I love Tigers. I rode a 955i from Chile to Alaska for my book The Road to Gobblers Knob, and a 1050 around the edge of Australia for the book Oz.
After that, I had a couple of 800s, and loved the perfect riding position, all day comfort, lusty performance and pinpoint handling – especially after former race ace Phillip McCallen set up the suspension to reflect the fact that at 6ft 8in, I’m slightly heavier than Triumph test riders such as Felipe Lopez, who weighs about the same as a wet lettuce.
You can understand why Triumph sold 85,000 of the Tiger 800s, and the only complaint I had about them was the engine, which, although smooth and powerful, sounded like a giant sewing machine running late for a giant sewing machine conference.
Well, now Triumph’s solved that problem, since the 900 has a lovely gnarly burble at idle, rising to a visceral snarl at speed, thanks to a T-plane triple crank, whatever that is, and a firing order so complex it’s only understood by Einstein, Deep Blue and a man in a white coat at Hinckley.
He is, almost certainly, called Bob and has a neat row of coloured pens in his top pocket.
As always, there’s a choice of models, from the base 900 to the road-biased GT and GT Pro with cast wheels, and the on and off-road Rally and Rally Pro, with longer travel suspension and spoked wheels for an easier fix.
Rather cleverly, the spokes are on the edge of the rims to make them easier to change, according to a Triumph, er, spokesman.
After a quick admiration of the new more aggressive styling, I climbed aboard, and the good news is that the 900 retains the perfect riding position of the 800 – commanding and neutral, allowing you to either sit up, cruise and admire the view, or lean forward for hustling through bends.
The mirrors are perfect, giving you great all-round vision for safely threading your way through chaotic cities such as Delhi, Lahore, San Salvador or, worst of all, Naples.
The 5in TFT screen, or 7in on the top of the range models, is a lovely marriage of form and function, even changing contrast for perfect readability in bright conditions such as on the launch in Morocco.
Only tiny complaint – the tacho numbers are a bit small for older eyes.
The plush suspension, especially on the Rally version, soaks up everything that lumps and bumps throw at it in case you’re planning to head for places with dreadful roads such as Pakistan, eastern Turkey – or England.
Acceleration is gloriously satisfying, especially accompanied by that lusty new soundtrack, with the bike 5kg lighter than the 900, maximum power and torque up by 9% and 10% respectively, and more of both in the mid-range where it’s most useful.
The road riding modes are Rain, Road, Sport and Rider for bespoke tweaking, and Road is sufficiently swift that switching to Sport just adds a frisson of alacrity to proceedings rather than unleashing the slavering hounds of hell as on some superbikes.
Seamless progess is aided and abetted by a slick six-speed gearbox and featherlight clutch, or on the higher spec models a nifty quickshifter, although later in the day it stopped playing ball, especially on upshifts, and I had to resort to the unbelievable hardship of using the clutch.
Still, it’s good to keep these old traditional skills alive.
The brakes, with bigger discs up front, are slightly better than on the 800, not that they needed to be, while the rear has nicely linear bite and feel for trailing into downhill corners to keep the bike stable.
The best feature of all Triumphs, of course, is precision handling, and on the 900 it’s beautifully light and neutral, even with the softer suspension of the Rally version.
Switching to the more road-focused GT didn’t actually make much difference, which shows how good both are.
Triumph claims that with the new chassis, lighter weight and centre of gravity moved forward and down a gnat’s crochet, the handling’s better than on the 800, but to be honest the 800 is so good, I didn’t notice any huge difference.
On both, you can adjust the damping all the way from Comfort to Sport, and you can also set up the suspension for any load from solo rider to two fat ladies with kitchen sink.
Either way, the comfort blankets of cornering ABS and traction control on the higher-spec Pro models mean that you’re highly unlikely to come a cropper no matter how hard you test the bike’s patience.
The tank contains two litres more than the 18-litre one of the 800, and it was 200 miles before we had to stop for fuel with two bars still remaining on the gauge, so I’d guess a range of 240 miles, which is fine for anywhere except the Atacama Desert.
Off-road, the new engine makes the bike more tractable at low speed, and Triumph’s boffins have managed the neat trick of lowering the engine yet increasing the ground clearance, presumably by making the sump guard of antimatter.
The narrower seat makes standing on the pegs as natural as sitting down, and the riding modes are Off-Road, which removes the front ABS and reduces the rear traction control, and Off-Road Pro, on which proper hooligans can switch the ABS and traction control off completely for sliding and rooster tails.
Whatever they are. Something to do with a T-plane triple crank, I imagine.
Best of all, I spent the day riding with the very amiable stunt rider Lee Morrison, who rides a 900 in the new Bond film, No Time to Die.
After seeing me ride, he’s promised to use me for static shots in the next one.
The Facts
Engine: 888cc liquid-cooled inline triple
Power: 94bhp @ 8,750rpm
Torque: 64 lb ft @ 7,250rpm
Colours: White, red, black, khaki
Price: £9,500-£13,100
