Tag Archives: triumph

Review: Triumph Tiger Sport 800

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For years there’s been a Triumph Street Triple 765 RS sitting in my garage. I barely ride it, and after every riding season I say with full conviction: “next year I’m selling it”! Yet every spring, it manages to seduce me into taking it for a spin, and bam! That addictive engine, sublime handling and phenomenal brakes never fail to plaster a giant grin across my face.

Unfortunately, that grin doesn’t last long. After half an hour, it turns into a doubtful grimace because the riding position is too cramped for my aging body. And when I tuck the bike back under its cover, I often find myself sighing: “Why doesn’t Triumph make a taller Street Triple?”.


When Triumph introduced the Tiger Sport 800 last year, it felt like my wish had come true. But my first encounter wasn’t entirely positive. During my visit to EICMA, I named Triumph’s latest crossover the disappointment of the show: beautifully designed, but the seated test session was a letdown.

Curious to see if a week-long test ride could change my mind, I took the Sport to the Taunus mountain range in Germany, together with a group of riding buddies.


The 800 clearly inherits its styling from the Tiger Sport 660. Extra DRLs, wind deflectors and a bit more fairing at the bottom give it more presence, although it remains a very slim-looking bike. That impression is reinforced by the narrow tail section. The finish is – just as we’ve come to expect from Triumph – impeccable. Also striking: the visible exhaust. On the 660, the muffler is tucked under the bike.

The Sport 800 comes in four colors: Cosmic Yellow looks stunning but not very timeless, the grey version has the most class and the black one is the coolest in my opinion. For the test, I got the Continue reading →

Travel test: Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro

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The Triumph Tiger has always held a special place in my motorcycling heart. When I tested the Tiger 800 XCA in 2015, I immediately ordered one. And even though I traded in that Tiger five years later for a big twin, my love for the three-cylinders from Hinckley is still strong. My Street Triple RS doesn’t rack up nearly as many miles as it deserves, yet it never fails to put a broad smile on my face every time I ride it. I’m curious to see if the same holds true for the new Tigers. That’s why I was eagerly anticipating taking the Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro on a week-long trip to the Picos de Europa.


New generation

In 2020, Jean tested the Tiger 900 Rally Pro in the Moselle region. For the 2024 model year, Triumph has refreshed its 900 lineup. The changes compared to the previous model may seem subtle, but they are far from it.

To start with, the number of Tigers (and specifically the 900 series) has been reduced from an overwhelming seven models to just three. Because it turned out that the vast majority of buyers opted for the lavishly equipped top versions. From this year on, there are Continue reading →

Travel test: Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Explorer

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It’s a tough battle if you’re a heavyweight adventure bike and want to maintain your position in the market. The dominance of the Gelände/Straße seems unshakable while almost every other brand is battling for one of the positions below the German overlord. And if you don’t want to fall hopelessly behind, you have to bring some innovation to your models regularly.

The Triumph Tiger 1200 is perhaps the most direct competitor to King GS. With the disappearance of the Yamaha Super Ténéré and the Honda Crosstourer, it’s the only remaining rival with shaft drive. The Moto Guzzi V85 TT also features a shaft drive, but with its 850 cc, it belongs to the adventure middle class.


The heaviest adventure bike from the Triumph stable first came to life in 2012 as the Triumph Tiger Explorer. It underwent a major update in 2018 when it was renamed the Tiger 1200, and then reincarnated for a third time in 2022.

The team from Hinckley started from scratch for this resurrection and built a completely new model. They chose the 1,160 cc inline-triple engine from the Speed Triple as the base, making adjustments to the ignition sequence and crank pins. These modifications were intended to provide stronger low-end power while maintaining the power in the mid-range and at higher rpm’s.

The frame, driveshaft and design were also reevaluated, with the electrically adjustable windscreen being replaced by a manual one. Additionally, the single-sided swingarm was exchanged for a double-sided one. Overall, this resulted in Continue reading →

Review: Triumph Trident 660

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“Ah, there you’ll have it.” That’s what crossed my mind when Triumph announced the new Trident. Because isn’t it logical that Triumph, with its rich triple history, also offers a more “classic” three-cylinder naked in the current range?

The new Triumph Trident 660 is the third Trident generation. From 1968 to the mid-1970s and well into the 1990s, Triumph built its first two generations. The new one received a 660 cc engine, as its name suggests.

That engine is very different from the one in the Street Triple S, which also has a 660 cc heart. Of course the Trident takes over some parts from the Street, but just under 70 new components provide a different engine character. While the Street’s three-cylinder mainly emphasizes sporty top end power, the Trident aims at the lower and middle revs. You can also see it in the Continue reading →

Review: Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro

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Last year we said farewell to the Triumph Tiger 800 because Triumph unveiled a completely new Tiger 900. Completely new indeed, because there’s a new engine, a new frame, new brakes and suspension, and a new dashboard …

When the press release came in I must say it wasn’t love at first sight. The 800 looked good with its double headlights but the 900 tried something else which I didn’t fancy right away. But hey, a test could maybe change my mind. So I decided to head out on the Tiger 900 Rally Pro, five days in the Moselle region (of which you can find the travel report right here).

Love at second sight?

Pictures don’t always tell the whole story so I was curious to see if sparks would fly on our first real life meeting. Unfortunately, they didn’t. Something about the proportions. The headlight seems a little small and looks less ballsy than the previous model. The rear light is okay, but is mounted into a plump construction. And even though the fuel tank with its sloping frontside doesn’t deviate that much from its predecessor’s looks and the finish is right up to Triumph’s standards (read: very high), the 900 just doesn’t do the trick for me design-wise. A shame, because the 800 was one of the best looking adventure bikes if you ask me.

In our last Tiger 800 review (the XCa in 2018) we suggested a few improvements. We missed a quick shifter in the options list, the tire choice was dated, it was impossible to mount tubeless tires and wasn’t it time for lean-angle technology to make its way onto this bike? Triumph went to work and added all of it to the new Tiger, or at least Continue reading →

Review: Triumph Speed Twin

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In 1937, Triumph launched the Speed Twin 5T, the first series-produced 500 cc parallel twin. It would become an example for many other twins that followed. And now Triumph reintroduces one of the most glorious names of its history, with the 2019 Speed Twin.

On Triumph’s list of modern classics, the “new” Speed Twin sits nicely between the Street Twin and the Thruxton. Its looks are clearly copied from the Street Twin while the Thruxton set the standard for its performance level. The result of this combination had to be a retro-styled motorcycle with modern technology and the handling qualities of a naked. So did Triumph achieve this?

The design is more than good. What a beauty! The Speed Twin looks as classic as the Street Twin but can’t hide its sporty ambitions: weight on the nose, the tank tilted slightly forward, the rear set high. I hope you don’t mind I’m drooling a bit.

The beautiful engine, with the cylinders nicely visible from all sides, the uninterrupted exhausts, the brushed aluminum parts, and that paint job! Continue reading →

Review: Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE

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When Triumph announced the new Bonneville T120 and the new Thruxton at the end of 2015, that was just the beginning of the story of their all-new 1200 cc twin engine. In 2017 they introduced the Bobber, in 2018 the Speedmaster, and in 2019 they even released two new models with the parallel two-cylinder: the Scrambler 1200 and the Speed Twin. You can’t ignore that Triumph aims at a lot of different types of riders.

I was most curious about the Scrambler 1200. I had already met its smaller brother, the Street Scrambler, during an off-road training. A good-looking bike, but it had a hard time to convince me on unpaved tracks, which the “Street” in its name predicted. The Scrambler 1200 doesn’t have any “Street” in its name. Sounds promising.

So let’s hop on that seat of the Scrambler 1200 XE. With a height of 870 mm it’s even heigher than the Tiger 800 XCa. Not exactly the most exciting news for the short-legged.

Swag & high tech

Once you sit on the seat, the dashboard and the controls on the handlebars will make you realize very quickly that this isn’t a back-to-basics scrambler. The 1200 has a modern TFT display and lots of buttons.

Not only is this scrambler packed with technology, it doesn’t lack swag either. The classic look and the finish of the entire bike, including the engine, are topnotch: very detailed and stylish. At the same time, the Scrambler 1200 XE has a Continue reading →