I found out Brooklyn Triumph already did the first Maintenance—sweet!! I was quite happy with that dealer. Good people.
Hey Guys/gals!
- Thread starter Dr Twisty
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Hey guys. I’m posting pics and my first impressions of my 2022 Scrambler 1200 XC here because I don’t see a forum for the Scrambler 1200–only for the Scrambler 900. Please direct me to the correct forum and sorry for posting this here.
Oh my God—I love my new Scrambler XC!!! I rode 215 miles of very technical twisties with a good measure of dirt and gravel over 6.5 straight hours. I LOVE this motor. I’ve never ridden a bike with such incredible low end torque on a relatively lighter motorcycle. My 1200 GS has very good low end torque, but the bike is heavier. That Triumph motor put a huge smile on my face.
I also LOVE the brakes. They are just so solid and predictable. Just great.
Despite the 21” front wheel, I had no problem negotiating very technical twisties while riding fairly aggressively. I think I made the right decision going with the XC though. I think the longer wheel base, greater rake and trail of the XE would have made the tight twisties more work than I’d liked. My last bike (Husky Norden 901 Expedition—essentially a KTM 890 ADV R) has similar suspension travel and increased rake and trail like the XE—I just didn’t like the way it handled in tight, technical twisties. But I could be wrong—I’ve never ridden the XE. Others have said it’s great in the twisties. But I’m really happy with how the XC handles.
I was wearing full Klim Badlands gear and the heat from the exhaust just wasn’t an issue. Today it was in the low 80’s.
But there were some negatives about the bike—the positives far outweigh them.
The rear suspension is really pretty harsh. I like a fairly plush ride. It felt like I could feel every little bump despite decreasing preload to the minimum and decreasing compression and rebound damping to the minimum. I wasn’t bottoming out. It’s almost like the spring rate is too high. But I’m 175# (190# with gear) so I fit the average rider most manufacturers install their springs for. I have not measured sag yet—that’s the next step. I’ve read that some have changed the small spring and some have had their shim stacks changed in their Ohlins. It’s surprising that the Ohlins are the weakest part of the bike IMO.
I also wish the bike had a quick shifter and auto-blipper. But the more I rode it, I realized that the motor has so much torque, I really don’t have to change gears as much as other bikes. It’s amazing the range of speeds one gear can handle well. By the end of the day I didn’t really miss the auto-blipper at all.
The exhaust pipe does make standing a bit awkward. I may need to put on a longer peg.
One thing that bugs me about the bike is that the TFT old-style display eliminates the tach and other parameters once the bike is moving leaving essentially only the speedometer visible. I tried to figure out how to keep the side panels showing the tach and other parameters constantly on and couldn’t figure it out. If anyone could help me with this I’d be grateful.
When I went off road today, I switched to the off-road setting. I felt like the fuel mapping was way too aggressive for off road. In fact it felt similar to sport mode. I got around it by keeping in a higher gear than I usually would be in—the bike is just THAT torquey! The suspension for more gnarly off-road was way too stiff and harsh. I’m going to have to work out a solution for the suspension—it’s the only real weak point of the bike IMO.
That said, I love this bike!!! It’s a keeper. It really fits my needs well in Western Md, and Northern WV. Again, thanks to everyone here for helping me make the decision to get this bike!!! I’m really happy with my choice.
Oh my God—I love my new Scrambler XC!!! I rode 215 miles of very technical twisties with a good measure of dirt and gravel over 6.5 straight hours. I LOVE this motor. I’ve never ridden a bike with such incredible low end torque on a relatively lighter motorcycle. My 1200 GS has very good low end torque, but the bike is heavier. That Triumph motor put a huge smile on my face.
I also LOVE the brakes. They are just so solid and predictable. Just great.
Despite the 21” front wheel, I had no problem negotiating very technical twisties while riding fairly aggressively. I think I made the right decision going with the XC though. I think the longer wheel base, greater rake and trail of the XE would have made the tight twisties more work than I’d liked. My last bike (Husky Norden 901 Expedition—essentially a KTM 890 ADV R) has similar suspension travel and increased rake and trail like the XE—I just didn’t like the way it handled in tight, technical twisties. But I could be wrong—I’ve never ridden the XE. Others have said it’s great in the twisties. But I’m really happy with how the XC handles.
I was wearing full Klim Badlands gear and the heat from the exhaust just wasn’t an issue. Today it was in the low 80’s.
But there were some negatives about the bike—the positives far outweigh them.
The rear suspension is really pretty harsh. I like a fairly plush ride. It felt like I could feel every little bump despite decreasing preload to the minimum and decreasing compression and rebound damping to the minimum. I wasn’t bottoming out. It’s almost like the spring rate is too high. But I’m 175# (190# with gear) so I fit the average rider most manufacturers install their springs for. I have not measured sag yet—that’s the next step. I’ve read that some have changed the small spring and some have had their shim stacks changed in their Ohlins. It’s surprising that the Ohlins are the weakest part of the bike IMO.
I also wish the bike had a quick shifter and auto-blipper. But the more I rode it, I realized that the motor has so much torque, I really don’t have to change gears as much as other bikes. It’s amazing the range of speeds one gear can handle well. By the end of the day I didn’t really miss the auto-blipper at all.
The exhaust pipe does make standing a bit awkward. I may need to put on a longer peg.
One thing that bugs me about the bike is that the TFT old-style display eliminates the tach and other parameters once the bike is moving leaving essentially only the speedometer visible. I tried to figure out how to keep the side panels showing the tach and other parameters constantly on and couldn’t figure it out. If anyone could help me with this I’d be grateful.
When I went off road today, I switched to the off-road setting. I felt like the fuel mapping was way too aggressive for off road. In fact it felt similar to sport mode. I got around it by keeping in a higher gear than I usually would be in—the bike is just THAT torquey! The suspension for more gnarly off-road was way too stiff and harsh. I’m going to have to work out a solution for the suspension—it’s the only real weak point of the bike IMO.
That said, I love this bike!!! It’s a keeper. It really fits my needs well in Western Md, and Northern WV. Again, thanks to everyone here for helping me make the decision to get this bike!!! I’m really happy with my choice.
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Thanks for the report and photos
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