MCN: Tiger 800 mauls BMW F650GS

[StumpyFingers]

A controller at work has a triumph and because he only does short distances it keeps flatening the battery, it turn out the electrics stay live for two hours after the ignition is turned off.

 

[Dean]

A controller at work has a triumph and because he only does short distances it keeps flatening the battery, it turn out the electrics stay live for two hours after the ignition is turned off.

Sounds Alarming, Ide pop it in for repair

 

[sijohnston]

many good points and well made. i'm in whole-hearted agreement. however, i wouldn't be just as down on the 800 as perhaps you are. i found it to be a quite brilliant bike for a ride around Mongolia and while there were a couple on small Yamaha XT singles, in spite of their bragging, they weren't at any more of an advantage than me on the tough stuff. i just got to the tough stuff with more ease than them. having said that, my choice would be a KTM 690 enduro if a) KTM were reliable b) much less expensive c) didn't have ridiculous service intervals d) didn't have such expensive aftermarket parts and accessories.

yeah, if you're about true 'adventure' riding, a 1200 is clearly not the way to go, and at a push the 800 might just fit in there but is probably too heavy and too powerful. the Triumph is cashing in on the marketing hype but read this forum, most of the threads are about spending money on bling and modifying your bike in a way that pushes it in the opposite direction of how you'd want it set up for adv riding. so, they'll do well, it's a big market. The Tiger is a good looking, big, soft, wannabee, and won't find its way into a garage of mine...

The Tiger is another example of adventure bikes going in the wrong direction...

 

[Dean]

....

....

I don’t know Denial is not just a river that flows through Egypt

The Tiger is another example of adventure bikes going in the wrong direction. This is a poorly conceived machine designed by a company with an inept attitude to building motorcycles and a history of misplaced blind emulation of other brands.

Do you mean gone in the wrong direction as the F800Gs because in case you have not realised that’s the copy, clone, knock off, styled to exacting specifications, same same but different.

The figures of the engine show that it's ideally suited to the owner who will use it occasionally for bragging runs to the coffee shop at weekends and will never see the rain. Of course, that's the target market now. Real adventure riders don't buy expensive new bikes on credit, we buy proven, simple, useful machines from second hand adverts and spend months preparing them by stripping off anything with "made in china" written on it.

The figures show it’s a bike with great road power great road bike with good off road torque values. Target market is the Buyer Real Adventure riders (is that ego munching small blokes who can’t reach the peddles with chips on there shoulders)

There is a book, "how to build the ultimate adventure bike", it uses the F650gs single and X-challenge as case studies, not complicated twins or triples with poor histories of reliability. I've had a few Triumphs (5 including the Sprint RS factory prototype as I was a big fan of Triumph at the time) but they have been generally poorly built and tend to break down a lot. They are horribly thirsty and notoriously awkward.

You have had 5 and you still moan and you’re a lousy consumer

I had an 01 Daytona, they modified the design to go with a DSSA to emulate the R1 but the rear unit was just borrowed from the 600. Triumph do that a lot, they borrow bits and pieces and make them fit. A powerful engine does not make a good adventure bike and in fact this engine is too powerful by many measures to be really useful. It seems to me to be squarely aimed at people who will never go offroad or really use this bike for what they market it as being capable of.

8 or tiger8 same same but different

Triumph abandoned the off-road market in 01 when they stiffened the suspension of the 955i Tiger and gave it cast wheels. Probably a shrewd move, it helped their sales and the Tiger was no dirt plugger anyway. This bike just leaves me cold. I see it for what it is. It's a toy, a bike appealing to a market share. It's not really engineered to be capable, it's built to be manufactured as cheap as possible and sold as widely as possible. Most bikes are, I concede that. The F800gs is another example. It came close but dogged with reliability and build quality issues it's not really suited as a RTW capable bike.

I wonder what you think about the Triumph scrambler? (oops yellow box alert)

Comparing them in this article is probably fair but they've not been tested by adventure riders or for them. This article suggest that adventure is just the latest marketing trend made fashionable by two likable idiots on big boxers.

Idiots WTF Love to have walked in their life experience shoes talking Bike of course

I guess I just don't trust Triumph but my faith in BMW is sorely knocked too. I have had an R1200gs and F800gs and wouldn't trust either for traveling. I considered the old Tiger (owned one for 10 days and sold it in disgust) but it's not capable. I have a BMW now but I wouldn't buy another trendy machine. If it's available in a choice of flashy colours, expensive enough to require credit, has a new engine configuration, variable anything anywhere, any electronic gadget that does the work of a knob, exhaust pipes under the engine, plastic on the sides moulded into the tank, more power than competitors which is a sales bonus or if the magazines rave about it then I know it's not for me. When the companies start building solid reliable machines capable of hundred of thousands of miles I'll listen. I'm a lousy consumer and I plan to stay that way.

So what do you ride now a Enfield or a Suzuki? (sorry I dont no if its an offence and wasnt trying to fix anything but I wrote in Arma's yellow box/quote hear and there see above. not how I planned I had a techno failure moment... )

yeah, if you're about true 'adventure' riding, a 1200 is clearly not the way to go, and at a push the 800 might just fit in there but is probably too heavy and too powerful. the Triumph is cashing in on the marketing hype but read this forum, most of the threads are about spending money on bling and modifying your bike in a way that pushes it in the opposite direction of how you'd want it set up for adv riding. so, they'll do well, it's a big market. The Tiger is a good looking, big, soft, wannabee, and won't find its way into a garage of mine...

only wannabee maybe because its unproven but if it’s proven to be the same or a tad better than the 800 in time it will not be long before ““Real adventure Riders”” (what is an adventure? I thought you could have an adventure on any bike!) are stripping it down and adapting it bling or no bling and venturing to the moon and back and writing books to boot.

I don’t know the ideal bike is! maybe its different in peoples minds single mud plugging thumpers or heavier twins horses for courses, different strokes for different folks, the to bling or not to bling all personal to each individual some peeps hate BMW’s some Peeps hate british bikes but business marketing is sales, Bums on seats. The chinese have copied things for years what came first the bonny or the W800? Who likes what best and who cares? Whats wrong with triumph challenging BMW might see one in front of the orange ones in the Dakar mmmm 450 triple

Above all surely we must not take life so serious all of the time as nobody gets out alive.

 

[sijohnston]

From Dean: Above all surely we must not take life so serious all of the time as nobody gets out alive.[/QUOTE]

 

[Dean]

From Dean: Above all surely we must not take life so serious all of the time as nobody gets out alive.

[/QUOTE]

 

[Ceri JC]

Agreed, the test means sod all until they compare it with the 800GS and even then I'll be sceptical about buying a Triumph after test riding the Tiger 1050 and talking to the disinterested staff at Three Cross Motorcycles!

I'll be interested to see how the XCs hold up once they start getting to higher mileages and could interest me as a next bike if reports are good.

Reliability can't be much worse than my F8 has been.

For me the Triumph dealers are ever so slightly cheaper/nearer and I like them a fraction more (although I don't have anything against my local BMW dealership).

I still really want the Japanese to make something in this class, though. The 660 Tenere is about as near as they seem to do at the moment.

 

[FlooFoo]

I was looking at the Tiger 800 and the 1050 in a Triumph dealership recently and the sales chappie said there was a 1200 shaft drive version coming out by the end of the year/early next year.

I'm sure the press will be making all sorts of comparisons when/if it does

 

[JJH]

I have ridden a 800 since my earlier post and I must say it's a lovely engine not really my cup of tea as a package. That is not to fault the bike. There was an interesting article in bike about mpg and the 800 featured with a gsxr 600 + w800 + the g650 gs single and the triumph was doing about 56 mpg to the 600 Suzukis 60 aprox I think the triumph has a lot to prove and if tempted I would not be a early buyer. JJH

 

[Blobby]

The 800XC is a cracking bike with a great engine, sharp handling and is simply a hoot to ride. I base this only on a 1hr x-country ride, back-to-back with a Tiger 1050 and an F800GS (which I own) - so three hrs, one on each on an identical route. Just did not like the 1050 (apart from fantastic engine), but the 800XC is just so willing and marginally more agile on twisty tarmac in my view. Fuel consumption 10+mpg worse than 800GS. Not sure why it's compared to a 650GS. Was pleased/relieved when I got back on my 800GS as it felt just as quick as the XC and the difference was so marginal I will stick with the GS. The GS is also suited to the slightly taller person. XC is deffo worth a ride though and feel just that little bit more road biased.

 

[Big Den]

I would wait a while as its never too good being an early adopter also i heard there are a few mods coming out on the XC which will improve on a few design issues. I have a lot of time for Triumph and have had all of them except the sprint, they continually improve the bikes and listen to there customers, do you know any jap bike manufacturers that upgrade the maps in their bikes once they are released ? some bloody well need it

 

[thosoneill]

on launch i certainly liked the look of the triumph - the triumph luggage did not impress me at all - suppose you could buy aftermarket luggage