The new Triumph 1200

One thing to be aware of neither the map pocket or the bag itself are fully waterproof. However the bag does come with a waterproof cover that you put over it. The waterproof cover for the GS bag has a clear window so that you can use with the map bag underneath/inside it.

I have not opened out the cover for my Daypack to see if that is true for the small one as well.

Just FYI...the rain cover (supplied) on the "City" also has a clear top, so you could stick a map under that (I do ). The only small problem then is that it's more difficult to get into the bag quickly. Even then though, the small front pocket (nearest your nuts) is accessed fairly easily by just easing the rain cover up slightly. Personally I wouldn't bother with the map pocket .

Explorer vs GS- another view

Hi, this is my first post !
As a long term triumph owner ( 2 x 1050 sprint, 1x 1050 speed triple) I looked very hard at the explorer. Being proud of the triumph brand, and loving the smooth creamy triple engine power, I thought an explorer would be my natural step.However after 3 seperate and lengthy test rides,plus rides on a vfr1200, tiger 800, Sprint GT... I ended up buying the very last bike I test rode( which I booked just on a whim) - yes you guessed it , a new GS. Why fer christs sake ?
Cos to me it is just so great a package, and the bike fitted both me and the role/ use I intend to give it.BMW also gave me a fantastic deal, a whopping £700 better trade in for a start on my 13k 09 speed triple, then tickled my taste buds with the incredible £1700 of free luggage silencer and screen goodies, all topped off by attentive but not pushy sales team. Contrast to the head up their backsides triumph dealers ( I tried two seperate dealers ) who smugly and quite grudgingly gave me a derisory trade in, and expected me to buy their outrageously expensive PCP deal ( over 2k interest! ). TBH I am even thinking of writing to JB...in my mind the dealers are pushing away loyal triumph fans.
Why did nt I like/ fit the explorer?- its a very tall, heavy bike for a start. I could not get on without using rider peg to otch on. The low seat option is Ok for getting feet on ground, but it is a bulky machine. Second is the godawful screen buffetting. Its like nobody has actually ridden the thing. It is terrible at anything over 50 mph.No amount of screen adjustment makes any diffrence.The new ride by wire throttle is ridiculous. Just why bother with such a twitchy throttle ? This type of bike is surely more roll on than surge on ? The throttle response is more like the speed triple- all on or all off. Crazy IMO on a tourer. yes I love the snarl of the triple as it kicks in, but a bit less would suit the bike better.The switchgear looks like an afterthought - bits tacked on all over the place.And no heated grips available, and most accessories high priced and not available. I just could not get on with it as a bike...lovely engine but just so many other issues...then I rode the GS!
Look chaps,I last rode one back in 05, after getting well trounced in the pyrenees by a pair of low flying GS's displaying incredible roadholding. I tested the new 1200 back then,hated the bike, full stop. I just couldnt gel with it ...and that was my opinion until 3 weeks ago when I took a 4 hr test ride, on a saturday pm, just to see what the GS was like...had no intention of actually buying one, thought I would hate it , especially after the frustrating explorer tests.
Firstly I could get aboard without whacking my ankle on the rear carrier. It was very light , very easy to steer....and once out onto B roads, feck I was in heaven. Incredible ride quality ( compared to explorer) and fantastic roadholding. I was scraping pegs after just 20 miles in.I was very impressed with the ESA ...The boxer engine is quirky, I still dont know if I do like it , but it does seem to suit the bikes character.Not as low down grunty as I was expecting , but does really shift when you rev it hard, 130 on the clock was not that hard to get.Maybe not quite as rorty as the explorer , but I dont reckon there is really that much diffrence on the road. The extra power of the triumph will be matched by the GS 's superior handling and steering. And then on top of all this good news, is the bad news...but there aint any !I couldnt find anything I really didnt like.... I ended up agreeing with the latest Ride mag test of the explorer and crosstourer vs Gs. Both have cracking engines, but both somehow miss the mark as a package, none are as developed or as complete as a GS....and so I ended up buying one, a very good deal, and on paper when I compared explorer cost vs GS ,like for like with all the bmw extras they are identical...but I get a bmw with better residuals....
So for me, I reckon triumph have missed a trick.
I also think they could have tried the 1050 engine rather than that tall 1200 unit ...in speed triple tune its better than both explorer and boxer engines IMO. Plus they could have made a smaller , lighter chassis.Myself I reckon the 1200 engine was designed mostly for the big dress tourer Trophy , and the explorer is a revenue chaser, a possible modular offshoot , rather than as Triumph claim, a bespoke unit for the explorer.I have test ridden the Tiger 800, and that bike is way better than the explorer for steering and handling...couldnt help feeling what that could do with a more grunty /powerful engine.I would have bought one on the chassis/ value alone , but just not enuff grunt for me.
Maybe I will change me opinion after a year or so of ownership, but like a previous poster , I do reckon the explorer is unfinished, actually needs more development , and address the issues above.A potentially great bike let down by many details.
I will be keen to see just what the 1050 Tiger sport will be like...

Each to their own, had a GS for 5 years and bought explorer, just done 2000 miles around france and found the screen (taller one) brilliant, it does everything the GS did but with the performance. It didn't break down, spring an oil leak, present me with an £800.00 bill before I went away unlike the last bike...................alright I know its brand new and time will tell on the reliability issue.

Have seen the advert for all the freebie kit with GS, are they worried about competition?

I am open minded about bikes and who rides what is up to them, some on here will never have anything said about their beloved GS's as the competion is not a true off roader, I wouldn't dream of taking a £12 to £13000 bike up a muddy dirt track knowing full well at some point it will be on its side, some do I've seen the pics.

I enjoyed the GS for 5 years but maybe unlucky with the failures that I had on mine, a mate bought one just after me and his broke down after 1000 miles, had no end of problems and threw it back at the dealer and went back to Yamaha.

Time will tell if I made the right choice with Triumph, failing that there is always the Japanese choice.


Teejay

Teejay
If it works for you that is the important thing.I do wish I was a bit taller/ longer in the leg , as all adventure bikes ( except maybe the tiger 800) seem made for the taller rider.
Obviously the freebies must be a sign of bmw helping dealers for all the increased competition ...its not just from Triumph. Given how booming the adventure market is, bmw does have to cover its bottom.
Performance wise, I do think the 1200 triumph has the edge in throttle response, so maybe this is what the new 1200 boxer will aim at ?Gord knows, but surely a 1200 twin should be tuneable to give at least same bottom end as a triple ?
Personally I find the boxer engine so far to be good, but there is a torque hole in 3rd gear at around 5k rpm. Seems better to change up than keep revving it for progress. The triumph engine had no such " hole".
Top speed wise, I cant see the point of 130 mph + for this sort of bike. IMO its all about grunt and throttle response.I think the triumph sounds better sub 5krpm, and I like the shunt from 4k upwards. But then again if you give the GS the berries, it does still go.
Maybe bmw should look at a switchable map, ie an off road map where throttle response is muted, and a road map with all the oomph, rather than tune in the long throw throttle.Triumphs throttle seems too much one way , the GS too much the other !

I still stick to what I said about chassis, ergos and equipment ...the GS is outstanding. Reliability wise, its an unknown.BUT ...from what I have heard , at least BMW do often pay out of warranty for quite big work....Triumph, like most other manufacturers wont for sure.

I only popped in to sell a few 1150GS bits and hadn't realised there was now a Triumph section

I had an 1150 for 10 years and was one of the early members of this board. Test rode loads of bikes (1200GS, Harleys, KTM, Hondas and Yamahas) over those 10 years but but the ride home on the GS made me realise it was a better bike than the one I'd just ridden. It was more solid, more planted, more adaptable and generally more pleasant to ride.

Then I took a Tiger 1050 out and was blown away by the engine. What a difference to the GS and the Honda 1000 four I rode earlier that week. For once my practical head went missing and a rush of blood to my romantic head ended up with me buying a new Tiger.

It is without doubt a fine machine. Smooth, powerful, fast and good ergonomics but.... the screen is seriously shite, the low speed fuelling makes 2-up hairpins very interesting, the gearbox is a nasty clunky thing (unlike the Tiger 800 which is silky smooth), the OEM luggage is much smaller than the GS (you can't even get a helmet in the large pannier) and set so high that you have be very careful about what weight you put in there. Talking about height, the pillion can struggle to get on and raises the centre of gravity considerably. Although it's 20-30kg lighter it feels no easier to move around than the GS did and feels far less planted and solid.

I took the Explorer out for a test a few weeks ago and really liked it. The engine is incredible, smooth and very powerful. The triple engine has to be one of the best on the market in the way it delivers controllable power. The 1200 is a similar weight to my old 1150 and felt rock solid. I've got so used to a crap screen on the Tiger that I didn't notice too many issues with the 1200. Strange comment about the height as I'm a comparative short arse (29" inside leg) but had no problems with the seat height or getting my feet firmly on the ground.

In the end, I was going to have to pay another 6.5K to trade the 1050 against the fully loaded Explorer and I simply couldn't afford it. It's a brilliant bike though. Far better than the 1050 imo.

I did a lot of test rides of the 1200GS but unfortunately wasn't impressed. It was just a little lifeless and bland compared to the 1150 but I'm told the new model is significantly better so I might try out one when I think I can afford to trade.

In the meantime, the 1050 is proving a decent bike. Not awesome but it does its job. I still miss the 1150 though

I too had a test ride on a 1200 Explorer today.

I must admit I quite liked it, especially the engine which is completely effortless unlike my 2009 GSA that I really have to thrash to get rapid progress.
The build quality seemed good and the seat reasonably good for distance.

On the negative side the screen was awful (I'm 6'0) and I had serious buffeting and turbulence above 60mph. They did have another bike with the higher screen so I wish I'd tried that instead as I've heard it is a definite improvement over the standard.
Also the ride quality was quite harsh although I don't know if the bike had been set up this way or whether that's standard settings, in any case I'm sure it could be twiddled with to make it softer.
The gear change was very stiff but the bike only had 700 miles on it so this may improve over time.

Dunno if I'd buy one, probably not if I'm honest, but I'd love to transplant that engine into my GS!!

Like Gman I went over to a Tiger 1050 a couple of years ago- on the basis of a day out on one in the sunshine..... the grunt and the looks did it for me

Soon learned the screen was crap , and missed the shaft drive.


Now got a Launch Explorer... and just done our first proper trip to France. I've got a reputation for changing bikes quickly but the trip two up re-enforced to me how good the Explorer actually is... No its not perfect.. but it's up there with the rest for what I require of my bike

Got the SW Motech frames yesterday..I liked the fact they are symmetrical. fitted a pair of 33L Givi Trekkers... not the biggest boxes in the world but the bigger the box the more crap you take on trips

Bryn said:

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Bryn
How wide are the panniers?
Mate picks up an Explorer next week and has been looking at luguage options - from your photo it looks like you should have a wide load sticker

Bryn said:

Like Gman I went over to a Tiger 1050 a couple of years ago- on the basis of a day out on one in the sunshine..... the grunt and the looks did it for me

Soon learned the screen was crap , and missed the shaft drive.

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Amen brother!

I've not seen how big the OEM panniers are but yours look pretty neat although probably still too small for the crap I normally take!

Cheers

Dick

I prefer the symetrical look but the offset Givi ones don't waste the space on the lh side and you can probably get a 46l on without increasing the width. More practical but doesn't look so nice in my opinion

Paul S said:

Bryn
How wide are the panniers?
Mate picks up an Explorer next week and has been looking at luguage options - from your photo it looks like you should have a wide load sticker

Click to expand...

Within 5mm of the width of the handlebars .... must be the angle... always look wider than they are They're no wider than the myriad of other types of pannier I've had over the years ( and I've had most of them )

I reckon the space on the nearside lends itself to a bag of some sort or a tool tube