Take a look at our 2007 Triumph Tiger preview article, and then enjoy Tor’s 1,000 mile ride review that follows
In a perfect world, you would be able to take one bike, use it off-road, take it to a track day in Spain, and then tour back home on it. Triumph pretended its Tiger had these capabilities (and it did, but to a very limited extent). Triumph has introduced an all-new Tiger for 2007 with less off-road pretence. Although it still features more suspension travel than a dedicated sportbike, its upside-down forks, radial brake callipers, stronger swingarm and 114bhp from 1050cc shout sport more than the old, adventure-styled machine. We racked up more than 1,000 miles on one of the first production Tiger 1050s to hit the roads.
As usual, we began our test doing motorway miles. To test the new Tiger as a touring bike, we also added luggage for a 320 mile journey. Triumph has a fully developed luggage system for the new Tiger, but it was not yet available to us. We strapped on luggage the old fashioned way. The only problem with using soft luggage on the new Tiger 1050 (well, on the old 955 too) is the high exhaust on the right hand side. So we had to strap on the luggage so that it did not touch the hot part of the exhaust. It wasn’t too difficult, but it looked a bit odd, and we thought it might mess up the handling a bit. At high speed we did struggle to keep a steady line due to the heavy autumn winds on the open motorways, but the front was more stable than on the Honda CBF1000 that I tested with luggage a month ago. Unlike my experience on the laden CBF1000, I never felt I had to slow down on the Tiger 1050 despite the heavy side wind.
The new seat is excellent and I could handle one tank full after the other in relative comfort. I admit that I was pushing it a bit with regards to the speed (my average was very high while riding at night) and revs I used so the range can be compared with what you can do on the German autobahn. With that sort of riding I could do about 130 miles between stops and refill around 4.7 gallons (with luggage and heavy wind). When ridden more conservatively, the Tiger can produce decent mileage. My best run gave more than 200 miles on a tank-full. The fuel tank holds 5.2 gallons of fuel.
The new windscreen is very decent. Admittedly, I rode my own naked Cagiva Raptor 1000 down to Hinckley to pick up the Tiger, so anything would be better than that, but considering the high speed work I did with hardly any fatigue it gets the seal of approval. To be even more efficient, the screen would need to be taller, but it does a very decent job at keeping wind off the chest region (only the top of my helmet was exposed). I did a couple of hundred miles with an off-road helmet too, and I had to bend forward a bit to escape the wind. At normal pace the seating position is very natural and hence comfortable.
The distance to the handlebars and foot pegs with an 32.9 inch seat height suited me perfectly. If you keep the revs high, above 6,000 rpm, there are some vibrations in the bars, but the mirrors stay clear enough to keep a full view of what’s going on behind. The mirrors are very good and easy to adjust. The new, S3-derived instrument panel has plenty of features, including fuel consumption, top speed, clock and a lot more to keep you occupied. It’s just a shame that you can’t operate the buttons easily while riding. It would have been great to switch from the clock to MPG figures on a long and boring ride on the motorway. The buttons are located towards the right hand side of the instruments and they are very small. I could adjust them on the move, but I can’t recommend it as it takes your attention away from the road. Put the controls on the handlebars, and it would be a much more useful touring feature. It is easy to read both the digital speedo and the analog rev-counter on the move.
The front of the new Tiger has been completely restyled and you can see some influence from the company’s Daytona 675 in the double headlight. When we rode in the dark, the lights were perfectly adjusted, which is not always the case on a press bike, and provided more than enough light to keep the pace up on half-empty motorways. On the country lanes high beam provided enough light to get us safely through the decaying leaves and mud in many of the bends.
The Michelin Pilot Road tires provided very good wet grip on our 1,000 mile journey aboard the new Tiger. The new wheels are the same size as on the average sportbike. They featured a 120/70-17 tire at the front and 180/55-17 at the rear. The wheels and tires are sporty, but so are the new chassis, swing-arm and suspension. The USD fork provides really good front-end grip and feedback; Triumph has attached four-pot radial callipers from Nissin. The suspension is on the soft side for really hard riding, but both front and rear suspension benefit from full adjustability.
This brings us to the 1050cc triple engine derived from the ST and S3 models. Due to a big single muffler that has to handle Euro 3 emissions regulations all by itself, the new Tiger produces a bit less peak power than its more sporty siblings. A claimed 114bhp@ 9,400 rpm and 74 foot/pounds of torque are the max figures. According to one dyno-chart we have seen, a good example can produce around 110bhp at the rear wheel. Triumph also told us that with the free-flow replacement exhaust (not road legal) there is more than an additional 10bhp released.
Regardless of the hard facts, the engine feels powerful enough and the torque is impressive from low rpm figures. I happily accelerated from 2,000 rpm in high gears, and from 3,000 rpm the engine pulls hard. When I say happily I mean that I actually was riding that way most of the time, and not just to test it. Never a need to gear down to overtake, which is good as our only niggle with the 2007 Tiger is the gearbox.
The 1050 triple runs very smoothly on idle and at low rpms. Not too different from a four, but when you decide you want some fun and use the revs the white Tiger-beast awakes with a roar. Horsepower takes over from the steady torque curve at around 7,000 rpm and sends the front into the air if you want it to. Unfortunately, the gearbox is the same old story with a disappointing feel when shifting up. My left toes hurt after a day in the seat, and my boots are thick. This is one detail that Triumph has not improved much from previous 1050 models. The feel is horrible and unnecessary force has to be applied through the left foot. If only Triumph could build a Suzuki gearbox … but as I stated earlier, this is the one and only complaint I have with the 2007 Tiger. The rest is good, really good.
After three weeks with the Tiger 1050 and more than 1,000 miles on every type of road apart from gravel (no point even thinking about taking the 2007 Tiger off-road, it’s not a real adventure machine anymore), I am impressed. I really like the 1050 triple engine despite the fact it has less peak power than the Sprint ST and Speed Triple. The power down low is fantastic, pulling cleanly from 2,000 rpm even when you have a heavy load. If you are not riding off-road, the new and lighter Tiger 1050 is a more versatile machine than ever. Town, motorway, A and B roads are all consumed with great appetite, a Tiger’s appetite.
For additional details and specifications, visit Triumph’s web site here.
