[cUjO]

excellent review sir! You summed up the adv buying experience in India with your thread. Bought for all the right reasons and using it exactly the way its supposed to. Being a hardcore adv fan myself, reading this thread made my day. I think you and Haroon sir's threads should be read by BMW Motorrad india to understand what they could achieve if they price their vehicles sensibly and bring in the whole ADV lifestyle which they have pioneered elsewhere in the world. The BMW R1200GS is not the worlds best selling motorcycle for nothing! I only wish we could have ADV riding lessons conducted here in India as well. Survival training, camping in the wilderness, all of these go hand in hand and would do great in our country.
I am sure there are a lot more people like me who would rather drool on a Rukka than an Alpinestar!
Lets just hope all manufacturers wake up and realise the untapped potential of the ADV market.

[mohan]

Originally Posted by cUjO

BMW Motorrad india to understand what they could achieve if they price their vehicles sensibly and bring in the whole ADV lifestyle which they have pioneered elsewhere in the world

Thanks cUjo.

The ADV market is fully captured by Triumph and the Tiger is THE hot selling product of Triumph as of now in India.
Triumph has given India a bike which is, relatively, affordable and most importantly ,one which could be ridden by the average Indian with his average height.
BMW's 1200GS is the more advanced motorcycle with its patented 'paralever' and 'telelever' technology. I would have preferred it over a Tiger, if it were pocket-friendly and had a lower seat height. .

BMW has woken up to this fact, finding that its sales number is nowhere near that of the Tiger in the Indian context.
Yes ,BMW Motorrad India, has taken cognizance, I have learnt, through a very good friend, based in Mumbai and working for BMW. The news is BMW Motorrad is getting bikes in India, including its 1200GS -LC, the first half of the next year ,manufactured and assembled in Thailand at a better price factor (including its 'lower suspension-lower seat height variant ).

One more observation, the Indian bike scenario is maturing. More and more people are now touring the country on their bikes and there is a growing trend to purchase bikes intended for this purpose, utilitarian, rather than owning flashy and fast' street bikes.
Yes, I am hopeful too, that the ADV-moto culture would grow and mature in our country too , since geographically India has a lot to offer...sandy dunes to icy terrain, perennially wet places to forested localities.

[veerameti]

Congratulations again Dr Mohan,

You have been utilising the Tiger to the fullest putting up 6K on the Odo pretty speedily, I have been lagging a bit but just completed 5K last week. Your ownership thread came up on the day I left for a long drive and saw this only today. Lets see if we can meet up anytime soon.

Regards and keep riding,
Veera

[mohan]

Originally Posted by veerameti

Congratulations again Dr Mohan,
Lets see if we can meet up anytime soon.
Regards and keep riding,
Veera

Dear Veerameti, thanks a lot.
Yes, a MH-04 ,Coastal Route ,trip is on the cards ,somewhere in November,which will terminate in Goa.
I will keep you posted. Will be mighty glad if you could join.

[udainxs]

Originally Posted by mohan

But then, the Tiger XR ,the base model is soon to be launched which would be priced just around 10 lakh.

Thanks for the great review Mohan! I have been looking for a review for the Tiger for a while.

The XR has been launched at 12.68 OTR Banglaore, while the XRX is available for 13.89 OTR


Happy Riding!!

[vishalrr]

Congrats on the bike Mohan and very nicley written.

Wanted to know how practical/comfortable is it with and for pillon riders?

[mohan]

Originally Posted by vishalrr

Congrats on the bike Mohan and very nicley written.

Wanted to know how practical/comfortable is ...

Thanks Vishal.
The Tiger is designed for a co-traveller.
It has a large pillion seat, appropriately placed foot pegs.
Also there is a luggage rack, behind the pillion seat, to stowe luggage without reducing the passenger space. There are grab rails at the side too.
Me and my friend, a BMW owner, had both been on a short 110 km ride and we both are of the opinion that indeed the Tiger is designed for a comfortable two-some ride.

I have to take my bike back to the Service centre.
The 'Arrow' after-market exhaust has entirely spoilt my ride quality.
I now have to open the throttle wide enough to achieve the same thing I used to achieve with just a small flick of the throttle.
I probably might refit my 'Stock' exhaust, if the tuning process does not get back my bike to its stock condition.

[Jaggu]

Envy envy envy!!! I own a street triple and this is one bike i would have bought if not for the striple and my city use. The bike is such a comfy cruiser that one can easily forgive the additional girth and width, which i later realised would not have been such a big issue after all.

Great thread, do keep sharing details of your trips (rather adventures) and I will be hooked on! Congratulations!

[nivatakavacha]

Dr Mohan, that is a wonderful review of the motorcycle and now, I wish I can buy it as well.

please keep on sharing your experiences on multiple trips on the bike, and we can atleast live the dream through your posts.

Thanks!

[mohan]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Envy envy envy!!! I own a street triple Congratulations!

Jaggu ji , when I had a test ride of the Street Triple ,I was hooked on to it, lovely petite bike ,with a superb handling characteristic. A friend of mine also owns a Striple and I never miss the opportunity to take a wild ride,whenever I meet him.

Originally Posted by nivatakavacha

Dr Mohan, that is a wonderful review !

Thanks nivatakavacha ,appreciated!

[rbp]

I presently ride a Ninja650, the Tiger is on my list for my next upgrade. Nice thread, please keep sharing your experiences. By the way how is the ride quality on broken roads?

[Arun Venugopal]

Originally Posted by rbp

I presently ride a Ninja650, the Tiger is on my list for my next upgrade. Nice thread, please keep sharing your experiences. By the way how is the ride quality on broken roads?

Sublime. It has the best ride in this class and is aptly suited for our bad roads. The XCx has an even more cushier ride.

[mohan]

Originally Posted by rbp

I presently ride a Ninja650, the Tiger is on my list for my next upgrade. Nice thread, please keep sharing your experiences. By the way how is the ride quality on broken roads?

Suspension is top class, the ride quality is to be experienced to be believed. It's on the broken roads that the Tiger out performs and exceeds your expectations.
Again it all depends on the suspension setting you keep.
Th rear is adjustable.

[grplr02]

Dr. Mohan, thank you very much for a most informative and interesting thread on the Triumph Tiger 800XRx. I concur with most of your observations, the Tiger is a very appropriate motorcycle for our roads and riding conditions.

I recently picked up a Tiger 800XCx and am thoroughly enjoying the riding experience. Yes, the height and weight was a little intimidating at first, especially as this is my first mid-size ADV bike, coming from an Enfield, Bonneville and older-BMW background. Also, I'm not very tall, around 5'10" but with pants inseam of just 30 inches, so I can't really flat-foot the bike. Lowering the standard seat helped a lot, but then I installed knobbier tires (Metzler Karoo 3) and that pushed the height back up - this too, right as my friends and I set off from Srinagar to Leh - first challenging off-road section on my new Tiger with brand new tires was uphill to Zojila fighting for space with trucks and tankers over the broken road, very interesting! Halfway through our two-week ride through Ladakh & Himachal, and I was very fine with the height of my Tiger, revelling in the extra height it gave me, among other things. Yes, it's size, weight & height can be a bit imposing at first, but the power, torque, wheel size, ground clearance, suspension, etc. had me chewing through broken roads, off roads, no roads, sandy sections, water crossings, with greater confidence, as well as absolutely blasting past everything on the Chandigarh-Delhi highway without even trying hard. The few oopsie-moments I experienced up in Ladakh were due to my own less-than-adequate riding skills.

I quickly found out that I cannot expect my Tiger to perform like a pure dirt bike - the 250cc Honda-engine dirt bike I rode recently is an absolute blast over all terrain, boulders, swamp, slush, it sails through them all - but ride it for anything over a few hours or for any length of time over tarmac and it's shortcomings become evident. Larger adv bikes like the Tiger and GS serve a wide range of purposes and do them really well.

Dr. Mohan, thanks also for the link to bigbadbikes - I was looking to get myself SW Motech accessories from overseas, now looks like I can get them in India itself, a great help!

I'm looking froward to install Arrow pipes. The one thing that hasn't been a very fun experience is the whirring whee-ing sound of the stock pipes. Two other guys I know that ride Tigers both have Arrows installed and those sounds so much better than mine. I changed most of my other bikes' exhausts to after-market louder ones and been happy with them, so cannot wait for a meaner, louder sounding Tiger! Different strokes for different folks

A few other things I'm not too happy with the Tiger - both Tigers on our recent Ladakh ride had the front fender literally break off within the first two days. Mine started wobbling after crossing Zojila and broke clean off as I descended - that was the first day of our ride!

Those front indicator lights really need to be placed somewhere safer, just a minor slo-mo drop saw the light break apart, ended up riding the rest of the trip without my front right indicator.

Those plastic hand guards need to be beefier or have sturdier backing - will be going for aftermarket parts here (SW Motech or Touratech).

I'm also going to install risers on my handlebars, should make for easier stand-up riding over challenging sections. Right now I find myself leant forward a little more than I should be while standing & riding.

But all in all, I'm really happy with my Tiger and look forward to many more miles of riding in all conditions on it.

Oh and I also have that same Triumph Navigator jacket - very happy with it. Same with that Kriega bag, got smaller sizes in them as well

[mohan]

Originally Posted by grplr02

.

I recently picked up a Tiger 800XCx and am thoroughly enjoying the riding experience. Yes, the height and weight was a little intimidating at first, especially triumph Navigator jacket - very happy with it. )

Thanks grplr02 , you post was very interesting to read ,especially the Ladakh adventure.

Yes, I too am planing to raise the handle bars, so that a standing posture could be maintained correctly for a longer time.
Do keep writing about your adventures.
Hope to ride with you someday.