[pramods]

Yes, this is all about Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200 XC, the big adventure machine. Was initially interested in BMW GS/A, but the cost of that in India is prohibitory dropped that plan long back, was never interested in "small" 800cc Adventure bike, I know they are more capable and more than what you need for adventure, they are also better off in off road situation like Tiger 800cc, but I was aware I will outgrow at list mentally on this 800cc.

The latest V-Strom 1000 ABS is a very good option and available in India as direct import via Suzuki, even the cost is "reasonable" but I was not interested in Suzuki V-Strom, the reason I gave myself was "I needed a shaft driven bike!" , Triumph launched XC version in India rather than the normal Explorer, the XC has all the required for Adventure touring - skid plate, spoked wheel, engine guard, hand protector,fog lamp and main stand the fuel capacity is same for both normal Explorer and XC , while BMW GSA has 33L over GS 20L.

Got the delivery done at Nagpur on 1st Aug 2014 rather than riding it from Pune, enjoy some of the pics of truck and bike

Tiger on mini truck


Truck and ladder


BU Bhandari Sales/Service Engineer who came with bike


First start




Has initial hiccups in getting the bike registered at Nagpur, got everything sorted but it took almost 1 week to complete the formalities, I have to meet everybody in the RTO and each one had to physically verify the bike and required document, there was also some confusion and query related to ARAI certification and all, nonetheless by the end of this process I have to travel for work and the bike just did 200kms.

My First ride on Tiger











What I like

• Its a BIG bike, the feel
• Torque, it pull like anything
• Shaft drive, almost no maintenance
• Headlight and Fog lamp they are better than most of the cars
• Engine sound not too loud but it growls when you rev it
• Stability at any speed, low, high or at insane speeds

What I dislike

• The weight of the bike, you need to practice and work hard in Gym to get your legs and arm stronger, you need to push the stand on the centre stand while pulling the bike.
• The height of the bike, if you tilt the bike more on any one side, it would be impossible to hold it upright

I did a Nagpur-Hyderabad-Nagpur on 30th-31st Aug for 1st servicing, it was fun to ride this all along, Nagpur-Hyderabad-Nagpur gives you all kind of road, Excellent, Bad and Worst roads and to top it all it was raining 90 percent of time and it really pouring. The weather and road condition made Traction Control comes into picture, at one location on a pothole ridden road there was too much mud and water and I was in first gear and accidentally more throttle, fraction of second of acceleration and TC button flashing and everything under control! it was scary and then a big relief.


30th Aug, started early morning 3.30AM from Nagpur and was at Rebel Motorcycle at 12PM with intermediate break.
Some where after Adilabad





Started back from there at 4.15PM and reached Adilabad at 9.15PM it was raining and was going to take the BAD section with rains, stopped for the night at Adilabad and started back at 9AM on 31st Aug and reach home 1PM

Trip computer stats
Nagpur-Hyderabad-Nagpur : 998 kms
Driving Time : 15.30 hrs
Average consumption : 19.2 km/L
Average Speed : 62.5 Kmph

back at home, need to clean the bike may be next weekend







-Pramod

[Haroon]

Congrats Pramod. Great to see another Triumph ownership report here, and this time nothing less than the huge 1200 Explorer XC.

Btw, if you plan on doing more of highway rides, it would be worthwhile to replace the OE horn with something like a Hella twin tone or Roots vibrasonic etc. Trust me, it can be a life saver in many situations when inattentive car, truck & bus drivers get your attention thinking a car honked from somewhere and its about to crash into them

Ride safe and wish you many miles of enjoyable adventure touring

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Congrats! Frankly - I am not much into adventure bikes, and opened this thread with very little expectations.

But, my eyes popped out as soon as I scrolled and reached the pic where the mechanic sits on the bike - the sheer size of the bike is just mind boggling! Drool material! Went back to the beginning once again and started reading the text and checking the pics properly.

Congrats once again! Ride safe.

[Jayant06]

Hi Pramod, hearty congratulations on adding to your stable. (Aren't you the same person with travelogues on the Scorpio 4x4 & the Yeti as well). Look forward to your documentation of your Explorer experience.

While you did mention in your introduction your reasons for choosing the Explorer over the 800XC, with the experience you have had so far, if you were to go through the evaluation process again, would you still choose the Explorer for your riding requirements? Just curious.

Cheers & enjoy the process of taming the Tiger!

Jayant

[sudev]

Drool machine. Can you give more pics of the storage on top of fuel tank? I can see it in one of the pictures at Adilabad

[pramods]

Originally Posted by Haroon

.....
Btw, if you plan on doing more of highway rides, it would be worthwhile to replace the OE horn with something like a Hella twin tone or Roots vibrasonic etc. ....

Thanks Haroon,I agree a better horn is a much required upgrade, by the way have gone through your BMW and other bike expedition all around and have also learned how the pillion can on board and deboard a loaded adventure bike from your expedition report!

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Congrats! Frankly - I am not much into adventure bikes, and opened this thread with very little expectations.
......

Thanks, to give you a detail about this BIG machine, attaching a pdf of Triumph Tiger launch presentation of 2012 detailing all about Tiger Explorer, development history, mechanical, competition, current features and accessories for it.
Tiger_Explorer_Presentation.pdf
[source: http://www.tiger-explorer.com/images...sentation.pdf]

Originally Posted by Jayant06

... (Aren't you the same person with travelogues on the Scorpio 4x4 & the Yeti as well). ......
.. choosing the Explorer over the 800XC, ....choose the Explorer for your riding requirements? Just curious.
.....
Jayant

Thanks Jayant, yes I am the same guy, and would any day go for 1200 XC over 800, maybe it's just me, bigger is better for adventure, nonetheless I see 2 BIG problem here the weight and tank capacity of the bike, it need to be lighter and have more capacity to travel longer, may be Triumph would do it in newer version.

Originally Posted by sudev

Drool machine. Can you give more pics of the storage on top of fuel tank? I can see it in one of the pictures at Adilabad

Thanks, here are images showing the tank attachment on bike and tank bag it self, the attached pdf also big the complete detail of the tank bag and pannier, I have both tank bag and pannier.

bike attachment for tank bag


tank bag




Thanks again to all and hope to ride more update this thread as I munch more miles.

-Pramod

[deoelect]

Congratulations Sir! The bike looks BIG. And awesome. Wishing you many happy miles with it. Now you get a chance for a long drive every time the servicing is due. Any news on Triumph opening their showroom in Ngp?

O.T Do you still have the Hyosung ?

[susan3004]

Very interesting machine. One has to plan seconds in advance as far as halting is concerned. Placement of feet firmly would require a little thought?

[ebonho]

Congrats on becoming the proud owner of one of my dream machines Pramod! Will keep checking your thread regularly. Do post a lot of photos of the "tank" in its element.

[pramods]

Originally Posted by deoelect

C... Any news on Triumph opening their showroom in Ngp?

O.T Do you still have the Hyosung ?

Not heard anything about Triumph coming to Nagpur, it would take few years at least, sold the Aquila Pro and got a Alto 800 VXi for wife

I tried the Cruise Control and its a useful feature if roads are good, but it was raining heavily and based on the visibility it was quite difficult to use the Cruise Control, may be someday when I am again on the road like NH 7 from Adilabad toward Hyderabad

thanks all for your wises

-Pramod

[Motormania]

Many congratulations the 1200. I rode one myself and my God, was I smitten!

Just like you, i too was very conscious about the weight, particularly in u-turns. Totally love the way this thing moves and the commanding riding stance - True blue SUV of 2 wheelers!

Have fun and keep feeding us with more pictures and ride reports!

[jobish]

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post messages that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further. We request you to post ONLY when you have something substantial to add to a discussion.

[mobike008]

Pramod, Many Congratulations !!!

Finally I get to see your report on the forum. Iam glad to know that your truly enjoying this beast. I will be honest about one thing though, picture quality posted is not good at all and is pure injustice to such a beautiful machine. Request you to post some pictures from a good camera, this thread really deserves it

Myself and Susan3004 rode the Triumph Explorer 1200 during one of our rides to Hillpark and it's simply a massive machine and me being 6ft. 1in tall still had my feet just touching the ground which was not the case of Susan3004 who is maybe an inch taller than me

How about posting a picture of you astride the machine (akin to the picture that I posted below)

Do share your 1st service experience, cost and feedback of Rebel etc.

Look forward to regular updates of your bike with lots of pictures.

Cheers & Enjoy the dream bike of many (including mine)

Originally Posted by susan3004

Very interesting machine. One has to plan seconds in advance as far as halting is concerned. Placement of feet firmly would require a little thought?

Sandeep, Do you have your picture on TT1200 from that ride? do post it here please..and, I also remember how you left a few mins after a big HOG group left and chased them on Triumph 1200 and overtook them and returned back to Hillpark?

It reaches high speeds pretty quickly and we both saw some numbers on the speedo that was unbeilevable......

[pramods]

I am able to get both my foot down, but still its a heavy bike and one need to be careful, the best option that works, is to have the bike on one foot and not try to get both foot down, balance with both down and not completely reaching can be dangerous. Will have to get someone to click myself on my 1200 XC .

People all around are generally aware of sports bike and more so Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki and some awareness about BMW because of Dhoom, XC is a completely different bike and attracts lots of unwanted attention everywhere, sometime this is completely undesirable.
While getting back from Hyderabad somewhere near Nirmal I stopped for a butt break near a petrol station and in few minutes there was almost 20-30 people surrounding the bike trying to do all kind of thing, initial lot was courteous enough to ask for taking photo, touching the bike and all but as more people started joining behaviour and action started objectionable, I have to somehow get on bike and get going stop somewhere in middle of nowhere for next break.

-Pramod

[JASMEET MATTOO]

Many congratulations Pramod on your acquisition. It is indeed a dream bike!

Wish you many happy miles on this beast! Enjoy !