Kiwi Rider January 2024 Vol.1 | Page 73

Picking up our long term test Tiger 1200 with 100km on the clock from Triumph NZ ’ s workshop

Most bike tests here in New Zealand involve picking up the review bike from the importer , keeping it for a couple of weeks to try and get some kilometres in the saddle before it has to go back and be lent out to the next publication . At best they ’ re a snapshot of the bike – better than grabbing a couple of hours test ride at your local dealer , but they can never simulate the longer term riding experience . So , when Triumph New Zealand asked if we ’ d like to test a Tiger 1200 Rally Pro for the whole summer , we were all in .

MY THING I ’ ll admit , this is my kind of bike – well , one of my kinds of bike , my tastes on the bike front are ... umm ... eclectic – as I own a big adventure bike in the shape of a 30-year-old BMW R80GS and spend many weeks a year touring the gravel roads and 4WD tracks of the country . So , I was kinda buzzing when I got the call to say we could keep the Rally Pro for the summer . The Tiger Rally Pro is the most dirt capable of the 1200 Tiger stablemates . There ’ s a 21-inch wheel up front , a 20-litre fuel tank and a wet weight of 249kg . Yes , it ’ s a big cat , but a heap lighter and smaller than the Explorer model which carries 10 litres more fuel , comes with heated seats , tyre pressure monitoring etc , which makes it feel significantly bulkier . If gravel roads are your thing and you won ’ t get much further off the seal than that , the Explorer could be the bike for you with the extra fuel range and full complement of electrical extras . I like to get onto 4WD tracks like the Porika near Lake Rotoroa and the Sedgemere near Lake Tennyson , so appreciate the little less bulk of the Pro model .
AND WE ’ RE OFF Just picking the Tiger up was an adventure in itself . I rode up to Rotorua for the GS Rallye adventure weekend , dropped my ol ’ GS off with our buddy Doug for safe keeping , then hopped into the passenger seat of publisher Vege ’ s Transporter for a ride up to Auckland . Anyone who ’ s ever been in a vehicle with the big man will know that ’ s an ‘ adventure ’ all of its own . Anyway ... Grabbing the Tiger from Triumph ’ s warehouse in Auckland there were barely one hundred kilometres on the digital clock . After a few
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