GS/Tiger

[Steveremf]

Hi, first post on this here site.

I currently have a 650 Dakar which due to motorway mileage will be traded in shortly. I have seen the Tiger and the 1200GS and have booked a GS test drive this weekend (the local triumph dealer hasn,t got a tiger for me to test)
I have more or less made me mind up before riding the GS but need to know when haggling the price if its best to buy BMW panniers, top box, crash bars etc etc.
I plan on going on a lengthy adventure next year so the luggage system I choose now will need to suffice for long distance travel.

I would appreciate any feedback regarding extras before I go in and haggle this weekend. Which extras are a must and which can be bought cheaper or are of a better quality elsewhere.

 

[nadeem]

welcome Steve

Dealer should give you at least 15% off accessories if you're getting the bike from them - if not - pm me.

BMW Panniers are pretty good - folk that have 'em are happy with them - inc me - plenty of space for touring & totally waterproof.

Crash Bars- After market are much better - Hepco & Becker, etc

The rest is all after-market gear - click on Nippy Norm's banner above and see all the goodies...

 

[MikeP]

Unless you are going to get a fantastic deal on the 1200 panniers, any top-loading ones will be much better if you are going to spend some time "living" out of them.

Plus the 1200 ones are known to be, er, (ahem) a little fragile!

As for the Tiger, I know GS's are not exactly pretty but the Tiger looks as though it's been parked next to a furnace and the plastic has gone sort of gloopy!

 

[-Robbo-]

I just wouldn't buy a bike that I couldn't test ride, a mate of mine was tempted to buy a tiger but the same as you the dealer didn't have a demo bike, typical Triumph

Welcome to the forum BTW

 

[Teddy]

Steve,

Interesting question this.

I have an '02 1150 adventure and my brother has a '52 tiger. So which one is better?

I have come from a sports bike way of life but can honestly say without a shadow of a doubt that my Adventure is the best alrounder I have had. Believe it or not I can scratch with if not better than most sports bike ponses and then carry on to tour europe if need be.

My bro' and I have recently just travelled through France Italy and then played for four days in the alps. During this time we were both fully loaded and I still managed to take the piss out of a ducati999 and an Aprillia Mille.

I have the full set of paniers from BMW and the engine guards and fog lights all of which is good kit.

As for the Tiger, it can struggle with grunt two up fully loaded compared to the Adventure but truly it's horses for courses.

The clincher however is this. My brother is a Triumph nut but is looking at a GS because the BMW dealerships are better and the aftersales second to none.

Knew he would come to his senses eventually.
---------------------
The Worlds My Playground!!!!! Pitty It's So Small!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Tiger v GS

Obviously you are going for the GS so the question is what extras to haggle for. You MUST have heated handgrips because you will use this bike 12 months a year. The chances are that the dealer will give you a good discount on BMW bits so bear this in mind when comparing prices - and of course he should fit the accessories too.
Have the ABS & servo brakes - by the time you sell/part-ex this bike they will be considered normal on most big bikes ! (They may save your life in the meantime.)
I don't understand why people (my friends included) fit expensive and noisier silencers- and then wear ear plugs !
Later you may consider GPS & other luxuries but I would get some mileage in first. Mine is one year old tomorrow
& I am very satisfied with it, my eigth BM. Brian

 

[UKBasque]

I test rode both GS and Tiger a few weeks ago - to be honest, any dealer that hasn't / won't let you test ride a bike is taking the michael and doesn't deserve your custom.

I quite liked the Tiger - easy gearbox, equipment fairly complete, cheaper. But, it looks dog ugly compared to a GS, and will lose money faster amongst many other things.

Have a look at this if it helps you make up your mind!

 

[Steveremf]

Thanks for the input folks, as you can guess I have more or less decided on the GS, I had had ideas on supporting British Industry and the Triumph is certainly cheaper but both the nearest two dealers had no demo bike.
I like the look of the BMW luggage but was a bit worried about the panniers being side lids. The bit I do like is that they are collapseable which is great for normal work use.
I am considering GPS, whats the verdict on BMW,s set up.

 

[Pukmeister]

Steve, the BMW GPS is an excellent set up but is VERY expensive for what is basically a rebadged Garmin 2610 unit. Most riders buy the excellent Garmin 2610 and a 2GB compact flash card which accepts the entire european continent map, plus a bike mount and power lead to suit their machine.

I would advise you to avoid the similar Garmin 2620 units as they have a 'microdrive' in place of the compact flash card and these can suffer and fail through vibration.

Note that Garmin are producing the 27XX series now which look identical to the 26XX units so expect a discount on the 26XX series of products. For specific GPS advice put a post under the Technical-GPS section.

As for panniers, I have the standard BWM plastic ones on my 1200 and they are good, however they feel flimsy compared to Touratech items which are marginally more expensive. If I was buying again I would probably fit Touratech ones.

 

[Llama]

As someone who part ex'd a tiger for the gs I can say definately say that the gs (12) is the better bike.

However after 2 years with the tiger I can say that it didnt dissapoint. It handled well, the engine was a dream, it was comfortable, fast and returned 50-60 to the gallon.

I never had any mechanical issues so didn't fall foul of the triumph after service but servicing was cheap enough.

It si more top heavy than a 12 and therefore more awkward off-road but on road it is a close call in the handling department. The gs instills more confidence so you do tend to push it harder and as such it out performs in that way.

Before the 12 came out I did consider trading it in for an 1150 but when I took one for a test ride I couldn't see what all the hype was about. The thing vibrated and was well down on power compared to the tiger. But when the 12 came out that was another story.

The biggest thing which lets the tiger down is looks. It was my 3rd triumph and I would have loved to support british bikes but evrytime you returned to the car park it you wanted to look the other way until you were on it.

IMHO I would certainly say that if anyone is after a big traillie and cant afford a 12 the tiger is the next best choice.

I totally agree with the comments regarding test rides my local (triumph) dealer has a demonstrator of all the models in the range and I would dream of buying a bike without riding it first. When I changed my sprint it was the test ride of the tiger which sold it, not the looks.

 

[2 wheel humvee]

I am considering GPS, whats the verdict on BMW,s set up.

It's a good unit I'm told-near identical to my Garmin 2610 but about £500 more expensive

 

[malc]

Ive just been looking @ the same bikes but Ive actually bought an 06 tiger I test rode a GSA which I thought was very good but a little too cumbersome for me.
The 1150GS is silly money second hand

My dad has a GS12 which is a great bike & I love it too bits but with all the luggage & bits I wanted It was working out @ a hell of a lot of money for a family man with 2 young kids too spend on a 6000miles per year toy.
So I had 3 seperate test ride over a period of about 2 months too get used to it & convince myself that was the bike for me.
Im now 500miles in & ready for a first service the engine is getting better & better its comfy the heated grips are excellent & it will do over 200miles to a tank it has taken me a few hundered to adjust to a (normal motorcycle) shall we say coming from the bmw R1150R that I owned before but Im really starting too love her I spent 3.5 hours in the saddle on wednesday only stopping for petrol for 5 mins & got off feeling as fresh as a daisy its really comfy.
If you can just try one


As for ugly Ive just swapped a dakar yellow R1150R now that was a horrible colour I bought the bike cause I liked how it rode not the looks the tiger may be ugly in some peoples opinion but wots it matter as long as you like the ride & the bike itself I owned my R 4 2.5 years & hated the looks.

This post is my opinion on those bikes & when it came too it for me it was down to 2 bikes in the end the GS12 or tiger & for value the tiger won for me

P.s
Im not impressed with that oily greasy thing that connects the engine n the rear wheel though u have 2 wax it u know

cheers Malc

 

[BBB61]

Malc,

Lets hope you don't have any warranty issues, especially relating to the quality of finish or corrosion. The Triumph warranty department are getting a very bad reputation for refusing to deal with corrosion related issues. They instead refer owners to the cleaning instructions in the owners handbook and tell you the instructions should have been followed to prevent their wonderful machines from corroding. As it is never anything to do with them fitting substandard components. Oh no, not ever.

Bob

 

[Sergeant Pluck]

Might not be the right time to be looking at Tigers, I could be wrong but isn't there a new brand new model coming out next year? Hope so...

 

[BBB61]

They have already introduced the 2006 model Tiger. It has a few bits and pieces from the 1050cc engines, such as the allegedly improved gearbox, but it is still 955cc. 2007 could be the year they bring out a new version, instead of updating it again.

As for their values dropping, they do that as normal anyway.

Bob

 

[Aussie]

How about the 1150GS SE ?.I am about to pick up my 3rd. Adv. I just love them.

Aussie

 

[Howard Millichap]

Ignore Bob Southgate he's obviously anti British.
If fact Triumph finish is second only to Honda on the ally parts and far superior to BMW. Second to none in the paint department.
My Tiger has 28500 miles on it and still comes up like new.

As for test rides. Triumph are a small producer and the dealers cannot afford to carry too much excess stock and they sell all the Tigers they make anyway. Get yourself up to "On Yer Triumph" near Aylesbury they've always got a good selection of 2nd hand ones to try. And try you must before shelling out the best part of 10GRAND for the GS12.

 

[Henry Mawson]

Bloody traitorous dog !
HENRY

 

[BBB61]

Ignore Bob Southgate he's obviously anti British.
If fact Triumph finish is second only to Honda on the ally parts and far superior to BMW. Second to none in the paint department.
My Tiger has 28500 miles on it and still comes up like new.

.

Ignore Howard, he's anti BMW. As for me being anti British, I am on my second Hinckley built Triumph now. And sadly, its build quality doesn't compare to the first one. At one year old, it looked worse than my original Sprint ST did at 5 years old with 35000 miles on the clock. When I picked it up last year, the fit of the panels was poor, and the finish on the panels was dreadful. You could see daylight through some of the gaps!

After a year, paint was flaking off numerous brackets and the lustre on the alloy was tarnished. Corrosion was sprouting up all over the place, despite being washed regularly and being coated with a protective spray. Triumphs reaction has been to blame me for their poor manufacture.

Triumphs build quality has deterioriated in the last few years. And their warranty department is a joke. And if Howard really believes that the ally on a Triumph is far superior to BMW's, then its about time he stopped taking those mind altering substances he is so obviously on.

Bob

PS I knew it was only a matter of time before Howard popped up again to rubbish BMW

 

[allan]

I just traded an 04 Tiger for an older 1150GS, why I can’t really say apart from I just felt like a change. The Tiger and 1150GS seem to be pretty much the same on the handling side of things if anything Id say the Tiger was a bit easier to manage as it had more power and was lighter. I rode my Tiger all winter and there were no signs of winter running after a good wash.

As for the GS well I can’t put my finger on it but its just special, there’s something about it that puts a massive grin on my face every time I ride it. The looks, the feel, the sound, everything about it just makes me feel good.

One thing about the Tiger is never buy one new unless you intend keeping it for a long time, it will loose money by the bucket load over the first couple or years. I lost 3 grand on my one in 16 months, thats almost half the new price.


Allan