both agreed ergo’s and seat comfort (we had the Triumph gel seats) made this bike way more comfortable than our 2010 BMW F650 (798)GS. It is obvious the seat on the Tiger is wider and allows the rider a level of street comfort that surpasses the BMW well-known plank seat. BMW saddle is more narrow, almost dirt bike like and does not make for a comfortable street touring seat.

In reality Cheryl and I look for street comfort because we work 90% of the time. The Tiger, with the gel seats, rubber inserts out of the pegs creates a very nice riding position. Initially I thought I was riding a sport bike with my knees higher than I was used to, but it didn’t take long to realize that with the rubber inserts out, my seat adjusted on low we were both able to really appreciate the peg position, handle bar location and we eventually both fit nicely in the “cockpit” that never seemed to tire us.

The Tiger felt much bigger than our 650 at first but then began to feel lighter and easier to handle. We noticed the 21 inch front wheel right out of the gate. Both really like the feel the larger front tire give the bike on and off-road. Our Beemer’s have a 19 inch front tubeless tire compared to the Tiger’s 21 inch tube. The British have done something really well with the Tiger, although the width of the bike is greater than both the 800GS and 650GS, the tank is up top versus below the seat on the BMW’s, this bike in the end feels lighter and more balanced than our Beemer’s. Not sure how they did that but this Tiger never felt heavy. The Tiger is less nibble, but again street comfort and the eventual obvious off-road handling that we had to do up North makes this a very versatile DS mid size bike.

Style:

The Tiger looks very similar to the 800GS but when you see them side by side they do not look as similar as one would think. We like the idea that both headlights are on while lights are on low. Good visibility. We had the Triumph fog lights on our bikes. We ran them on all the time for more visibility and they did their job. We would love to see Triumph as an HID version of their fog lights. The Tiger looks beefier than the 800GS, wider and more substantial in looks. We like the looks of both bikes but because the Tiger is a little heavier and when sitting on the bike your butt is better supported on the seat, we favour the Tiger on road stability and comfort.

Engine:

The Triple engine is incredibly smooth at low RPM’s and high. The 94 HP engine cannot even compared to our 72 HP BMW. The Tiger to us feels most satisfied at about 6000-6500 RPM’s but having said that the fuel economy goes drastically down when riding this bike the way it really wants be ridden. We notice a drastic change in gas mileage when we had to slow down due to road conditions. We would try to keep the bike in and around 4500-5000 RPMS when we needed good gas mileage. Example: Speeds of over 110 KPH with RPM’s over 5000 we would sometime use over 6 litres of gas for every 100 KM. If we dropped the speed to below 110 and hovered the RPM below 5000 we could get at times 4.9 L per 100 KM. Such a HUGE difference. So, use the power on the Tiger you will pay the price at the pump. Not a deal breaker but this is something we never noticed on our Beemer’s.

The bikes low-end power is easy to handle riding off-road. The throttle is easy to control where as the Beemer’s we have the throttle is snatchier. You do get used the BMW’s touchy throttle though like anything else. High gear power is insane. Passing in 5^th the bike easily powers through anything. Never once did we feel as though we needed to down shift to pass those bike rigs on the road. There is plenty of power in the higher gears.

When the bike decelerates the muffler makes a pinging noise. Cheryl and I have decided we love that little Triumph noise that others complain about. Does not bother us at all.

The engine is quiet, smooth and powerful.

Off Pavement:

Here is a list of some of the roads we did up north:

Robert Campbell Highway, Dempster Highway, Top of the World, Dalton Highway, Denali Highway, McCarthy Highway & Cassiar Highway. Those are the major dirt roads we got to experience in the rain and very rarely sun.

Between our tire choice the Heidenau K60 Scouts, the bikes and maybe the riders, the Tiger handled every road situation we got ourselves in famously. Well balance, easily controlled the Tiger won our confidence after the Dempster.

After that all other roads became almost routine and as our riding skills got better out of sheer survival because of all the rain we rode in the Tiger became our life line. No issues at all with the throttle control, power and even at slow speeds the Tiger is one hell of a bike to ride. The tires need some air time because there were many opportunities for the roads to slice, puncture and just wear the tread out. Our K60’s lasted the entire trip and we will still have tread life left on them.

Here they are on August 11^th 2011 at the end of the trip

13673 KM.

Suspension:

Although we did not cross over river beds or hit too many “jumps”, the suspension was able to handle the rocks, craters, pot holes and frost heaves that we encountered. I think we both bottomed out our front forks maybe once after hitting what we call a crater in the middle of some road. The centre kickstand annoyed me as it would slap the under carriage on rough terrain. We even tried to use a bungee cord to help hold it in place but that did not work. Perhaps heavier duty springs could be used. The Tiger suspension with the pre load and dampening plug adjusted to meet the weight of our gear and luggage, smoothed out even the roughest roads. Quite impressive for stock suspension.

Overall Impression:

We LOVE the Tiger. It meets or even surpasses our riding needs and wants. The level of street comfort is huge since that is what we ride most of the time due to work. However, there is no doubt in our minds that the Tiger is indeed a true mid-weight DS bike that we think has created a class of its own. It is really hard to compare this bike with the 650 or the 800GS bikes because it just feels like a better rounded bike. The BMW’s lack that street comfort, even our 650GS which is supposed to be the street version of the GS family. Initially I thought the Tiger was just that, a beefed up street touring bike but as we stated in the above, this bike has been on more rough roads than we have ever been on before this Alaskan Adventure and shows off road competency and confidence which will impress most average, not hard core ADV riders.

We wish Triumph would add an on/off ABS button and make the dash more user-friendly by adding a toggle button like BMW. I really find the manual sequential button controls still annoying after all these KM’s and the lack of temperature gauge also bother me. I would add a nice CLOCK 4 Bikes gauge if I kept this bike. (Saw the in Anchorage while staying with Gary & Deb on their bikes)

The Accessories:

JESSE LUGGAGE

As Jesse’s reputation goes we stand by this luggage set. Top loading, great latches, waterproof and durable. The mount that Al Jesse has created for the Tiger is awesome. Have a look.

You have to add a muffler extender but this is easy to do as Jesse send the extension and clamp with the mounts. It just pulls the muffler further out so the mounts and bags can fit closer. The Jesse luggage is lean and tight to the bike. The design helps with any drag that can easily be felt by other brands of luggage.

No drag and if balanced you hardly even notice they are on the bikes. One thing we found out, you need to watch the weight on the top of the side cases and when we strapped our dry bags on top of the gas cans we had initially the latches came loose and would open up. We just changed the location of the cans and that put less stress on the brackets. We used Rok straps and you can really pull them tight.

Triumph Accessories:

Adjustable Touring Shield:

This is a great accessory and can be fitted to the rider and riding situation with ease and it works. We would like to see Triumph add an aluminum bracket to help stabilize the shield a bit more. Also, that bracket could be used to locate your GPS or SPOT. The shield shakes too much when off-road. We would keep this shield if we owned the bikes. Looks stock and does not look at of place. Great job there Triumph.

Sump guard:

We have read reviews worried about the lack of coverage for the oil filter. We were concerned about that too but throughout this trip our sump guards got whacked but who knows what so many times and still looks great. Our filter never got damaged. Could be luck but we would keep the guard too because it is a substantial piece of metal and seems to have decent coverage.

Engine guards:

Another decent Triumph accessory but we would like to see Triumph add a fairing protection too. When you have no luggage on the bike if dumped the fairing could easily get damaged as the engine guards would not help up top.

Gel Seats:

Awesome and the fact that Triumph allows the rider to choose between two height settings as well as a low or regular height seat makes this bike more appealing to shorter riders. We have heard that the gel seats will heat up to the point of burning your butt but we did not ride in too much heat to see if they would ever cool down. The bikes did sit in about 30 degree C for a few hours one day and when we got on with our KLIM pants on we did not feel they were overly hot. We would keep the gel seats. Never once if you read all our updates did we complain about butt pain.

Other accessories we added:

Touratech front fender riders, 20 mm handlebar risers for Leslie’s bike and Touratech kickstand extender/foot print.

ALL necessary and not expensive. We would keep them all!

Kriega front fork seal protectors:

Worth every little penny to protect such a vulnerable part of the bike up north. Nothing more to be said, they worked and are so easy to install and cheap.

Boots:

Triumph ADV boots. 100% waterproof, breathable, comfortable just one thing, when riding on the pegs for hours like we did on the Dempster the foot beds of these boots could be considered a little thin. As for everyday riding and not 1000’s of KM off-road requiring standing these are perfect for most riders.

Gerbing’s Heated Liner:  Could not have lived without this.  We both like to be comfortable on the bike and heated gear is how we ride all year-long in BC.  Worth every penny and if we had the Triumph heated grips would have been perfect.  The grips were not installed for us, they did not arrive in time.

Gloves:

We brought many pairs of gloves.

Gerbing’s Heated gloves – used them about 90% of the time. It was cold and wet. Although the outside of the gloves would get wet we never truly felt our hands get wet by the time we stopped for the day. I treated them with Nikwax leather stuff before we left. Cheryl’s right glove gave out by the end of the trip. These have a lifetime warranty so I will be sending her glove to Washington to get fixed. Overall, life saver for us as we did not have the Triumph heated grips to help out.

Triumph ADV gloves

Great for cool days, waterproof and comfortable.

KLIM ADV vented gloves

Not waterproof but gave us good ventilation on the days we could wear them

KLIM Powerxross glove

Waterproof, wind proof, little protection but comfortable and do what they are supposed to do, keep you dry and relatively warm.

SUITS:

KLIM Traverse – Perfect suit for this trip. We never ever got wet and were able to vent well when needed. This suit is really perfect for more of the dirt bike rider. Lack pockets and needs vents on the arm, not just under the pits. KLIM is coming out with the Badlands and Latitude suits this fall and they look like a home run for street/off-road riders. More pockets in the Jackets and more abrasion material. However, since we HATE water proof liners, KLIM is our gear of choice probably for as long as we continue to ride in tons of rain and in climate weather. Love the Gore Tex outer shell water proof protection.

Under wear:

We have been wearing LDComfort under gear and for 2 years now. The under gear keeps you warm and cool, easy to wash, comfortable, looks relatively new after all this wear and tear. Great stuff and again will be a part of our gear set up always. Great wicking ability too. Secret to this underwear is not to wear real underwear under it. Just a thought!

Intercom:

Cardo G4. Overall we are satisfied with this system. They survived huge amounts of pouring rain and they are not really considered to be completely water proof. The voice activation and at times trying to hear one another can be annoying as the mic has to be exactly in front of your mouth at all times. Voice activation is fickle but then again could be because we put these things through hell. Easy and quick to charge, long use time too. Highly recommend. You can also pick up local radio stations if you have it set to roam, listen to music via Bluetooth, answer your phone if necessary and pair with another 3 sets.

Sleeping bags:

Simple, we need warmer bags if we were to camp out again in the cold that we experienced up in the north.

Tent:

Mutha Hubba tent is a great three season tent. Kept us dry in pouring rain, easy set up and break down and still looks brand new. The foot print was used and appreciated.

Helmets:

Cheryl has the Arai Profile and Leslie has the Shoei Qwest.

Cheryl loves her Arai, light and airy. My Qwest is not that bad but a little heavier than I like, it is quiet but not as quiet as the Arai.

Inverter:

The inverter came in so handy when we had no power at a camp site. Never once did the Triumph battery seem to be negatively impacted by charging our camera, intercom, computer batteries. I would rotate bikes but would fully charge at least our intercom to make sure we were good to go on the road. Great little addition to long distance riding.

In the end, we LOVE the Tiger XC even with the stalling issues and all. The engine was sound the entire trip, the chains did stretch very fast, not completely sure why, but in the end many have asked….would you take the Tiger over our BMW and the answer is still YES!