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A brief hoon on the
new 2001 Tiger...
You may have read the write-up
I put together last year on the T5 Tiger that I had an extended loan of from
Lagunas in Maidstone, after they cattled my ST so comprehensively. For the rest
of you, those who care, I concluded that it was let down by excessively twangy
suspension, a comparatively gutless motor, a gearbox that was "like a
spanner in a bucket of ball-bearings", excessive wind noise at high speed
and crap weather protection, with a side order of looking a bit cheap and nasty
in places, and with the odd ergonomic niggle (accessory socket exactly inside
left knee? Dials you can't read properly at twilight or at night? Silly
Triumph!)
The 2001 spec Tiger, after a most entertaining half an hour on the the Hughenden
M40 demonstrator anyway, addresses the first three of those issues very
successfully, whilst the aftermarket appears to have fixed the fourth nicely
(see below). As to the rest, well, not a lot has changed. I'll need to compare
the bike back-to-back with the R1150GS to get a good feel, but I already
strongly suspect that the GS is going to win comprehensively in the 'looking
solid and well put together' department, and insane BMW indicators apart, in the
ergonomic/instrumentation category as well. Oh, and I think it wins 'offroad
competence' by a walkover as well, but I wasn't planning on taking either bike
green-laning...
I was hoping that Hughendon M40 would have had an R1150GS for me to take out for
a play, but as befits a motorcycle which has effectively all but sold out for
this year, they simply didn't have one. What they did have were 2001 Tiger, and
2001 TT600 demonstrators (I'll scribble something about the TT on a later
occasion).
Apart from the 2001 colour schemes (a vile radioactive green colour and a more
pleasant black and metallic grey), to look at the Tiger is all but identical to
the 2000 bike. Close comparison of the motors might show some differences up,
and this year the stock tyres have changed to be Metzler Tourances, but
otherwise you'd never know from looking at it that this bike is any different to
the 2000 model. However, swing a leg over it and it's immediately clear that the
suspension is a lot less twangy. Last years bike would squat like a Sumo
wrestler when I sat on it, and that carried through into huge fork-dive on the
brakes, big fork extension and rear shock compression on acceleration, and thus
evil cornering characteristics when pressing on. On the move, this years boingy
bits work in ways that last years couldn't even aspire to. It's a trailie with
telescopic forks, so of course there is a bit of fork dive and squat, but it's
well controlled, and entirely not an issue in the way that last years forks and
shock made sure it most certainly was. This is all to the good, because this
years motor - lifted almost unaltered out of the Sprint ST, and delivering an
extra 20+bhp (or near enough 103bhp, down from 108 in the ST but with an even
fatter midrange) - would have been positively dangerous on last years
suspension. As it is, the extra grunt is extremely welcome, and gives the bike
the same urge that make the ST such a quick road-bike in the real world. Coupled
with a 'not for road use' can on the M40 demonstrator that has presumably been
carefully designed to make a sound very reminiscent of a Spitfire when you hold
it nailed (The R1150GS sadly sounds like a fart in a bean can - points to the
Triumph), and a silky smooth gearbox that allows you to upshift without the
clutch, and downshift quickly with a little blip of the throttle, the entire
package is extremely quick and entertaining to ride. Whether I could ride it
sensibly... well, I don't know. Wind noise? Well, the bike I rode had the stock
screen replaced by an aftermarket micro-fly-screen thing, which meant that I got
clean and buffet free air at speed - fine for the summer. For winter use, Givi
now do a taller screen for the Tiger - I've seen it on a bike and it is a good
couple of inches taller than stock. Which leaves build/finish quality and, of
course, the weather-related crotch rot problem. Hmm...
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