My Triumph Tiger Rally 1200 Explorer

I just realized that with all these posts, I have never really talked about the bike I ride on a daily basis (ok, I mentioned it in The Bikes section). If you have read any of the bio information, you would know that in high school and college, I rode bikes. In high school, it was dirt bikes. In college, I purchased another dirt bike but also a street bike (my first). The dirt bike was for fun...the street bike was for necessity. I went to a college where parking was scarce yet motorcycle parking was every where. No brainer. Buy a bike! I rode it for years.

After college, I moved to Detroit and sold my bikes. I then took a very long hiatus - over 35 years - before I got back on a bike again. Once my kids were out of college, I decided to concentrated on me and what I liked to do. I loved trail riding and I loved motorcycles so I started looking and eventually ended up with an adventure bike. The Tiger 1200 is my third adventure bike in less than 3 years. Before judging....my previous Tiger 900 had almost 26K miles on it. I ride - a lot. It is not uncommon to put 750-1000 miles in a weekend (just for fun).

Now back to the bike. The 900 was great but the 1200 is better. Its bigger and fits a larger frame better IMHO. I am almost 6'5" and the larger frame bike allows me to sit more upright and it just feels more comfortable. I have not had to modify anything on the bike. No stem extensions or anything. It is 100% stock and feels great (ok, I would like a softer seat but that is another topic).

There were four big items that impressed me about the 1200:

• Power
• Shaft Drive
• Suspension
• Fit

With the chain, maintenance seemed to be non-stop with as many miles as I rode. Every 200-300 miles, need to lube. Every 1000-2000, need to clean the chain. Its just another maintenance task I would rather not have to do. Again, if I did not ride so many miles, it may not be such a big deal but the shaft drive is No Maintenance essentially.

The upgrade from the 900 to 1200 pushed the horsepower from just under 100 to almost 150. You can never have enough power! I will admit, the power of the 900 was more than adequate for how I ride but it is nice to have that extra oomph now. Not a game changer but definitely not a negative either.

When I first go the 900, I would adjust the suspension based on the type of trip. If I was loading up with all my bags, I would adjust it for the weight. If I was just around town, etc, I would adjust it again. I found it to be one big royal pain the ass AND I am not even sure if I noticed any difference (I am by no means any expert in how the bikes feels/handles). In the end, I decided to just set the suspension in the middle between being completely loaded up to having nothing. I just left it there and never touched it any more. The 1200 has the dynamic suspension. Based on the mode and the weight, it just does its thing. I no longer have to worry about adjusting preloads or anything else. I hope the dynamic suspension will make the ride more enjoyable and safer.

The fit of the bike for my size probably swayed me the most. The first time I sat on the bike, I could feel the difference. For a taller person, the fit was much better than the 900. If just felt good. I liked my shoulder placement and how my arms felt when in the riding position. I am not saying that this is not a good fit for a shorter person, I just know it felt good to me. Triumph must have also made some center of gravity changes. The bike did not feel as top heavy (but again, this could have been Jedi mind tricks).

So those were the big things that got me really interested in upgrading to the larger bike. But what else is there? Actually a lot. I will try to go over the things that were lacking on the 900 (but I still may mention them since they are really cool).

When I first stated to look at the bike, I noticed these lights on the rear view mirrors - blind spot radar. Yup, just like your car, the bike has lights that will come on when anything is in your blind spot. At first I did not think it would be helpful but I was really wrong on this one. I always look before I switch lanes but the blind spot radar is just another check to ensure I do not miss something. I actually find it quite helpful in many situations...especially in traffic.

Like the 900, the 1200 has heated grips and seats but also (supposedly) an all day comfort seat. The seat is better than the 900 but an all day comfort seat, that is stretching it. I do love that the forward slope of the seat is drastically less (on the 900 I always felt like it was pushing me to sit on top of the gas tank). The slope on the 1200 is much flatter but the comfort is still not their. Its much better but I wish they would have made the seat a bid wider and spent a few more bucks in putting more cushion in the seat. As I said, it is much better but I still get some hot spots and have to stop to give myself a break.

The lighting system is awesome. Everything is LED! We have daytime running lights and the auxiliary lights (some may call them driving or fog lights). The headlight is extremely bright. I love the illumination it gives at night. I also love the fact that NOW when you have the fog lights on, switching from low to high to low beams, the fog lights will come back on automatically (if they were previously o). I also love that when braking, not only does the brake light come on, so do our turn signal lamps. It is just more warning for those behind you. So now the downside. The fog lights are somewhat useless. They are not very bright and they are white. I wish they were yellow to help our bikes stand out in a crowd. I also wish they were a LOT brighter for safety. It would be nice if we had more options to make them strobe or do something to make us stand out at dusk/night with all the other lights from cars. They also talk about adaptive cornering lights. These are a absolute joke. I did not even notice them until I ask someone about them months after I owned the bike. They are WAY to dim and really do not illuminate anything. I wish our headlights rotated instead. I hate driving at night and cornering as you have a bit of difficulty seeing.

The gas tank is much bigger (wish I would have had that on my 6500 mile journey across the USA). The 900 was almost 5 gallons but the 1200 is almost 8. Yes, you can ride a long time before each fill up. I will say that gas has never really been an issue where I have travelled. I have not had a time where I worried I might run out of gas but still, it is nice to have the extra fuel (but not the weight).

Speaking of weight, the 1200 does weigh more. The 900 was around 500 lbs whereas the 1200 is around 575. Now take into account the extra 4 gallons of fuel (at least 32+ lbs) so the real difference is about 40 lbs. Not really that bad considering the differences. It is still a lot of weight. I know everyone says that you can take these anywhere but at almost 600 lbs, I do not intend on trail riding this bike. Can it do it? I am sure it can but not at my ability. It is just to heavy to try and throw around on a trail (I will be buying a lighter dual sport for this). Even with the extra weight, Triumph changed something so it feels less top heavy. I like the feel and since I stick to asphalt, dirt, and gravel roads, it has not been an issue yet.

One difference I am not a fan of is TFT display. The 900 was ok but the changes they made for the 1200 are worse. The standard display I really like. It shows a round dial with speed, RPMs, etc. But as soon as you try to add other things to the display, it kinks the round dial diagonally and displays what you want next to it. It is horrible AND it does not remember. When you start up the bike, you have to select it yet again. I am hoping at some point they change this. It is not a game changer but more of a nuisance.

The windscreen is much better. It is so easy to slide it up and down even while riding. The 900 was VERY difficult especially while riding. It is these smaller changes that you begin to notice.

The amount of space under the seat is much less with the 1200. The 900 had a tray under the seat where you could stash things. That is gone on the 1200. The issue is that I mount video cameras front and rear on my bike. The unit that controls them is not really small so I stash it under the seat. I also have a Thunder Box. Its not huge but it is rectangular and a little bulky. On the 900, not an issue storing these. The 1200 you had to get a bit more creative. There is room...but not as prevalent as on the 900.

The seats are easier to get on and off...at least at the height I use them. I used to struggle a bit with the main seat. The 1200, just push it in the right direction and it seems to slip right in. The pinion seat is a snap as well.

I will not get into all the specifications about rotors and displacements. In many cases, I probably would not be able to tell the difference. All I know is that it stops great, it accelerates great, it is fun to ride, and am 100% glad I upgraded.