Riding bikes in winter is different. Not necessarily bad, but definitely different. You notice things about the bike you wouldn’t even register in summer, and you appreciate qualities that offer little benefit in warmer months. With that in mind, we took the flagship adventure bike in Triumph’s line-up for a frosty spin in January.
Triumph updated the Tiger 1200 range last year and you can read Insidebikes’ review from the world press launch here. The Rally Explorer, along with the smaller tanked Rally Pro, leads the more off-roady side of the line-up with their 21-inch wire-spoked front wheels and 220mm of suspension travel. There are also three GT models in the range. These are more road oriented, with a 19-inch front wheel and 200mm suspension travel. There are also various differences between the level of equipment on all of these bikes, but for the purposes of reviewing the Rally Explorer, suffice to say that it has every single bell and whistle the Hinckley engineers had to hand when putting the Tigers together.
Among the electronic arsenal of the Rally Explorer, you find not only six ride modes (including two offroad options), but also adjustable and lean-sensitive traction control, ABS, hill hold, cruise control, semi-active Showa suspension, and ability to link the bike with your phone. There’s also a rear radar, with a blind-spot detection warning displayed on the mirrors. It’s all very clever, and you can tailor every setting to your liking with a press of a button.
Triumph has lost weight on the Tiger, compared to the previous models, but you can only make a big bike so light, and the kerb weight of the Rally Explorer is still hefty at 261kg. You feel the weight as you push the bike around a car park, but like most motorcycles it hides its weight well as soon as the wheels are turning. With its long suspension travel and big front wheel, you would expect the Rally Explorer to be a bit slow to turn round tight corners. Still, it feels agile and easy to ride, flowing through corners smoothly, and maintaining the line well. Steering is quick, and the suspension is excellent at keeping everything smooth.
The beating heart of the bike is the three-cylinder 1160cc powerplant, with its bottom end taken from the Speed Triple, but pretty much everything else is new. It has the T-plane crank with its irregular firing intervals, as previously seen in the Tiger 900 range. With this setup you get better low-end delivery, but the engine still spins fast and the peak power of 148bhp is reached at 9000rpm. Peak torque of 130Nm arrives a bit earlier at 7500rpm.
Winter riding on the Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer
Whatever the season, when you first approach the Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer, you can’t help but marvel at the sheer size of the bike. If big is beautiful, then we have a real beauty here. Sure, all large-capacity adventure bikes have a real presence, but the Tiger seems huge even in this category. With the 875mm/895mm adjustable seat height it’s tall, and when I sit on the bike my 31in legs are not quite flat on the ground, although it’s not far away. On the road I had no problem with this, but when I had a little go on some easy byways, I was suddenly a lot more nervous about whether I could get my foot down on the uneven ground.
The rest of the bike continues with the ‘bigger is better’ philosophy. The bars are high and wide, the one-hand adjustable screen is tall, and the 30-litre tank can’t be anything but rather big to fit all that fuel onboard. All of this combines to make the bike feel big, but in a very good way, at least most of the time. You are in a commanding riding position, with great visibility over the traffic around you. This is helped by the lively engine. To be honest, there’s not often you need 148bhp on an adventure bike even in summer, and on the frosty roads in winter you certainly don’t get to play with more than a fraction of that power. The power is transferred to the back wheel via shaft drive, which makes winter cleaning a bit easier.
Rather than the lovely engine, from which you can extract so much more from in summer, I was more impressed with the rider aids, as these make winter riding less of a headache. I spent most of the time in Road mode, switching down to Rain when I felt grip levels were decreasing. It’s a lovely feeling when you know a mighty electronic brain is constantly trying to spot what you might do wrong, and keeping you shiny side up. I experienced this when accelerating to join a dual carriageway on a cold day. I was ready to go, wound back the twist grip, and… nothing. There was just a big orange light flashing on the big TFT dash – the traction control detected that I was about to ask the rear wheel do something it shouldn’t do, and killed the power. To be honest, the degree to which the power was killed seemed a bit drastic, and it took a little while before I could actually get a move on, but I suppose I would rather have that than end up the wrong way up in the middle of a dual carriageway.
When I rode the Tiger last summer I remember thinking the adjustable screen seemed very good. Winter riding really confirmed that. With the screen in its top position, you are enveloped in a bubble of still air to the extent that when you compare your visor and the screen after a ride on salty and grimy roads, you can easily see how the screen has taken the brunt of the mess that’s flying up from the road. I didn’t even need to clean my visor after a 100-mile day in the saddle, but you could barely see through the screen anymore.
There are also little deflectors on the sides of the screen, which also protect you from the elements, as does the bodywork around the tank and engine, keeping the rest of you somewhat free from road crud.
Being warm on your bike can be tricky in winter, and having wind directed away from you helps with this too. There are also handguards that make a big difference in wind-chill reaching your mitts. And because this is the top cat in the Tiger family, it also comes as standard with heated grips and seats. To be honest, the grips could get hotter, and on the colder days I was glad I had my heated Keis gloves on, but the seat really gets quite toasty, and makes cold rides much more bearable.
That massive 30-litre tank, and reasonable fuel economy, mean that you don’t need to stop to refuel very often either. 300 miles is quite doable with a tankful. The downside of the large tank is its bulk, although riders who don’t need the fuel range will be well catered for by the 20-litre tank fitted to the lighter, non Explorer, Tigers.
One thing with winters is that it’s rather dark a lot of the time. This was less of a problem because the Tiger’s lights are excellent. The beam is wide and long, giving you great visibility even at night. And if that’s not enough, there are also auxiliary lights as standard fitment. Another thing you notice when riding in darkness is the blind-spot warning lights that shine bright in the mirror housing. Some will argue that you should pay enough attention to your mirrors to not need them, but in the dark when there are multiple lights shining in your mirrors, I was quite happy have the extra warning about something lurking in my blind spot.
Conclusion
It feels a little strange to test ride a bike in conditions where you can’t get anywhere near it’s limits in pretty much any way. However, I did learn a lot about the Triumph by riding it in winter conditions. Although I took little pleasure in having a stable full of horsepower on tap, I found the rider aids, weather protection and dark riding qualities of the bike to be top notch. And while the height of the bike was a bit much for me on icy green lanes, it made next to no difference when riding on tarmac.
The Triumph Tiger 1200 is a great bike to ride in summer, and it’s a great bike ride in winter – for completely different reasons.
Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer specification
Price: £19,495
Engine: 1160cc inline three-cylinder, liquid cooled, 12 valve, DOHC,
Power: 148bhp (110.4kW) @ 9000rpm
Torque: 130Nm @ 7000rpm
Transmission: Six-speed, shaft final drive
Frame: Tubular steel frame. Bolt-on aluminium rear subframe. Twin sided "Tri-Link" aluminium swingarm.
Wheels: Spoked (tubeless), 21 x 2.15in, 18 x 4.25in.
Tyres: Metzeler Karoo Street 90/90-21, 150/70R-18.
Suspension: (F) Showa 49mm, semi-active damping USD forks. 220mm travel. (R) Showa semi-active damping monoshock, with automatic electronic preload adjustment. 220mm travel.
Brakes: (F) Brembo M4.30 Stylema monoblock radial calipers, ABS, twin 320mm floating discs. (R) Brembo single piston caliper, ABS, single 282mm disc.
Seat height: 875/895mm
Tank capacity: 30-litres
Wet Weight: 261kg
Service intervals: 10,000 miles or annually
Warranty: Three years unlimited mileage warranty, with the option to extend
Roadside recovery: Three years European cover
Contact: www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk
Words: Mikko Nieminen
Photos: Mikko Nieminen and Too Fast Media
Video: Too Fast Media
