Last week I picked up one of the new Triumph Tiger 1050's. I love motorcycles that are exciting to ride and have nice styling. In addition to my ST1300 I have owned various CBR's, VFR's, Monster and most recently and SV1000S. The ST is a great bike and I will likely have it for a very long time. For me the ST does enough of everything well that it is a very good all around bike for me.
In my search for a lighter sportier bike I kept running into comfort challenges. The SPORT side of Sport Touring with the VFR was a bit difficult on my knees and wrist after about an hour. The VFR is an amazing bike but not comfortable enough for me. The naked Monster was a blast too, but had about the same comfort time limit for me.
This led me to consider the Multistrada to get sport bike handling with much more comfortable ergonomics. The Multi is a wonderful bike but lack of dealer support in my area and though the look of the bike which grew on me over time was just too unique for me and I could not bring myself to purchase it.
I then got on the BMW GS1200 search. Very competent bike. Very comfortable. It did everything well. When I got off the GS and rode away on my ST I found myself smiling with the twist of the ST throttle and realized I was only content with the GS. I wanted a bike I would be excited about, not content with. That coupled with the price of admission ruled out the GS.
That brought me to the Tiger. I was intrigued with it in the past version but that styling did not grab me, I did not need the off road pretence and it was getting long in tooth. So I quickly ruled it out. That was until I started to see spy photo's in the fall of '06. I followed the development of the bike over the winter and into the spring. Two weeks ago I made it in for a test ride and knew my long search was over.
For me the bike is the best all around bike I could find. Motor is just perfect, brakes strong, suspension supple yet very controlled. I have never had a suspension as compliant as the Tigers yet so controlled. Comfort is excellent. Handling is as good or better than any of the sportier bikes I have ridden for street purposes. I also came to like the
I only have a whopping 200+ miles on it so there is much to learn (160 of those miles were non-stop on all different types of roads). Out of the box it is a the ideal compliment to an ST type of bike. If you are considering anything from a naked to adventure tour type of bikes I would recommend considering the new Tiger. After about 7 years of searching it was the best all around bike I could find.
In my search for a lighter sportier bike I kept running into comfort challenges. The SPORT side of Sport Touring with the VFR was a bit difficult on my knees and wrist after about an hour. The VFR is an amazing bike but not comfortable enough for me. The naked Monster was a blast too, but had about the same comfort time limit for me.
This led me to consider the Multistrada to get sport bike handling with much more comfortable ergonomics. The Multi is a wonderful bike but lack of dealer support in my area and though the look of the bike which grew on me over time was just too unique for me and I could not bring myself to purchase it.
I then got on the BMW GS1200 search. Very competent bike. Very comfortable. It did everything well. When I got off the GS and rode away on my ST I found myself smiling with the twist of the ST throttle and realized I was only content with the GS. I wanted a bike I would be excited about, not content with. That coupled with the price of admission ruled out the GS.
That brought me to the Tiger. I was intrigued with it in the past version but that styling did not grab me, I did not need the off road pretence and it was getting long in tooth. So I quickly ruled it out. That was until I started to see spy photo's in the fall of '06. I followed the development of the bike over the winter and into the spring. Two weeks ago I made it in for a test ride and knew my long search was over.
For me the bike is the best all around bike I could find. Motor is just perfect, brakes strong, suspension supple yet very controlled. I have never had a suspension as compliant as the Tigers yet so controlled. Comfort is excellent. Handling is as good or better than any of the sportier bikes I have ridden for street purposes. I also came to like the
I only have a whopping 200+ miles on it so there is much to learn (160 of those miles were non-stop on all different types of roads). Out of the box it is a the ideal compliment to an ST type of bike. If you are considering anything from a naked to adventure tour type of bikes I would recommend considering the new Tiger. After about 7 years of searching it was the best all around bike I could find.
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