Triumph Tiger 955i
TRIUMPH TIGER 955i
Lincoln Navigator of Adventure-Touring?
STEVE ANDERSON
CYCLE WORLD TEST
YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T SEE LINCOLN NAVIGATORS OR CADILLAC Escalades grinding over the boulders of the Rubicon. No, the Queen Mary class of SUVs, four-wheel drive or no, spends most of its time on paved asphalt, far away from those thorn-scribed pinstripes and other indignities that off-road use can inflict. Instead they comfortably and quietly carry high-sitting soccer moms and their brood to school and games, doing that prosaic service with a romance and panache that no minivan will ever obtain.
So it is with Triumph's Tiger. The three-cylinder adventure-tourer weighs in at 552 pounds full of gas, about as much as two open-class enduro bikes. It stretches its wheels out a full 60.5 inches between axles, roughly the same wheelbase as that of the original four-cylinder Honda Gold Wing. Its seat tow ers 34 inches above the pavement. It's a big motorcycle compared to real dual purpose bikes. But at the same time, the Tiger and its competitors-the Aprilia Capo Nord and BMW R1200GS among them-are tiny compared to full dressers such as a Gold Wing or Harley FL. What the big adventure-tourer offers is a lot of touring capacity in a moderate-sized package-for a touring bike, anyway.
You feel that the first time you sit on the Triumph. The broad, height-adjustable seat cradles you comfortably, and your hands fall comfortably in place with torso almost upright. Your feet find footpegs directly under you, and a lot farther away than on your average sportbike. With the added legroom and the cushy seat, it feels like a good place to spend some time-and it is. Moving out of the driveway, though, it helps if you’re not inseam-challenged, particularly if the gas tank is full. It carries 6.3 gallons, a full 38 pounds worth, enough to noticeably raise the center of gravity after you’ve topped up.
Recognizing that Tigers spend far more hours covering pavement than gravel or dirt, Triumph engineers refocused the 2005 model slightly. Cast wheels replace the spoked ones carried by previous models, allowing the use of tubeless tires. To quicken steering and improve handling precision, the steering head was pulled in from 28 degrees to 25.8 degrees while trail was reduced by 1/8-inch to 3.46 inches and the suspension was shortened slightly and stiffened. Cosmetically, the 2005 frame now is coated with silver paint, and paint schemes are new.
Well-calibrated ftiel-injection (a feature since 2001) allows the Tiger to fire on the first ignition thumbing, and the counterbalanced Triple settles into a smooth idle. The engine pulls strongly from 4000 rpm, while a powerband that stretches upwards to 9500 rpm rewards revving, particu larly as the power rises noticeably at 6000 rpm. The sixspeed transmission provides a ratio for any use, and helps the large bike cover the quarter-mile in 12.2 seconds at 110 mph. The 955cc engine was derived from an older Daytona powerplant, but is tuned with more emphasis on midrange torque. More recent Daytonas and Speed Triples have received more advanced (using a different head casting), much higher-powered versions of the Triple-the 2005 Speed Triple even got a displacement increase to 1050cc-so there's room for future Tiger models to grow in the years to come.
As with all Triumph Triples, the Tiger’s 955cc engine is a sweet powerplant. It’s smooth but still oozes character.
With just three cylinders, it’s less frenetic and a lot more relaxed than a Four, yet the evenly spaced power pulses give it an even firing order that completely separates it from V-Twins. It’s an engine that belongs in a touring bike-even if it’s tall, wide and heavy for a machine that has any offroad pretensions. You forget that on the highway, though, with the powerplant humming along at just under 4000 rpm at 60 mph, with plenty of torque for top-gear roll-ons. You can reach 80 mph from 60 in just 3.8 seconds in top gear, actually a tenth of a second quicker than the 40-to-60-mph time, which takes place just a little bit lower in the rev range than where the engine is happiest. But there's more power awaiting a quick downshift if a rapid pass is required.
The six-speed transmission shifts smoothly, with a slightly notchier feel than you find on most Japanese motorcycles. That’s mostly a matter of taste, however, as we missed no shifts while riding the Tiger.
On the highway, the wide, relatively high windscreen and fairing break the wind on a 6-foot rider’s chest, while leaving his helmet in clean air. Handguards keep hands warmer or drier than they would otherwise be in inclement weather; electric grips are an option, and an accessory outlet allows use of an electric vest. Vibration isn’t an issue, and wind protection is sufficient to power along at speeds approaching triple-digits without overpow ering the rider. The big fuel tank gives the machine a 200-plus-mile range, and the ergonomics provide the comfort to use it.
In handling, the Triumph benefits from the firmed-up suspension (with neat, underseat remote shock-spring-preload adjustment) and revised geometry. The riding position is basically full-hooligan, that dirtbike stance that seemingly removes pounds from any machine and invites aggressive riding. The Tiger responds well to being tossed around-to a point. Its long-travel suspension is still relatively soft, thus the bike prefers a hint of smoothness from its rider. Give it that, get on the gas early and smoothly to steady the suspension, and you’ll find that you can go quickly down a twisted road with little effort and with real confidence. And if the surface changes from smooth asphalt to broken chunks of gravel to hard-packed clay, the Tiger will handle those changes with relative aplomb. Just keep it out of sandwashes-no one should have to ride a machine that weighs three times as much as they do through deep, loose sand! No, adventure-touring isn’t about true off-road riding; instead, it’s about having the ability to explore the little, gray, twisty lines on detailed county maps, and then to have the confidence to keep going quickly and safely when they turn to a double-rut jeep trail.
When you get back on the pavement and need to stop sud denly, you'll find that the open-pattern Michelin Anakee tires and triple-disc brakes provide dry-weather stopping performance that's comparable to pure streetbikes. Controllability of the front brake is excellent, though the long wheelbase and less-than-gumball traction keep the Tiger from lifting its back wheel into a brakie during a hard stop, something that an increasing number of pure sport bikes will do. The rear brake could, however, use a little less leverage, as it's all too easy to lock during a hard stop.
For 2005, Triumph USA is packaging the Tiger at a bargain price: $10,500 complete with the Givi hard saddlebags that were once a $1250 option. The bags are commodious, with the left bag readily swallowing a full-face helmet, but with a little less room in the right because of muffler clearance. The bags can be easily removed, leaving substantial hardware and bracketry behind. They’re also wide, which matters little unless you’re attempting a woods enduro, or riding in California, the only state where lane-splitting is legal. In either case, you have to keep the bags in mind to avoid scraping them on trees or SUV bumpers, respectively.
Overall, the Tiger is a motorcycle that, just like those big SUVs, has its place. It’s a third less expensive than a BMW GS, while its engine in many ways is arguably more charming. It offers long-distance touring comfort and luggage capacity, while providing a modicum of off-road performance. It’s a motorcycle that’s been around for a long time, but has been continually improved. It sits you up high, giving you a commanding view of the road ahead. Is there any wonder it makes you want to charge ahead and find what’s around the next comer-or in the next state? □
TRIUMPH
TIGER 955i
$10,499
EDITORS' NOTES
I JUST LOVE THiS CATEGORY OF BIKES! IN the mid-Eighties, I discovered that on tight roads in the Alps, a GS was the fastest BMW you could ride. I've since owned a Cagiva Elefant and have talked a friend into buying a Gran Canyon instead of a Yamaha FJR1300-and he thanked me later. Compared to singlecylinder dual-purpose bikes, the big adventure-tourers are powered by at
least twin-cylinder engines that give them performance and long-range comfort the Singles can't match. But they remain relatively narrow and keep the classic dirtbike riding position. It wasn't a complete surprise that on our "World's Best Streetbike" rides, almost every tester found himself going effortlessly fast on the Suzuki V-Strom. That said, the Tiger wouldn't be my first pick in this category-i'd almost certain ly go for one of its narrower, lighter V-Twin competitors. But I wouldn't argue with someone who chose differently.
-Steve Anderson, contributing Editor
LONG BEFORE THIS REDONE TIGER MADE its way stateside, I was fully aware that the changes made to it had resulted in across-the-board improvements. This past June, while in England to sample the first Rocket III off the assembly line, I was joined by Product Range Manager Ross Clifford, who was astride a pro duction example of the updated adven ture-tourer. While the massively power-
ful Rocket had the Tiger covered on the straightaways, Clifford simply vanished when the road turned twisty.
A good (but not great) bike when it was introduced way back in 1995, the Tiger has been transformed. What was a somewhat misguided three-cylinder adventure-tourer with lazy handling and squishy suspension is now a tauter, more performance-minded machine that exhibits a do-anything, go-anywhere attitude rivaling that of one of my other favorite all-rounders, the Suzuki V-Strom. Impressive re-do,
Triumph.
-Matthew Miles, Managing Editor
WHEN THE THEN-NEW TIGER 955i TOOK part in our epic `Ghost Town Tour" (CW, April, 2000), we quickly con cluded that it was no Paris-Dakar racer. Our 1200-mile route was about half dirt-blame former Off-Road Editor Jimmy Lewis-and Le Tigre's towering center of gravity often conspired to turn the bike into a leaning tower. Proving the point. CW Marketing Director Corey Eastman-a man with his own c of g issues-dropped the bike not once but twice, though admit tedly ice had something to do with the encore performance. "More styling exercise than engineering feat~" we wrote in summation.
There were two possible paths to salvation, and for 2005 Triumph chose the right one, opting to fortify the Tiger's on road capabilities. They did a great job, too, though I wish they'd taken it one step farther and fitted a 17-inch front wheel. That done, the Tiger would be England's answer to the Ducati Multistrada. -Brian C'atterson, Executive Editor
