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Old 31st October 2020, 14:13   #1
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Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look

The Triumph Tiger 800 range was a very successful part of Triumph's global lineup for several years and in India, it was by far, the best selling big bike for adventure seekers and outright tourers. So when news came out that a meaner, sleeker and more importantly bigger capacity Tiger was getting released, motorcycle enthusiasts everywhere were extremely excited. We have several happy Tiger 800 owners on our forum and I know many riders for whom the Tiger 800 is the one motorcycle that they dream of owning at some point in their life. As for my own experience with the bike, I have test ridden it a couple of times and the home minister loved the all round comfort of it, but the Tiger definitely wasn't the motorcycle for me at that point of time. So, any comparisons henceforth between the Tiger 900 and its predecessor are based on my foggy memory and discussions with happy owners of the Tiger 800 over the years.

Onto the Tiger 900, I was part of the delivery for the very first bike to be delivered in Kerala and after taking a proper look around it, I was very impressed. You can find some of my showroom feedback on the Tiger 900 here on the forum. Now while my Street Triple kept visiting the Triumph Cochin showroom, I was handed over the keys to a white Tiger GT for a day and later, a green Rally Pro for a few days, as loaners. What is the difference between the two, you ask? Well, the GT is the top of the line road based model and the Rally Pro is the top of the line off-roader in the Tiger 900 series. How do you differentiate between them? Well, that is easy. The GT comes with alloy wheels and the Rally Pro comes with spoked wheels.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282383-large.jpg
Tiger 900 GT

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa302542-large.jpg
Tiger 900 Rally Pro

Since I first had the Tiger 900 GT for a day and then was given the Rally Pro for a longer period of time, I'll restrict my first impressions and feedback to the former and will later post about the off-roader, as well as, the differences that I felt between the two bikes. Please keep in mind that I'm no reviewer, journalist or even an expert. I'm just a motorcycle enthusiast like all of you, here sharing my riding impressions and general opinions on these two bikes along with a lot of pictures.

Last edited by neil.jericho : 2nd November 2020 at 19:06.
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Old 31st October 2020, 14:32   #2
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Triumph Tiger 900 GT - What is it?

This is how Triumph describes the motorcycle - The Tiger 900 GT delivers superior road-going comfort and triple engine capability from a thrilling new bike built with a whole new aggressive attitude and style. Designed to take you everywhere you want to go, the new Tiger 900 GT combines a class-defining new chassis, agile dynamic handling and ride-enhancing technology to fully satisfy your adventurous spirit.

Basically, the GT is the bike to own if you want to ride around the country while sticking to paved and maybe, broken roads. The Tiger 900 gets an 888cc triple cylinder engine that puts out 93.9 bhp (70 kW) @ 8,750 rpm and 87 Nm @ 7,250 rpm that is mated to a 6 speed gearbox. In keeping with its on road credentials, it gets a 19 inch wheel up front and a 17 inch wheel at the rear. As for the rest of the specs, here is what the Triumph website highlights
  • New lightweight modular frame
  • Optimised cornering ABS and traction control
  • LED Headlight
  • LED DRL and Indicators
  • Cruise Control
  • Heated Grips
  • 7-inch full-colour TFT instruments
  • Hand Guards
  • Fully adjustable Marzocchi rear suspension unit
  • Four riding modes

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282364-large.jpg

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282445-large.jpg

Here is a quick snapshot of the Tiger 900 GT

Likes
+ Engine is super responsive and sporty
+ Supremely comfortable on the move
+ Low center of gravity, easy to ride in the city
+ Strong braking inspires a lot of confidence
+ TFT dash performs even well in bright sunlight

Dislikes
- Heat from the radiators is near unbearable, both in city and highway conditions
- Rattles and squeaks on such an expensive bike are unacceptable
- Vibey character from mid range onwards is very tiring
- Awful screen layout options
- Poorly designed switchgear

Last edited by neil.jericho : 4th November 2020 at 14:56.
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Old 31st October 2020, 14:55   #3
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Initial Impressions - 5 top thoughts after first 30 minutes with the Triumph 900 GT

- The bike is huge. It is both tall and wide. So one would expect that getting on it and riding it will be quite a handful for someone not used to big and burly adventure motorcycles that weigh 194 kgs dry. But Triumph seems to have pulled a magic trick out of it's proverbial hat, because the moment you sit in the bike (in, not on), you get the overwhelming sensation that the bike has shrunk around you.

- The tank is narrow at the seat and wide near the front, so if you look at the front half of the bike from above, it resembles a funnel. Triumph has also brought the new 888cc engine forward as compared to the older bike and positioned it lower as well. This dichotomy in the tank design, plus the tapering seat combine with the re-positioned engine to ensure that riders can easily reach the ground and manage the bike on the move. Im 5'11" and I had absolutely no issues with the height or weight balance of the bike.

- In Road mode, the Tiger 900 GT is such an easy motorcycle to ride. The power delivery is smooth and dare I say, unassuming. It is not going to frighten you by putting down too much power and the high center of gravity of the Tiger 800 (I really disliked that aspect about the old bike) is nowhere to be found. You can ride the Tiger 900 GT without having to worry about acclimatizing yourself to the motorcycle. This is something that plays on the minds of a lot of enthusiasts each time they jump onto a big bike that is new to them.

- The screen is brilliant! It is so bright and legible even in sunny conditions. But for the life of me, I could not figure out to navigate through any of the technical options available. Realizing that there was all this technology at my disposal with no earthly way of understanding how to access it myself, was tremendously frustrating. I tried to decode this unsuccessfully for several minutes and finally came home and watched a video on YouTube that explained the right way to do so. Lets just say that it is definitely not easy to understand or access yourself.

- The heat generated from the motorcycle's twin fans accompanying the radiators is tremendous. The faster you ride the bike, the more the volume of hot air that gets dumped on your knees. The temperature reading on the dials remained a constant 5 bars but the scorching heat that was directed straight at my legs kept increasing like tidal waves, to the extent that it made me question whether the temperature reading on the dash was functional or not. And if this is how hot it gets with 5 out of 8 bars, I cannot even begin to imagine how hot it will actually have to get, for the temperature gauge to rise to the maximum level. In short, it reminded me of the oven that masqueraded as the Ducati Panigale 959.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282421-large.jpg

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282444-large.jpg

Last edited by neil.jericho : 3rd November 2020 at 00:03.
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Old 31st October 2020, 15:23   #4
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Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Deep Dive (Part 1)

Now for a closer look at the Tiger 900 GT.


Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282259-large.jpg
Rather imposing from the side view

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282256-large.jpg
Maybe the best angle to view this bike?

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282262-large.jpg
Certainly looks mean!

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282263-large.jpg
White is a good colour for the GT

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282264-large.jpg
Notice how low the seat is and how high the tank is?

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282265-large.jpg
Not exactly impressive

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282418-large.jpg
Boring tail light could have come off a 100cc commuter

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282266-large.jpg
That exhaust is very sleek indeed

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282276-large.jpg
See what I mean

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282268-large.jpg
Angry bird vibes

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282269-large.jpg
Twin volcanoes

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282270-large.jpg
Mud caked for added appeal

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282274-large.jpg
Extremely functional foot pegs

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282275-large.jpg
Pillion foot pegs connected to the bolt on new subframe. Now you dont have to worry too much about dropping the bike since you can just replace the rear subframe instead of the whole frame (as in the Tiger 800)

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282280-large.jpg
The controversial heart of it all

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282302-large.jpg
Left side switchgear

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282303-large.jpg
Left side switchgear from above. Just too much going on here.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282304-large.jpg
Right side switchgear

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282305-large.jpg
Front brake lever doesnt get the 4 step adjustment as that of the clutch lever

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282306-large.jpg
It lives up to it's name

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282310-large.jpg
Looks pretty comfortable as well

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282308-large.jpg
Seat height is officially listed at 810-830 mm

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282358-large.jpg
Visibility out of the RVMs is pretty good

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282359-large.jpg
Sleek indicators

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282361-large.jpg
But they cant jazz up the otherwise boring rear end

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282417-large.jpg
Marzocchi 45mm upside down forks with 185mm of travel

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282369-large.jpg
Rebound adjustment at the front

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282370-large.jpg
Compression adjustment at the front

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282371-large.jpg
The location of the key slot takes getting used to

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282416-large.jpg
Side valves for easy air filling. Trust me, its makes a massive difference.

Last edited by neil.jericho : 2nd November 2020 at 23:57.
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Old 31st October 2020, 15:39   #5
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Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Deep Dive (Part 2)

Since we ran into the 30 picture upload limit, this is part two of a visual deep dive. I have restricted the pictures on the screen to just a few for now. I will write about it in depth in a later post.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282281-large.jpg
100/90 - 19 Metzeler Tourance Next tire up front

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282283-large.jpg
Twin 320mm floating discs with Brembo Stylema 4 piston Monobloc calipers. Oh and dont forget, cornering ABS.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282279-large.jpg
150/70 - 17 Metzeler Tourance Next tire at the rear. Single 255mm disc does braking duties with a Brembo single piston sliding caliper.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282285-large.jpg
Heavy duty fans for sending heavy duty heat to your legs

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282288-large.jpg
Marzocchi rear suspension unit that comes with manual preload and rebound damping adjustment

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282289-large.jpg
View from the other side

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282292-large.jpg
Remember the 4 step adjustable clutch lever that I mentioned earlier?

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282298-large.jpg
Windscreen is effective but rattles a lot

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282334-large.jpg
TFT screen gives a black background based on its light sensor

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282254-large.jpg
Same view in daylight

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282352-large.jpg
Another of the 4 layouts

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282356-large.jpg
A third option from the 4 layouts
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Old 31st October 2020, 15:49   #6
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Triumph Tiger 900 GT - Breaking it down (Part 1)

- Design
Visually, the motorcycle is very imposing. To say that it grabs attention, would be a massive (no pun intended) understatement. Heads were turned and fingers were pointed when I was out on the Tiger 900 GT. At signals, I could see people looking at their commuter motorcycles and scooter and then visually comparing it to the Tiger 900, which quite literally, towered over the others. In the segment, is it the best looking motorcycle? That is arguable but it does have a lot of presence, and that in itself will endear the Tiger 900 GT to a lot of potential buyers.

All this magnetic visual charm of the Tiger 900 comes with a price though - it also attracts the attention of a lot of junior Rossis who kept overtaking me from all angles and directions. And its not just the wrong attention from loonies on two wheels, a lot of Hamiltons kept trying to teach me about the prodigious acceleration of their cars and I even had one Tata Ace driver try to keep up and tailgate me on the highway.

The only solution was to let them overtake me, and then get bored of me not engaging with them, before they carried on disappointed. You certainly arent going to blend in with the crowd if you get yourself a Tiger 900, that is for sure.

- Engine
In Road mode, the Tiger 900 GT puts its power down in a very non imposing, linear and user friendly manner. If you are new to big bikes and want to take a test ride of the Tiger 900, put it in Road mode and then sit back to thoroughly enjoy the experience. You dont get the feeling that you are riding a 150 BHP motorcycle, well because you arent, but at the same time, you feel totally in command of the power delivery and the bike never feels like it wants to get away from you or that it is straining at the leash to be set free. You will positively love the bike in its Road setting!

If you are taking your better half for a test ride as a pillion, be sure to only leave it in Road mode. She isn't going to suspect that you are going to get yourself in trouble with too much power and she will be super comfortable on the pillion seat. You can thank me later.

But if you someone who has ridden big bikes a fair bit, Sport mode is where the fun is at. The power delivery is a lot more immediate and the instantaneous torque gets the bike up to the maximum legal highway speeds before you know it. Overtaking trucks on the highway? Easy peasey. A gap has opened up in traffic and you want to quickly get away from that annoying MotoGP wannabe who is crawling up your tail light? Easy peasey. Its just all day fun in this mode. If I owned the bike, I would permanently leave it in Sport mode. I didn't try out the Rain and Off road modes since there were no rains in sight and I have no real off-roading skills.

But, I later realized that I was upshifting once the bike was in it's mid range and enjoying the experience of comfortably cruising in higher gears. What happened when I decided to push the bike above 5000 RPM in each gear? Well, my overwhelmingly positive impressions about the bike's engine being a butter smooth operator went for a toss. That's what happened.

To be honest, this engine has a bit of a split personality. Below 5,000 RPM, it is fun and games but bear in mind that the motorcycle shows a 12,000 RPM limit. However, once you start hitting 5,000 RPM, it takes on a whole different character, one that is a tad unpleasant and not quite what I expected. The bike starts feeling rough and there are a lot of harsh vibrations everywhere, all of which makes you wonder if you are riding the same triple cylindered gentle giant from Triumph that you thought you were. And it isnt just restricted to 5,000 RPM, the vibrations keep going up as you go higher in the rev range. Sure, the prodigious torque continues to propel you forward relentlessly when you are still only in the mid range, but the all encompassing harshness throws a proverbial spanner in the works and makes you rethink your decision to keep pushing this engine to its upper limits.

This buzzy nature of the engine just wore me out and I went back to shifting early and enjoying life between the low to middle of the mid range. I do not recall the Tiger 800 behaving like this, the changes to the "character" of the Tiger platform that have resulted in this version, may not be what riders actually want! I do recall reading feedback on some forums from prospective and actual owners of the Tiger 900 that referred to this buzz / harshness, even the most forgiving of riders had to admit that it was evident to them.

For short weekend morning rides, the "character" of this 900 engine will prove to be extremely enjoyable. If are are a tourer and someone who loves to redline or enjoy the top end of motorcycles on highway rides, the Tiger 900 may not be the bike for you.

To me, the only way to enjoy this motorcycle is to ride it with a gentle hand and keep up-shifting by the time you reach 5,000 / 6,000 RPM, which leaves the upper half of the rev range thoroughly unused.

Braking
This is an area that the Tiger 900 GT absolutely excels in. The twin 320 mm discs up front are confidence inspiring and even the 255 mm disc at the rear does a really good job of throwing down the anchors. The bike is so well engineered that I actually kept forgetting that it was a tall and supposedly heavy (well over 200 kg wet weight!) adventure tourer and I was braking hard like I would on my Street Triple 675.

Last edited by neil.jericho : 2nd November 2020 at 19:18.
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Old 31st October 2020, 15:50   #7
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Triumph Tiger 900 GT - Breaking it down (Part 2)

- Clutch and gearbox
The clutch was set up just right. It wasn't heavy and at the same time, it wasn't too light either. I barely noticed it, which is just the way that I like clutch feel to be. The gears also shifted with with easy snicks and it was a pleasure to work through the gears.

- Ride quality
Now this is one of the bike's biggest strengths. With the suspension setting as is, the bike was such a dream to ride over broken roads. Yes, the front end does dive a bit on hard braking, but to be fair, this is something which can be adjusted with the rebound and compression settings. I didn't want to get into analysis paralysis on an extended test ride, so I didn't fiddle with either setting. If I get the test ride bike from the dealer for a longer stint, I will tweak the settings and see if I can improve things. For most riders upgrading to a big bike, the stock suspension settings will serve to be perfectly fine. Only experienced hands will want to fine tune and improve the ride quality feel.

- Mirrors
This is the one element of the motorcycle that has been designed with the least amount of panache. All the energy and enthusiasm of the design team seems to have been extinguished by the time they completed the rest of the bodywork. And then while the rest of the team was away, a Triumph intern sneaked into their design studio at midnight, added two staid looking mirrors to complete the bike, and everybody pretended not to notice it. That is the only logical explanation for how those ugly mirrors ended up on an otherwise very good looking motorcycle. Despite my dislike for their design, I will admit that they are very functional and give an excellent field of view without any distortion at speeds.

Handling
I didn't get to throw it around any corners due to the paucity of time, but it is safe to say that the bike went exactly where I wanted it to go. Its light on it's feet and agile which made weaving through traffic just about effortless. You really do forget that this is supposed to be a big adventure tourer when you are enjoying riding this bike though moving city and highway traffic. It felt more like riding a Z650 or a non frenetic KTM Duke 390 (an oxymoron if there ever was one!) but Im sure you get my point.

The weight balance and handling are so good that even a non adventure bike rider like me could manage the Tiger 900 in stop and go traffic at below 5 kmph, without taking my feet off the pegs even once. That is seriously impressive engineering at work in the real world and nothing to do with my motorcycling skills!

- Build quality
Surprisingly, this was a weak point of the Tiger 900 GT. Every time I hopped on the bike, I could hear a slight squeak from somewhere. The front end dash kept buzzing once the bike was on the move, this was quite annoying and is something that I expect on my 6 year old Royal Enfield, not a 2 month old Triumph Tiger. Riding through broken roads resulted in some juddering sounds from the front windscreen as well. If I paid Rs 17L, I would not be happy to hear all this. Maybe the test ride bike needs some TLC from the dealership.

- Windscreen
Triumph seems to have done a pretty good job in keeping wind blast down with this large windscreen. Visibility through the glass isn't stellar and this is very evident while trying to look through them to avoid some deep potholes (of which we in Cochin are blessed with plenty) and wading through some traffic. Sitting upright, the screen was deflecting air onto my helmet, so I rode with a slightly crouched shoulder position and this eliminated the issue completely. I will need a lot more highway time to adjust the windscreen and see what is the best setting for my height. The screen also catches some reflection from the bright TFT dash once it starts getting a little dark.

- Sound
Dogs bark. Ducks quack. Cats meow. Tigers roar. Well, tigers should roar but this one unfortunately doesn't. It sounds mellow and if I had to draw a comparison, it reminded me of a twin cylinder motorcycle. Once the bike was in it's mid and upper ranges, it just sounded so rough that it I just wished that it had a mute button. The signature Tiger 800 exhaust note is Beethoven's 6th symphony compared to this noise from your local garage rock band on its first live performance in front of 10 people.

- Heat
The first time that I saw the Tiger 900 in person, I was quite impressed by what I considered to be the amazing twin radiator setup that Triumph had gone for. The radiators were massive and I was sure that the engine would be cooled very efficiently and air would be well directed in a way that the rider would be extremely comfortable. After all, Triumph's best and brightest have put in a whole lot of effort into improving the Tiger 800, so these assumptions had to be on the money. Right?

Boy, how much more wrong could I have been! With double the radiators, unfortunately, comes double the heat. And the shafts surrounding the radiators are perfectly designed to channel all the hot air straight onto your legs. You cannot ride this motorcycle for a fair amount of time during the day without wearing riding pants. This could be the biggest deal breaker for many potential buyers in India. On the plus side, these twin heat chimneys will ensure that owners dont even think about wearing shorts and riding anywhere unless they want freshly waxed legs.

Last edited by neil.jericho : 2nd November 2020 at 19:25.
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Old 31st October 2020, 17:08   #8
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Triumph Tiger 900 GT - Breaking it down (Part 3)

- Screen
The TFT display on the Tiger 900 GT is quite something. It is bright and legible, even on a sunny day. The welcome and goodbye screens are quite nice and will serve as excellent conversation starters at the next meetup with your biker friends.

Functionally, if you click the home menu, you are taken to the menu that you see below, from which you then go down further into each setting. Well, that about ends the positives on the screen.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-1-large.jpg
Home Menu

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-modes-large.jpg
Riding Modes sub menu

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282474-large.jpg
Bike Setup sub menu

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282476-large.jpg
Trip Setup sub menu

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-display-large.jpg
Display sub menu

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-bluetooth-large.jpg
Bluetooth sub menu

Outside of the above mentioned menu system, there is the entire screen layout system that has 4 different style options to choose from. Overall, these style layout system are so utterly complicated that is genuinely the single worst aspect of this motorcycle. Whatever screen layout and display setting that you select, the screen either has too much information on it or it has too little. Outside of the speed, tachometer, time, fuel and heat which I believe are the constants, you get to see details of one of the following - trip 1, trip 2, a separate readable tachometer, fuel status, service details, contrast, colour, music volume, music track, Gopro, GPS, call history and SMS review. A little too much?

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-style-2-large.jpg
Whale gills used to represent the tacho

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-style-1-large.jpg
Big fish gills used to represent the tacho

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-style-3-large.jpg
Small fish gills used to represent the tacho

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-style-4-large.jpg
Sliced down the middle tiny fish gills used to represent the tacho

All four screen layouts comprehensively fail in providing a simple view of the tachometer which is so incredibly frustrating that I can barely express it in words. While I am riding, I want to look at something simple and round to know where I am in the rev range, not a three dimensional Fourier transformation that makes me curse Triumph's team each time I look at it. To accurately know what revs I am riding at, I have to take my eyes off the road for 3 - 4 seconds at least to be able to decipher the ridiculous three dimensional tachometer. This is downright unsafe. Or I need to forget about looking at all the other details and just set the display to the standalone tachometer, which means that I can look at nothing else!

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282461-large.jpg
Like this

Triumph needs to seriously rethink this nonsense, I know that they have started moving towards such unique presentations with other bikes, but this is a complete failure from a design perspective and it quite simply change for the sake of change. Not one of them is remotely suited for riders. Even international forums have both owners and potential buyers grumbling about this.

In case you are wondering why Im going on and on about something that might be trivial, well this is what the old Tiger's dash looked like. So Triumph can do this properly if they wanted to, but they really have messed up the implementation of the TFT dash on the Tiger 900.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-zwwt3f6bhrh47fmgqcvxlfc2o4.jpg
Digital display

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-maxresdefault.jpg
Mix of analog and digital

Also, the only way to see the total kilometers clocked is by switching the bike off and then switching it back on. I spent over an hour working through the 4 different screens and all the sub menus, there is no way to see that information once the motorcycle has started. This really is so frustrating.

All this on a massive screen that has so much real estate that Triumph could have had a game winner here if they put in the right effort and time into the actual digital user experience.

Switchgear
The bike comes with a whole host of switches which are of the expected high quality but I honestly feel it is just too much. To operate the switch gear safely, you need arms that are as long as Gandalf's but you need the fingers of a hobbit.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282449-large.jpg

This is the joystick switch to operate the menu, notice how close it is to the indicators and horn. If I want to scroll up, I push the button upwards after placing my thumb below it, as you can see in the picture above.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282452-large.jpg

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282453-large.jpg

If I want to scroll down though, my finger ends up resting on the indicator and it is impossible to push the joystick down because there isn't enough space for it, as you can see in the two pictures above. God forbid that you need to press the horn in an emergency, because your thumb is likely to fall on the indicator and/or the joystick and/or the horn, maybe even all at the same time. Good luck explaining that to the insurance agent while your bike is in the service center for an accident claim.

To make matters worse, the indicator switch has absolutely zero feel to it. Try pushing the indicator and you realize that it is akin to moving a rock. On at least 10 occasions, I have used the indicator and then looked down at the dash to find that the indicator wasn't on. I have never ridden a motorcycle with an indicator switch that is as badly setup as this is and I dont say this lightly, it can be downright dangerous. Who in the blue blazes approved this switch gear at Triumph?

Last edited by neil.jericho : 2nd November 2020 at 19:29.
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Old 1st November 2020, 20:35   #9
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A walk around look at the Tiger 900 GT

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Final thoughts on the Tiger 900 Series (GT and Rally Pro)

At the end of a day with the Tiger GT, I really had mixed emotions about the bike. What it did well, it did extremely well. The engine is a hoot and a half in Sport mode while it is calm and composed in Road mode. The ride quality makes this bike an absolute dream to ride over all types of roads that our government officials can throw at us. It is so light on its feet that you really wonder if it is a middle weight streetfighter or a power packed all-rounder that is true to the GT name. In isolation, these are things that should make you rush with your chequebook to the Triumph dealer to book one and and based on these strengths alone, I could see myself owning the Tiger 900. And then I remember everything that I did not like about the bike.

The heat makes commuting in traffic during the day near unbearable, even though the bike does everything else perfectly well in those chaotic conditions. I dont even have to dog paddle with my feet, in first gear traffic at signals but the relentless twin dragons err radiators spewing out knee scorching heat, force me to put my feet down to get some respite from them. The vibes make enjoying the mid and top end unpleasant and take away from the all day rideability aspect that the Tiger 800 was beloved for. And looking and dealing with that massive TFT screen makes my blood boil faster than the twin radiator fans can make my knees burn.

All that was based on my limited time with the Tiger 900 GT. As for the off road based Rally Pro model, I've had it with me for a few days now and I've covered a few hundred kilometers on it during that time. I will share my thoughts on the Rally Pro once my time with the bike is up and I hand over the bike back to the dealership.

Long story short, do take a test ride of the Tiger 900 GT or the Rally Pro, if you are looking for a capable adventure tourer in the market today. But before confirming your booking, do take multiple extended test rides over several hours, to be sure that the new flavour of the proven Tiger recipe, is something that suits your taste buds.

The Tiger 900 platform is a dramatically different platform from its illustrious road based predecessor. Building a widely selling successor to a product as established as the old Tiger 800 was never going to be an easy task for Triumph. If it was too similar, both critics and Tiger fans would say that it is more of the same, and that there is no point in upgrading to it. But if it was too different, both critics and Tiger fans would say that it has lost the essence of the Tiger 800. But to me, the Tiger 900 platform is in no man's land, it retains some of the goodness of the original formula but it also adds a lot of new ingredients as well, some of which will may make you look at it's competition a lot more closely than you planned to.

Triumph will probably sell a lot of Tiger 900s anyways, I just dont think that it will be as loved as the Tiger 800.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa282391-large.jpg
Tiger 900 GT

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-pa302558-large.jpg
Tiger 900 Rally Pro

Last edited by neil.jericho : 4th November 2020 at 22:19.
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Old 4th November 2020, 23:05   #11
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Re: Final thoughts on the Tiger 900 Series (GT and Rally Pro)

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing, Neil!
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Old 5th November 2020, 07:08   #12
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re: Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look

What a fantastic and well written review thread highlighting the pros and cons so candidly! This one can almost be termed an official review or a one stop reference thread for prospects. If this thread is just a ‘Closer look’, I wonder what is in store once you get your hands on the other variants and write your views after returning the bike

It was interesting to read about the ridiculous console layout and switchgear. With some thick gloves on, those switches look even more cumbersome to operate.

How was the headlight effectiveness in the dark? I understand most buyers of these big Adv bikes will be fitting big daddy aux lights anyway, but was just curious on the stock lights’ light throw and reach.

Last edited by KarthikK : 5th November 2020 at 07:10.
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Old 5th November 2020, 09:48   #13
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re: Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look

@Neil - Pls pardon to hijack share a video that's relevant to the title.
For exhaust note comparison between Tiger 800 & 900, this is THE BEST video I've come across

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Old 5th November 2020, 12:12   #14
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re: Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look

Fantastic review @Neil.

The Tiger always had a place in my mind before I went out shopping. Even a 2016 model was way out of my budget and finally settled for the VulcanS.

I loved the tiny details captured as part of your review.

I'd love to get an adventure tourer - Someday..!
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Old 5th November 2020, 12:24   #15
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re: Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look

Awesome review Neil.
This will definitely a thread to read before anyone thinks of getting into the Tiger 900.

Ergonomics and ease of use is something that cannot be stressed enough when building a product. Holds true for almost any discipline.

And it looked like they had it covered with the Analogue+ Digital dash mix but with the TFT screen, it has somehow lost itself. While I love the TFT on the 800 and absolutely adore the one on the 900(I have only seen them in video s and pics, haven't used one yet), it took me a really long time on the 800 to get used to how to navigate and use certain options available while on the go to a point where I couldn't concentrate enough on the riding part was becoming a safety hazard on the road.

Handling the switchgear was one another issue, you had to jump between the left and right switchgear just to go to the home menu. But by now with almost a year of using the bike I know where everything is(almost) it still has massive room for improvement which from what you have explained is a shot they missed by a huge margin this time too.

I still can't digest the fact that the ODO meter doesn't show up on the screen unless you are toggling the key. It is very tough to find it on the 800 but at least it is there. What's the deal with it not being there on the 900. That's kind of weird.

Triumph Tiger 900 GT - A Closer Look-img_1117.jpeg


Also the heating issue and random creaks and sounds. I wonder if it's just a TD bike issue or other owners feel the same way, would be great if some 900 owners could comment on this.

I intend to do a TD on the 900 when I plan on doing the yearly service on the 800. Should be an interesting day I hope.

Cheers
Krishna
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