TIGER 1200 XCa
This heavily updated Tiger comes with
pretty much all the bells and whistles you
could wish for on a top-spec bike. There
really isn't anything missing on that front;
the bike gets keyless ignition, TFT screen,
adaptive cornering lights, shift-assist, heated
rider and pillion seats, electrically adjustable
touring screen, hill hold control, semi-active
suspension, cornering ABS that's switchable
and heaps more.
The new TFT full-colour instrumentation is a
welcome update and you can select how you
want the display to, erm, display. You can
have the revs as a bar across the top or like
a conventional analogue rev-counter. It's all
easily configurable via the joystick-type finger
control on the left hand switchgear. Those
who've ridden older Tigers will appreciate
how much more intuitive the new menu
system is – on the older bikes I could never
find the settings I was looking for. Now if you
want to adjust the suspension on the fly, just
tap the joystick for which one you want and
close the throttle. Easy.
When it comes to ease of use, the semi-
76 KIWI RIDER
active WP suspension is right up there. As
I said just now, it's easy to select without
having to look at the user manual and it
makes a big difference to how the bike rides.
There's a mode for everything... If you like
hanging the back out on dirt roads, without
traction control getting in the way there's a
mode for that. Front ABS on and rear off?
Yep. Both front and rear off? There's that
option too.
Updated for this year, the 1200's motor is
a beefy unit. Not that it wasn't good before,
but the three-cylinder motor has a great
wave of torque that's perfect for effortlessly
wafting two people and full luggage along. If
you're after a bit of fun when solo riding, let
it rev and it shifts very well. The titanium and
carbon Arrow silencer lets the big kitty roar
– this is one of the best sounding engines/
exhaust notes out there. Keeping it under
control is a very powerful set of Brembo
calipers at the front of the bike, which are
the most immediate I've felt on a bike in this
big capacity adventure class.