One month with a… Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Explorer (Verdict)

In all forms Triumph Tigers are there for the long-haul, and my journey through the range from the 660 and 800 Tiger Sports and Tiger 900 to this, the boss level 1200, feels suitably epic! A 2024 model year update of a the version first launched in 2021, the Tiger 1200 is up there in the big league of powerful, high-tech and expensive premium adventure tourers and competes with heavyweights as diverse as the BMW R 1300 GS, Ducati Multistrada V4, Moto Guzzi Stelvio and Harley-Davidson Pan America to name but a few. Talented, charismatic bikes all of them, against which the Tiger 1200 offers a powerful and characterful triple engine, a choice of road-biased GT or proper adventure spec Rally versions and all the tech and gizmos you’d expect in a bike of this level. Time to find out if it really is king Tiger!
Skip to: Month 1 – The big beast Month 2 – Tiger in the wild!

40-something (just) new convert to motorcycling making up for lost time and trying to figure out what kind of rider I am. With riding still at the novelty stage every trip out is a blast, whether it be the regular commute over the hills to the office or days out on the brilliant roads around my Yorkshire home.

Dan says: “It’s a lot of bike, with a suitably over-engineered sense of substance through its sturdy steel frame, ‘tri-link’ rear suspension and shaft drive”

As you’ll have seen, I really enjoyed the Tiger 900 and found its combination of size, weight and performance a winning balance of adventure bike stature and all-round usability. Would the 1200 build on that, or just be too much? Certainly, when it arrived I could trace the resemblance in spirit, looks and style to the 900. It was just … more so. A lot more so in this GT Explorer trim, adding a bigger 30-litre tank, heating for seat and grips and tyre pressure monitoring for the extra grand and a bit you pay over the regular GT. Add in the Trekker Pack with the suitably chunky three-piece aluminium luggage set and you’re north of 20 grand. A lot of money. But it’s a lot of bike, with a suitably over-engineered sense of substance through its sturdy steel frame, ‘Tri-Link’ rear suspension and shaft drive. 2024 model year changes included tweaks to the engine to increase internal inertia with the aim of improved smoothness, this also addressing a reported tendency to stall at inopportune moments. An Active Preload Reduction system was also added, capable of lowering the bike by as much as 20mm to help in low-speed situations. Which, given the size and stature, was a reassurance! To be fair, the GT versions like this with the smaller ‘road’ wheel combo are slightly less intimidating than the full off-road Rally spec ones like I rode (and fell off, in spectacular fashion) on the Triumph Adventure Experience in Wales but, all things relative, the 1200 remains a hefty lump of motorcycle. It was, at least, familiar from the 900 in terms of the screen, the switchgear and everything else. Which gave me one less thing to worry about as I got to grips with it. And like the smaller one (we’re talking relatively, here!) the 1200 has that same sense of mechanical toughness, the clanks and clunks through the shaft-driven rear end feeling suitably burly. After my issues with the panniers on the 800 I was glad to see the luggage set on this one looked a good deal chunkier, though I immediately removed it all for the commute for the fact the side boxes stick out too much for filtering. Still turned out to be a lot of bike for that but hitting the ‘Home’ button to drop the preload helped, knowing that my feet would be flat on the ground if I did have to stop. And the engine? Seemingly much of the same growly character as the 900 but just a lot more of everything, the 150 horsepower putting it mid-pack in comparison to the BMW GS, Multistrada V4 and others. These Triumph triples are all brimming with charisma, and the big Tiger is the same, just with the sharpest claws of the lot! Back to top

Dan says: “That T-plane triple makes a glorious noise as well, with a bassy, off-beat growl at low revs erupting into a proper roar”

With an invitation to join Audi for a launch of its new Q3 up in Scotland landing while the Tiger 1200 was around I spied an opportunity to properly stretch its legs. Certainly, the idea of riding up to Glasgow was more appealing than the invitation to drive three hours south to Heathrow and jump on a plane going back in the opposite direction. Added incentive came with the fact I’d done a very similar trip the previous year on the Multistrada V4 Rally, which is an obvious rival to the Tiger 1200 and presented a perfect chance to see how it compared on an equivalent trip. It’s about 260 miles from my home in Yorkshire up to Glasgow, and a relatively painless blast up the motorway in a car. But for a bike it’s much more interesting to take a diagonal line up across the North Pennines, where the roads are open, the views epic and the traffic limited to the odd meandering sheep. For the first hour’s blast up the A1 the Tiger was just the ticket, being comfy, relaxed and generally unstressed. A pity the windscreen didn’t turn out to be as effective as the one on the Yamaha Tracer 9 GT+ I had in at the same time, and nor did it have the benefit of radar-guided cruise control. But still a great bike for ticking off steady miles. Also a great bike for when the going gets more interesting, it turned out. While the skies looked menacing and the roads were far from dry I quickly built trust in the big Tiger, the 1200 relishing the open space and chance to open its lungs. It never lets you forget how big and heavy it is, but when the sight lines stretch for miles you have the confidence to dig a little deeper into that 150 horsepower, safe in the knowledge there’s the full suite of cornering ABS and traction control to support you. While it has a little less suspension travel than the Rally the 200mm on offer is plenty for dealing with choppier back roads, the electronically controlled damping suitably smooth and composed. That T-plane triple makes a glorious noise as well, with a bassy, off-beat growl at low revs erupting into a proper roar as you wind it out. All the bikes in this class have distinctive, charismatic engines, ranging from the boxer in the GS to the V4 in the Multistrada and various twins used by Harley, Moto Guzzi and KTM. The Triumph literally splits the difference and stands out for being torquey low down but still capable of revving out into five figures. Glorious! After spending 12 hours out of 36 in the saddle my affection for the big Tiger had grown as well. Sure, a GS is more sophisticated while the Multistrada V4 is faster, if somewhat brutal in the way it pulls a road apart. Felt to me like the 1200 was the perfect middle ground, the tech playing a quiet background role rather than dominating the experience and the Triumph’s more charismatic nature really winning me over. I’m still not convinced big adventure tourers are my kind of bike. But for a trip like this and with room to stretch its legs the big Tiger was an absolute joy. It would be a tough choice between this, the GS and the Multistrada. Or, indeed, the Guzzi Stelvio. But the Triumph would absolutely be up there. Back to top