Technical Review – Ben Purvis Riding Review – Simon Hargreaves
Price: from £17,295 | Power: 148bhp | Weight: from 246kg | Overall BikeSocial Rating: 4/5
In 2022 Triumph launched a new Tiger 1200 series. Completely revamped, it shared nothing with its predecessor: new engine, new T-plane crank for added character, new semi-active suspension, frame, wheels, brakes, electronics and styling.
For 2024, Triumph have altered very little. The Tiger 1200 still comes in two main flavours: as before the range includes the road-biased GT models, with 19in front, cast wheels, shorter travel suspension and lower seat heights, and the Rally models with 21in front, wire wheels, longer travel suspension and taller seat heights. And, as before, the GT and Rally come in Pro spec, with a 20-litre tank, and Explorer spec with a 30-litre tank, rear blind spot radar and heated seats (the base GT has been dropped).
Visually almost identical to the 2022 bikes, and with an almost identical spec, you’d be forgiven for thinking nothing significant has changed for 2024. But Triumph have made a few internal changes to the engine that make a huge difference to its feel, character and all-round usability. They’ve also subtly altered and added a few ergonomic features, most noticeably a rear ride height reduction system that lowers seat height at the push of a button for easier management at low speed and standstill.
But the engine changes are the big difference between last year’s bikes and the new models. It’s the kind of difference that will really, really matter in 10 years’ time when you’re looking at buying a used Tiger 1200 and can’t decide between a 2023 model and a 2024 bike. It’s stuff you need to know because the difference is that important – and so BikeSocial is at the launch in Scotland to ride all four 2024 Tigers.
Pros & Cons
Potent inline triple loses big T-plane vibes and is much, much smoother
Improved low speed running means no tendency to stall at low revs
Still a premium, comfy, spacious, well-spec’d, big-bore adventure bike
Despite push-button seat lowering system, the Rally is still a big, tall bike
Apart from vibes and stalling, if you didn’t like the previous model nothing else has changed
Still can’t quite match integrated opulence of R1300 GS’s roadholding and refinement
2024 Triumph Tiger 1200 Review
It might look the same as the 2022 bike but the 2024 version comes with some very handy upgrades. BikeSocial's Simon Hargreaves heads to Scotland to try this one.
Four prices for four bikes: the GT Pro is the cheapest model, at £17,295 on the road. Next up is the Rally Pro, for an extra grand at £18,295. The GT Explorer comes in at £18,695, and the top-spec Rally Explorer is £19,695. That’s around £600 more expensive compared to the 2022 new bike prices.
However, that’s still at the bottom end of the mix with rival premium adventure bikes – spec up a BMW R1300 GS to GT Pro spec and you’re looking at over £19,000. Ducati’s Multistrada V4 S doesn’t get out of bed for less than £20,000 and KTM’s 1290 Super Adventure S is currently £17,499.
The Tiger prices are only for bikes in the base colour – white for the GT, black for the Rally. The GT Pro and Explorer comes in new Carnival Red colour alongside Sapphire Black – both add £200 to the price. The Rally comes in new Matt Sandstone as well as Matt Khaki, and both add £300 to the price.
The Tiger 1200 borrows the 1160cc inline triple from the current Speed Triple, but retuned to a more modest claimed 148bhp at 9000rpm and 96 lb.ft at 7000rpm. Triumph rightly say this is the most powerful shaft drive adventure bike – the BMW R1300 GS claims 143bhp at 7750rpm, but a greater 110 lb.ft of torque from its extra 140cc.
In a departure from the Speed Triple engine, and in keeping with the smaller Tiger 900s, the 2022 Tiger 1200 also got a T-plane crank configuration. This unique engineering solution was designed by Triumph to counter criticism of the previous Tiger inline triples which deliver a smooth, linear flow of thrust to the rear wheel from a regular, even firing interval – a characteristic of Triumph’s conventional inline triple layout. While it’s a satisfying engine character for road use, it’s not as successful in an off-road environment. Big gaps in firing interval from, say, a twin or single cylinder engine help the rear wheel find traction on loose surfaces, where an engine with a smoother, evenly-firing power delivery might struggle.
In a conventional Triumph triple engine (most triples, in fact) the three pistons and rods are connected to the crank with 120° spacing – ie evenly around 360°. Looked at end-on, it’s a Y-shape configuration. The pistons fire at evenly-spaced intervals and so the force delivered to the back wheel is relatively even – there are only minor fluctuations because every power pulse from the engine is quickly followed by another. Because of the engine’s reciprocal balance, it also feels very smooth to the rider – there’s no primary or secondary vibration, just a torsional, twisting force (which is really more of an engineer’s problem).
A T-plane crank places all three crankpins on one side of the crank’s 360° – at 0°, 90° and 180°. It effectively unbalances the engine, introducing uneven, irregular power pulses but also adding a certain level of vibration.
Imagine taking a pair of washing machines and attaching three house-bricks to the inside of each of the drums. In one, you attach the bricks evenly spaced around the drum. In the other, you place them all on one side of the drum. Now put them on spin cycle and watch what happens. In one, the vibration will be balanced – in the other, it’ll be very unbalanced.
There are good vibes and bad vibes on a bike – good vibes add a bit of character to an engine, give it a specific sensation, and can help the rider feel more in touch with the rear tyre. Bad vibes rattle teeth, numb fingers and toes and can even shake bolts out. Sometimes it can be a subjective dividing line between to the two – everyone has a different tolerance for where the line lies. But it’s fair to say the 2022 Tiger 1200 produced plenty of vibration – for some riders (myself included) it was tolerable, if not welcome, and part of the ‘vibe’ of the bike. For other riders, it wasn’t a problem at all (I remember a journalist on the launch of the T-plane Tiger 900 countering my reservations about the vibration, with a slightly sniffy, “It’s an engine; they vibrate.”). But for some riders, the vibrations were a deal-breaker.
So for 2024 Triumph have dialled back the vibes in the Tiger 1200 motor – they say it’s by redistributing the weight on the balance shaft (a counterweight designed to oppose the torsional forces I mentioned earlier). By moving that mass about, Triumph say they’ve reduced pitch vibration by 5%, yaw vibes by 43% and roll vibes by 89%. That’s about a 46% average reduction in vibration (not sure if it works like that!). Triumph admitted these are calculated figures from computer analysis.
But that’s not the only change for 2024 inside the motor. With a T-plane layout, not only does vibration increase but also the previously regular firing interval changes – from three ‘bangs’ evenly spaced, to a staggered pulsing – two bangs in quick succession, then a longer gap, the final ‘bang’, then a longer gap again.
A piston assembly only delivers motive power to the crank on the combustion stroke, when it’s pushing down. Once it’s passed bottom dead centre, it becomes a dead weight – effectively, a drag – for the remaining three strokes: on the exhaust stroke, the intake stroke, then compression stroke. The only thing keeping it spinning is momentum. In a multi-cylinder engine, the staggered firing interval means other pistons also augment that ‘dwell’ time, so the engine keeps spinning.
But with the T-plane layout introducing more ‘dwell’ time in the engine overall, it increased the tendency of the motor to stall at low revs – when there’s insufficient momentum in the crank assembly to keep spinning between power strokes. This manifested mostly during low speed, low rev U-turns, when the rider was also feathering the clutch, resulting in the already tall and top-heavy bike toppling over (I’ve been a victim of this on a Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer I was riding, attempting a U-turn in a car park – the engine died suddenly mid-U, and over it went).
To remedy this, Triumph have added a kilo of mass to the crank and generator rotor, slowing engine response fractionally (you’d never notice) but, crucially, giving the crank enough momentum to keep spinning at low revs. They’ve also added 15mm to the clutch lever for extra finesse.
The results of both rebalancing and adding crank weight are nothing short of transformational; the engine feels like an entirely different beast. I’ve ridden the 2022 Tiger 1500 miles up to and around the NC500, done thousands of miles around local Lincolnshire and East Midlands roads, and even thrown one in a ditch – so I know how the bike is supposed to feel, vibes and all. And they’re all but gone, on the new bike – so much for the better. There’s still a faint, off-kilter pattering to the engine, but you can hear it as much as feel it, from the glorious wail of the surprisingly loud exhaust note – but it’s a million miles from being intrusive or annoying. It’s a quite startling, obvious, civilising change and gives the motor exactly the right amount of character without it becoming distracting or annoying. Perfect.
And the low-speed running of the engine is also vastly superior. During the launch photo shoot, we were turning the bike at full lock, walking pace, feet up on a wet, slippery gravel path – and it would turn with the motor barely on tickover, just pulling the bike around without a hint of a stall. That’s how it should be – the most surprising thing is why Triumph didn’t make it like this in 2022 and save themselves a lot of ‘market resistance’. Anyone with a functioning arse could’ve told them the original bike would be a bit too vibey for most riders. But either way, the Tiger 1200 is now an order of magnitude more civilised than it was, and elevates the Triumph back into viable contention at the top of the big-bore adventure bike game.
And it’s still a potent motor – the triple isn’t the largest capacity; the R1300 GS is 1300cc, the KTM 1290 Super Adventure is 1301cc – the Triumph’s 1160cc is closer to the 1084cc of Honda’s Africa Twin. This isn’t a big deal for outright power; the Tiger’s 148bhp is third behind the KTM’s 160bhp and Ducati’s Multistrada V4S with 170bhp, but it tonks off down the road with a belting soundtrack at a fair old rate. It hasn’t got the bottom end grunt of the BMW or KTM, and it’s not got the blistering top end of Ducati’s Multistrada – but it’s a fulsome, generously midrange-packed motor. And it’s geared to be super-low-revving at cruising speeds: 70mph in top comes in at just over 4000rpm.
The Tiger comes with the same engine management and safety aids as before: Rain, Sport, Road and Off-road modes all modulating throttle response, traction control, ABS and semi-active suspension settings. The Rally also gets an Off-Road Pro mode, which turns off traction control, and both front and rear ABS. A Rider mode allows full customisation. The bikes also come with Triumph’s quickshifter as standard – as usual it’s neat, quick, positive and completely natural.
Easy to describe – the 2024 Tiger 1200s are exactly the same as the 2022 models – same steel tube frame, revised lightweight shaft drive, Showa semi-active 49mm forks and rear shock (200mm travel in the GTs and 220mm in the Rallys), Brembo Stylema radial calipers and Magura master cylinder with Conti’s cornering ABS. The Tigers also have the same 19in cast or 21in front spoked wheels, and the same odd-sized 18in rear (limiting tyre choice somewhat). Weight is up all round by 1kg as a result of the engine changes, to 246kg for the GT Pro, 250 for the Rally Pro, 256 for the GT Pro and 261 for the Rally Pro. Tyres are 120/70 front and 150/70 rear Metzeler Tourance Nexts on the GTs and 90/90 front and 150/70 rear Metzeler Karoo Streets on the Rallys.
And, as before, the Showa suspension does a great job of balancing braking and acceleration in both GT and especially the taller Rally models, masking their weight under normal riding conditions. As a result, both bikes can be slung about with abandon, and without a huge sensation of weight transfer – and there’s not the obvious top-heavy feeling with the 30-litre tank Explorers, as most of the extra fuel is carried low in the bike. Ride quality is also good. All the bikes handle well.
But they’re all big bikes – the Rally particularly so; always the impression of a lot a metal and plastic around you. And, as a result, the ease with which the bikes can be managed at speed always comes as a surprise – although there’s a suspicion their competence has a sharp drop-off at extremes; it’s possible to get carried away and over-ride the bikes, and for their weight, size and speed to catch up with you without much warning.
The GTs have slightly heavier steering than the Rallys – turning the bars at standstill you can feel the 120//70 Metzeler scrubbing against the road, almost as if the front is low on pressure. At low speed the bars need a bit of heft on the opposite bar to get the bike to turn and pressure to hold on line. The sensation feels like a steering geometry mismatch of rake and trail. The 21in front Rally is, in comparison, completely normal and natural – so much so it feels more confident than the GT on the road, even in the wet.
For 2024, both bikes get Triumph’s new Active Preload Reduction system. Since 2017, Triumph’s big Tiger has come with auto-preload detection that adjusts rear preload according to payload. Triumph have now linked it to the Home button on the right handlebar so that if the button is pressed for a second under 52mph, the rear shock will automatically drop to its minimum preload setting and remove as much as 20mm from the seat height for low-speed riding, and at standstill. Ride away it’ll stay on its low setting until you either long-press the Home button again, or you reach 52mph and the system automatically rises. It’s a decent attempt to make the Tiger 1200s more manageable at standstill, and similar to BMW’s system on the R1300 GS which does the same thing, only automatically as the bike decelerates (you don’t have to push a button) and drops both front and rear – so the effect is more noticeable. Another caveat is the system only drops to minimum preload – a lightweight solo rider will feel the biggest difference because they’ll have the full range of preload to shed when they push the button. A larger rider with a pillion and full luggage will already be using up much of the bike’s preload range and will get less effect. Because it’s a software change, the system is available as a free update to existing 2022 and 2023 Tiger 1200 owners.
The 2022 GT models ran out of ground clearance fairly quickly, grinding pegs at relatively modest lean angles. Clearance has been improved on the 2024 bikes by raising the pegs and shortening hero blobs, and locating pegs slightly closer into the bike. It doesn’t have a big impact on riding comfort in terms of legroom, but my boot slipped off the peg a few times when I was manoeuvring around on the bike – suggesting they’re now set a bit too close into the bike. Both models also get a reshaped seat, with a flatter profile to offer more support, and the Rally gets the same anti-vibe rubber inserts under the bars as the GT.
It's still a vast riding position, with tons of scope to move about and find a comfortable space. With an 850 to 870mm seat height, adjustable under the seat, the GT sits the rider deeper into the bike behind a taller screen (still one-hand adjustable – Triumph say, probably rightly, an electric screen, associated motor and bracketry to hold it is simply too much weight, too high on the bike. And electric screens on adventure bikes are overrated anyway). The Rally is still a towering 875mm to 895mm – the new low-down anti-stall smoothness makes a big difference to the likelihood of toppling over, and the active preload reduction system is at its most useful, but that’s still some big seat height action and you’d be a brave Rally Explorer owner who rides at 895mm setting and likes it. I’m 6ft and when I had a Rally Explorer for a year I remember being relieved when it got full panniers and top box fitted, because the extra weight lowered the seat height a crucial few mm. Which is exactly the thinking behind the active preload system.
With relatively few changes inside the engine, fuel consumption remains pretty much as it was, showing 46mpg average for the test ride, which rolls out at 200 miles to empty for the Pros (reserve light around 160 miles) and 300 miles for the Explorers (reserve at around 260 miles).
As before the Tigers are fully-loaded with trim – with cruise control, rider modes, semi-active suspension, cornering ABS, cornering lights, hill-hold, quickshifter, heated grips, adjustable screen and centrestand. It also comes with backlit switches – which you’ll need for navigating the switchgear. The dash is a bit basic – the same circular central display as the Speed Triple. Switching between info is relatively simple (at least once you know how) but the display itself is fairly basic – a decent level of customisation options beyond some subtle colour tweaks would be nice.
The Explorers come with blind spot radar detection, heated seats and tyre pressure monitors, and the Rally Explorer adds top fairing bars, the GT adds lower engine bars. The radar sits in the tail section, with larger mirrors than the Pro (you can tell the engine is smoother because they no longer blur at speed) and a small amber light at the sides. When the radar spots a vehicle approaching from behind, it lights up the warning light – the system is fixed and can’t either be adjusted or disabled by the rider. It’s not annoyingly bright, but hard to appreciate the value of a feature designed to prevent something that rarely happens anyway – when was the last time you pulled out in front of an overtaking car without looking?
Triumph – as they did two years ago – still have to explain why they didn’t fit the radar to front and offer adaptive cruise control, and still say it’s because their customer research shows it isn’t a significant must-have feature. Which is mad because I’d like to see their customer research that said they MUST have a blind spot radar.
As you’d expect, Triumph offer a wide range of accessories for the Tiger 1200s – the usual items, but the most commonly fitted will be luggage: a set of aluminium adventure panniers and top box is £1642 including rails and plate.
Never has a bike changed so little on paper and so much in the way it feels to ride. Two engine mods have completely altered the Tigers’ engine character in terms of civility and general ease of use. The T-plane triple is so much nicer now – vibes banished to their proper, supporting background role as added charisma, triple smoothness restored, and no embarrassing toppling over moments because the engine stalls. It completely re-invigorates the bike and – having just spent a week with BMW’s new R1300 GS – in my mind reignites a previously rather subdued challenge against the German flat twin. Now, there are a few compelling reasons to choose a Tiger over a GS – we can argue about which engine layout and power delivery we prefer but there’s no need for excuses about the triple’s T-plane vibes. The GS still trumps everything with its sheer roadholding class, but there are other areas the Triumph wins – it has backlit switches, a better screen adjustment, is cheaper and still actually looks like an adventure bike.
Having said that, the launch was noticeable because off-road riding – even the gentle kind offered by forest drives near the launch route in Scotland, which would’ve made a good photo opportunity if nothing else – weren’t part of the launch plan. So all the talk two years ago of increased traction off road thanks to the T-plane crank was absent from the 2024 Tiger launch conversation. The reasons are fairly obvious and less to do with any reduction of off-road ability of the Tiger 1200 Rally, and more to do with a) statistics on the number of owners who actually take their Tiger 1200s off road, and b) the associated cost of bringing and fitting a bunch of off-road tyres to the launch bikes, and extending the launch for everyone by a day. It was judged a worthwhile exercise with the recently launch 2024 Tiger 900 – but not the 1200. Says something.
But the off-road point is moot – what matters is how, second time lucky, Triumph have turned the T-plane Tiger 1200 into a much nicer motor to use, on the road, where it really counts.
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