Motorcycle of the year

[Rocky]

The U.S. motorcycle touring magazine, "Roadrunner, Motorcycle Tour & Travel," just picked the Triumph Tiger Explorer as their choice for motorcycle of the year.
It was one of the last bikes to be evaluated and it quickly won them over.
Good for Triumph

 

[DaveM]

Wow Triumph sure is doing it right with their bikes. Just looking back when they first made the comeback I wanted one but held back as I was not sure if they would last. Boy the sure proved me wrong.

 

[CarlS]

Good for Triumph! I really like seeing their success.

 

[Rocky]

Good for Triumph! I really like seeing their success.

Yes, it is an amazing success story, but John Bloor is a pretty shrewd guy and started out the right way by starting from scratch and going to Lotus and Cosworth for engine design advice.
For me, it wasn't until the Bonneville model came out that I lusted for a Triumph.

 

[CarlS]

Yes, it is an amazing success story, but John Bloor is a pretty shrewd guy and started out the right way by starting from scratch and going to Lotus and Cosworth for engine design advice.
For me, it wasn't until the Bonneville model came out that I lusted for a Triumph.

And he visited the Japanese manufacturing plants to see how they did things. He did not want to repeat the mistakes of the precious British motorcycle industry.

I did not desire a Triumph until the new Bonneville came out. I was not interested in a sport bike nor a fared bike of any kind. I still prefer and enjoy naked bikes.

 

[hemibee]

I wanted an adventure bike, was looking at the big KTM's but couldn't find a good used one, they were either rode hard and put away wet or still looked showroom new and had every farkle on them available. Never really liked the idea of the BMW boxer engine on a dirt road bike but I was seeing some fairly resonable in price. I refuse to ride Jap crap so no Strom for me. And then I read an article on a Steamer and thought now there is what I'm looking for.

Read some more on the Steamers and realized there were some issues I might not want to deal with. Then found the Uly and thought I had died and gone to Heaven, it had everything I wanted with fewer shortcomings than the Steamer. I had just found a dealer ready to take three of my bikes in as trades and had the price right on a 2010 he had on order. The issues on the Uly had been worked out and I was happier than a puppy with two . . . Then Mother shutdown Eric and the Uly was no more.

But along come Black Betty right after I was reading info on Girlies and I knew I had found MY bike. Triumph was listening to the owners an improving their line of bikes.

While I would call Black Betty the best overall bike I've ever owned, Triumph has continued to improve on the Tiger line which is evident in the way the 800's and Explorer have been received by the public and the media. Keep up the great work, I know some day I will have to replace my old Girlie and I know there will be an even better bike waiting for me.


Posting with Tapatalk for iPhone.

 

[dazco]

Your's isn't the explorer is it? because if it is, beware !!!! Do NOT use tuneECU to alter or load any maps ! The explorer has a ECU that triumph is planning on putting in all models eventually and it will LOCK the ECU if you use tuneECU to load a map ! I recently saw this and they even have a warning on the tuneECU site. I *think* it's ok to use it for anything else besides loading maps, and possibly altering the fueling or timing. But i'm not 100% sure of the details. So IF it's an explorer don't do anything further till you find out the details.

 

[hemibee]

Mine? Black Betty is a 2001 Girlie so no problems with the tuneECU.

 

[CarlS]

Thanks for the warning, Dale. I was aware of this. I have a Tiger 800XC. I can use Tune ECU.

 

[dazco]

Ok, i just didn't know if it was a explorer. The "XC" could have just been the short for explorer something or other. Just wanted to be sure.

 

[CarlS]

It is better to be safe than sorry. I appreciate the warning. And it may help someone who has an Explorer.

 

[dazco]

Yessir...

 

[DaveB]

Well done to Triumph for winning this award.

And he visited the Japanese manufacturing plants to see how they did things. He did not want to repeat the mistakes of the precious British motorcycle industry.

I was under the impression that Triumph visited Kawasaki and bought the rights to use some of Kawasaki's engine design philosophy & features for a five year period? At the time the only Japanese manufacturer using end mounted chain cam drives on their 4-cylinder engines was Kawasaki. Triumph copied that and consequently all their 3-cylinder engines have end mounted cam drives, as per the Kawasaki design.

 

[otherwise]

Yes, it is an amazing success story, but John Bloor is a pretty shrewd guy and started out the right way by starting from scratch and going to Lotus and Cosworth for engine design advice.
For me, it wasn't until the Bonneville model came out that I lusted for a Triumph.

For me it wasn't until the Bonneville 865 came out that I took any interest in John Bloor's bikes.
I just didn't like the early 3 and 4 cylinder bikes. I test rode a Bonneville 790 and disliked it also, a couple of years later I rode an 865 and was converted.

 

[The Seeker]

Well done to Triumph for winning this award.



I was under the impression that Triumph visited Kawasaki and bought the rights to use some of Kawasaki's engine design philosophy & features for a five year period? At the time the only Japanese manufacturer using end mounted chain cam drives on their 4-cylinder engines was Kawasaki. Triumph copied that and consequently all their 3-cylinder engines have end mounted cam drives, as per the Kawasaki design.

Actually Triumph merely bought a Kawasaki Concourse and used it as a target for their first Hinckley machine...the Trophy.

Posted using Tapatalk 2 via my RAZR

 

[CarlS]

For me it wasn't until the Bonneville 865 came out that I took any interest in John Bloor's bikes.
I just didn't like the early 3 and 4 cylinder bikes. I test rode a Bonneville 790 and disliked it also, a couple of years later I rode an 865 and was converted.

I am another that did not care for the early three and four cylinder Triumphs. When the Bonneville came out, I liked it immediately. I waited for a couple of years and bought a new 03 T100 790cc. I love it still. I gained about six HP through mods and achieved a more linear torque curve.

 

[blacktiger]

I was under the impression that Triumph visited Kawasaki and bought the rights to use some of Kawasaki's engine design philosophy & features for a five year period? At the time the only Japanese manufacturer using end mounted chain cam drives on their 4-cylinder engines was Kawasaki. Triumph copied that and consequently all their 3-cylinder engines have end mounted cam drives, as per the Kawasaki design.

No. That was a rumour put around by non believers. "Ah look, they've just copied Kawasaki". We're now getting those same morons spouting rubbish about Triumph copying BMWs adventure bikes. All the original engine design was done in house under guidance from Cosworth. Yes of course they copied things. Anyone would if you see something that works, you use it. My belief is that their engines are now developed with assistance from Recardo rather than Cosworth. But, of course, there's no proof of that due to industrial confidentiality.