noise from the three-cylinder motor through
the Arrow silencer is glorious. There’s
something about the guttural growl of a big
capacity triple that never gets old.
I’d expected the Tiger to be great on the
motorway and it was a heap of fun on
Highway 22 down through Naike. Where I
wasn’t expecting too much was on the road
connecting SH22 to SH23, the last stretch of
twistyness to Raglan. At this point any feeling
of weight and thoughts on wheel sizes was
the last thing on my mind. The Tiger was now
a hugely fast, fat supermoto, which made the
twisty bits a complete blast. The switchable
ABS and adjustable suspension were co-
conspirators in the fun. With the suspension
in Sport and the ABS off, the Tiger can do
astonishing things. We did. I’ll leave it at that.
Breakfast was a win and we just had
the ride back to Auckland. To say I was
looking forward to the ride back is an
understatement. Seems like I just had to get
used to a different wheel size. The big Tiger is
back on my list of fun bikes. It’s capable, fast,
comfortable and has plenty of toys. If a 248kg
dry weight doesn’t intimidate you then as a
road bike that’ll comfortably do some gravel,
the Tiger is up there.
SECOND OPINION
The New Triumph Tiger 1200 XCa is
Triumph’s top of the line, big adventure
machine. It comes standard with every
imaginable electronic rider aid – technology
aimed at rider comfort, ease of use and
safety. For example, just some for the
exceptional features the 1200 XCa has
include an electrically adjustable screen,
KIWI RIDER 111