[cataclysm]

Amazing thread man. It's always a pleasure to see people fulfilling their riding dreams. I used to follow your C500 journey as well. Was pleasantly surprised when I had read that you bought a Tiger. Talk about jumping segments!

Anyways, do PM when you pass through Chandigarh.

[//M]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Superb thread.
.
.
Good to see the bike being used just as it deserves.

Thank you so much CD.

Many thanks for guiding me when I was confused back in early 2018. I recall our discussions on the Tiger, CBR650F, Versys and even the BMW 850GS, which I did consider briefly.

The Versys is indeed a VFM package, I had closely followed your thread when I was in the market for a motorcycle. Your thread was the single biggest inspiration for me to consider the adventure tourer segment seriously !

Originally Posted by Gixxy.danger

Thank you for taking us along your journey with the Tiger in its entirety through your pictures! Really happy to hear about your experiences and long adventures on the saddle.

Post lockdown, keep throttling to more destinations.

Thank you for the motivation. I really wish to ride more often and clock miles over varied terrain. The sand dunes of western Rajasthan and the cold altitude deserts in the Himalayas are high on the bucket list.

Originally Posted by cataclysm

Amazing thread man. It's always a pleasure to see people fulfilling their riding dreams. I used to follow your C500 journey as well. Was pleasantly surprised when I had read that you bought a Tiger. Talk about jumping segments!

Anyways, do PM when you pass through Chandigarh.

Thank you. I will keep you posted whenever I am in Chandigarh.

The Classic 500 is a beautiful highway tourer, wish it had a more comfortable saddle and a better top end though. I had been sitting over the fence to upgrade for almost a year. I usually keep my vehicles for a longer period of time, so when the time was right I had to buy something which would keep me content for a long time, hence the segment jump !

[51morris]

Originally Posted by //M

What I like:

• Comfortable riding posture, ergonomics and saddle cushioning
• The abuse-friendly nature of the motorcycle
• Touring – Big fuel tank, room for panniers and luggage, comfortable seats, decent Ground Clearance
• Reliability and aftersales support has so far been good
• Not much tantrums with adulterated fuel during highway runs
• The industrial design lends it great street presence

What I don't:

• Engine heat gets unbearable in traffic and slow speeds
• The weight is felt while taking slow turns or over dirt trails
• Parts are an expensive affair. So is insurance, general servicing, extended warranty, accessories
• Thin dealer network in India
• No riding modes on the base XR variant
• Headlights and OE Auxiliary Lights not adequate, horn is weak

Hello! What a fantastic name for a brilliant bike! Great review with some fabulous pictures - really liked the ones with Bhageera in its natural habitat!!

I owned a Tiger 800XR and rode about 18k Kim’s in a year and a half before selling it when I moved to the UK a few years back. A brilliant bike for touring and some light off-roaring, both on and off our roads

Enjoy riding the bike and stay safe!

[//M]

Originally Posted by 51morris

Hello! What a fantastic name for a brilliant bike! Great review with some fabulous pictures - really liked the ones with Bhageera in its natural habitat!!

I owned a Tiger 800XR and rode about 18k Kim’s in a year and a half before selling it when I moved to the UK a few years back. A brilliant bike for touring and some light off-roaring, both on and off our roads

Enjoy riding the bike and stay safe!

Thank you.

The Tiger 800 is indeed a versatile motorcycle, can easily handle most obstacles and is supremely comfortable over every terrain !

[KarthikK]

Fantastic ownership report and superb pictures to boot, especially the ones of your rides taking the Tiger on all kinds of terrains from the western Ghats to the Himalayas and some of the plains in between . Always good to see a nice, well built adventure tourer put to good use against the elements of nature in a wide variety of geographies.

Thanks for giving insights into the service and tyre change experiences as well. Those will help prospects in analysing long term costs in addition to the cost of purchasing the bike

[//M]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

Fantastic ownership report and superb pictures to boot, especially the ones of your rides taking the Tiger on all kinds of terrains from the western Ghats to the Himalayas and some of the plains in between . Always good to see a nice, well built adventure tourer put to good use against the elements of nature in a wide variety of geographies.

Thanks for giving insights into the service and tyre change experiences as well. Those will help prospects in analysing long term costs in addition to the cost of purchasing the bike

Thank You KathikK.

I was in Pune only for a brief time after I bought the Tiger. Back then, a trip to the Western Ghats and jungles of Karnataka was in the pipeline - Kemmanagundi, Sakleshpur, Kabini, Agumbe was being planned but some development on the career front happened and I was left with no choice but to move northwards. However, I have tried to compensate that with frequent visits to the mighty Himalayas.

Yes I will continue to document the service costs and part costs so that it helps prospective buyers to analyse the long term expenses.

[Samfromindia]

Finally Royal Bengal Tiger reviews the Triumph Tiger ! I think its one of the most elaborate article i have seen this date, with focus given on the utility (trips) rather than specs Rated a well deserving *****

[//M]

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

Finally Royal Bengal Tiger reviews the Triumph Tiger ! I think its one of the most elaborate article i have seen this date, with focus given on the utility (trips) rather than specs Rated a well deserving *****

Thank You Samrat da. Yes the focus was on trips as that will give a lot of confidence to prospective buyers who would be willing to take it to remote places. For most city dwellers like us, such adventurous trips are an annual pilgrimage at best. While most motorcycles would manage this ordeal, it only gives more confidence if the product is proven to tackle such obstacles and is fairly reliable.

[//M]

I took a test ride of the Tiger 900 GT and Rally Pro from One Triumph Gurgaon last week.

Some observations and pictures have been posted here - 2020 Triumph Tiger 900 (2020 Triumph Tiger 900. EDIT: Launched)

The 900 feels way more lighter and easy to ride. The narrow frame coupled with the lighter weight and a more eager motor gives you more confidence to throw it around, something which takes a while with the 800.

Within 5 minutes into the test ride, I could literally play with the 900. I still can not say this about the 800 as it noticeably feels top heavy in comparison and hence robs you of confidence.

Overall, the 900 is a definite improvement over the 800 in almost all areas - except for the exhaust note.

Couple of clicks of the lovely 900 Rally Pro.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Surprised to see the 800 XR still on the showroom floor. Did they not sell all the units or is this registered in the showroom name and available for purchase as a second hand unit ?

Cheers
Krishna

[//M]

Originally Posted by krishnaprasadgg

Surprised to see the 800 XR still on the showroom floor. Did they not sell all the units or is this registered in the showroom name and available for purchase as a second hand unit ?

Cheers
Krishna

Hi Krishna, sorry completely missed your post.

The white Tiger 800 in the pictures was a customer motorcycle, awaiting delivery. That particular motorcycle has been delivered now. No more stock of the Tiger 800 with the Gurgaon dealer presently.

[//M]

I had a nice trail experience today with couple of fellow rider buddies. After a short but heavy spell of rain yesterday in Gurgaon, most trails were muddy and slushy so we chose a relatively easier trail in the Aravali Hills as all of us were never into off-roading but since our motorcycles were surely capable, we thought of giving it a try.

But after today's escapade, I would surely love to venture more into such trails. The stock Metzelers were just about ok off-tarmac, good as long as I stick to well marked trails. But rocky sections were a little unnerving.

I also had my first fall barely at the start of the trail, thanks to a cow which came charging at me. Although there was enough room to avoid the puddle of muddy water, thanks to the cow I had to cross the small puddle. But to my surprise, it was considerably deep. As soon as the front wheel went it, there was no traction and I toppled.

No damage to the motorcycle or myself. We did a nice 20-22 kms trail thereafter and also explored some bylanes inside the Aravali forests. Overall, a nice experience !

Just when I was wondering if I've tamed the Tiger, it actually gave me a whole new book to go through. Being a novice at off-roading on motorcycles, things were a little tricky over some rocky sections but the overall experience was pretty much rewarding.

I didn't click much pictures, only clicked few when I had stopped over flat land. Sharing only those pictures as of now. My friend has probably filmed some sections, so I'll check with him if there would be some videos worth sharing here.

[//M]

Enjoyed another trail riding session today. There are some inviting trails inside the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary in South Eastern part of Delhi, makes for a nice experience specially on MTB bicycles or adventure motorcycles.

The trails lead to some nice limestone quarries which are now filled up with rain water due to a blanket ban on mining since last many years. Cars can make it upto a certain distance only, post which hiking to the quarries is the only option. Motorcycles and bicycles can take you almost till the quarries, with little hiking for the last hundred metres or so.

[krishnaprasadgg]

Originally Posted by //M

There are some inviting trails inside the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary in South Eastern part of Delhi, makes for a nice experience specially on MTB bicycles or adventure motorcycles.

Seeing all these photos while under lockdown almost seem like a tease, I call for videos next

Jokes aside, I do have a question, How do we know if is it allowed to get into areas like these on cars/bikes/cycles, in your case it being a wildlife sanctuary region and all, but my question is in a more general sense. About any trails tbh, when we do not know if it's private or public property and if entry allowed or not.

I used to go to a place in Bangalore which was a popular MTB trail, managed to go a few times but then suddenly the police started showing up and saying cycling is not allowed and stopped people from getting in. It wasn't a forest or conserved area too.

Cheers
Krishna

[Ricci]

Originally Posted by //M

Enjoyed another trail riding session today. There are some inviting trails inside the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary in South Eastern part of Delhi, makes for a nice experience specially on MTB bicycles or adventure motorcycles.

The trails lead to some nice limestone quarries which are now filled up with rain water due to a blanket ban on mining since last many years. Cars can make it upto a certain distance only, post which hiking to the quarries is the only option. Motorcycles and bicycles can take you almost till the quarries, with little hiking for the last hundred metres or so.

Lovely pictures!
This is a nice little trail, good spot if you want quiet alone time!
I didn't realize you hadn't created your Tiger thread all this while. Anyway, as they say in Hindi - der aaye, durust aaye