Triumph Tiger sport VS Tiger explorers

[romft123]

I know not a lot about these models. Back a few years there was 1 Tiger, then a few different ones and now........

Has anyone owned or have knowledge of the main differences between say a 2018 year Sport and XRT Explorer models??

[gareth_r]

The differences between a Tiger 1050 Sport and a Tiger 1200 XRT Explorer are:
1) everything

[leighz]

wot he said

I have 1050 tiger which is aimed firmly at the road, 17" rims, no green lane pretensions. Engine's different, frame's different etc. They share the same badge.

[KTMsm]

1050 Tiger is surprisingly sporty (for an adventure bike) on the road

Explorer is more of a Tourer and surprisingly good off road (in the right hands)

[romft123]

I wont be going off road at all apart from my 50 ft gravel driveway!

Its ooomph, comfort and enjoyability for me. Yes I like the new stuff TFT screens. LED lights n all but its about enjoyment etc. I am mid 60's so aint no spring chicken anymore but can still crank it up

[Speed addicted]

I had a 1050 Tiger (pre tiger sport but the same idea) previously, then bought an Explorer in 2015 that I still have.

The 1050 was a great all rounder, comfortable and handled well. Totally road biased so essentially an adventure style bike rather than an actual off-roader.

The explorer is more of an actual adventure bike, narrower adventure sized tyres and a lot of suspension travel.
It’s physically bigger, a bit top heavy at low speeds but fine once you’re moving. Mine has cruise control, heated grips and heated seats. It takes luggage well in that you don’t really notice it. It’s also shaft drive which is nice on long trips.

I’ve had the explorer 9 years now (I have other bikes too) and have never really felt the need to update it. It’s been no hassle and does everything I need from a big tourer/all round bike.
I don’t ride offroad so the weight of it has never really been an issue, plus it can be chucked about more than you’d expect.

Have you had a look at the 900 tigers as well? Similar ergonomics to the explorer but lighter and revvier.

Edited by Speed addicted on Friday 26th July 22:54

[romft123]

Cheers SA.

I havent looked at any bike yet as I want to get rid of the Trophy first.

Then I will try and find a shop that has a Sport and an Explorer together. Hopefully maybe an XRT and a sport. I think I would prefer a smaller weighted bike which means the 800 XRT but of course the sport was with the 1200 engine???

[Cylon2007]

I had a Tiger Sport 1050 back in 2016 into 2017, great bike for road touring, quick - ish- handles well, comfy not bad on fuel, however I now have Ninja 1000sx which is a better bike in every way iIMHO.

[romft123]

I am NOT stuck on a Tiger at all...I will admit I am a Triumph man, cars and bikes for years......

But am watching videos of XRT's and XCA's being ridden together etc. The XCA seems to come over as the more comfy bike.

As to other bikes.....I really am open minded as to what. Nothing naked, not a tourer, comfy, 750cc + , bit of wind/rain protection etc....Nothing boring

[Michael_B]

I rode a KTM Adv950 for 15 years (alongside sports bikes as well) and changed it for a Triumph Tiger 1200 in 2020. It’s a bit heavier but still a quick/comfy bike; just come back from a 1200km round trip to Belgium, didn’t even need side panniers/tankbag for the camping gear, just a duffel strapped to the pillion seat and the topbox.

Mine has the quickshifter, cruise control, Arrow exhaust, electric screen, etc. All that plus shaft drive and massively less expensive than the BMW/Ducati equivalents, made it a no-brainer for me.

I haven’t ridden it much (5k kms in 4 years), but I’m very happy with it overall, and have plans to use it more often!

[romft123]

Michael_B said:

I rode a KTM Adv950 for 15 years (alongside sports bikes as well) and changed it for a Triumph Tiger 1200 in 2020. It’s a bit heavier but still a quick/comfy bike; just come back from a 1200km round trip to Belgium, didn’t even need side panniers/tankbag for the camping gear, just a duffel strapped to the pillion seat and the topbox.

Mine has the quickshifter, cruise control, Arrow exhaust, electric screen, etc. All that plus shaft drive and massively less expensive than the BMW/Ducati equivalents, made it a no-brainer for me.

I haven’t ridden it much (5k kms in 4 years), but I’m very happy with it overall, and have plans to use it more often!

which model?? The GT, XR, XC????

Edited by romft123 on Saturday 27th July 17:24

[Michael_B]

romft123 said:

which model?? The GT, XR, XC????

Edited by romft123 on Saturday 27th July 17:24

It’s the 2020 Alpine Edition (parts bin special just before the new lighter/faster model came out), based on the XRX spec, just like in the video below, but I insisted on silver/aluminium luggage not black, and the bigger topbox to fit two helmets in.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QUklMqPiZyU

[Michael_B]

Riding around the Mâconnais hills earlier this month.

[romft123]

Michael_B said:

romft123 said:

which model?? The GT, XR, XC????

Edited by romft123 on Saturday 27th July 17:24

It’s the 2020 Alpine Edition (parts bin special just before the new lighter/faster model came out), based on the XRX spec, just like in the video below, but I insisted on silver/aluminium luggage not black, and the bigger topbox to fit two helmets in.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QUklMqPiZyU

Googled it and came up with this.
https://triumph-mediakits.com/en/news-articles/new...

Edited by romft123 on Saturday 27th July 18:06

[Michael_B]

romft123 said:

Googled it and came up with this.
https://triumph-mediakits.com/en/news-articles/new...

Edited by romft123 on Saturday 27th July 18:06

That's the one. I suppose I could have waited and paid a lot more for the newer/lighter model, but I'm 6ft, fairly burly[1], don't care too much about power to weight ratios, and have a sportsbike for when I want to go fast(er). At 140hp it's still a lot quicker than my old 99hp KTM, which was quite a hoot solo, and still had more than enough oomph for two-up plus luggage to France, Germany, Corsica, Spain, Italy, etc and back a few times.

[1] And indeed a director of two companies, so perhaps fit a certain PH stereotype

[romft123]

So many different Tigers, 800 to 850 then 900's......at least the bigger ones are easier to see the timeline.

Might have to get out and about next week

[Speed addicted]

romft123 said:

So many different Tigers, 800 to 850 then 900's......at least the bigger ones are easier to see the timeline.

Might have to get out and about next week

That’s pretty much the timeline!

My mate has an 850, swapping bikes it feels noticeably lighter than the Explorer, slightly smaller and you have to rev it more to do the same things. You could get all that from the spec sheet but it feels very similar, where it looses out is the easy torque of the bigger engine.

If I was buying a bike tomorrow to replace the explorer I’d probably be looking at the tiger 900, tiger 1050 or scrambler 1200.
Or just buy another explorer, mines been no trouble at all in the last 9 years.

[romft123]

Speed addicted said:

romft123 said:

So many different Tigers, 800 to 850 then 900's......at least the bigger ones are easier to see the timeline.

Might have to get out and about next week

That’s pretty much the timeline!

My mate has an 850, swapping bikes it feels noticeably lighter than the Explorer, slightly smaller and you have to rev it more to do the same things. You could get all that from the spec sheet but it feels very similar, where it looses out is the easy torque of the bigger engine.

If I was buying a bike tomorrow to replace the explorer I’d probably be looking at the tiger 900, tiger 1050 or scrambler 1200.
Or just buy another explorer, mines been no trouble at all in the last 9 years.

So all 1200 cc bikes are Explorers and within that there are different ones, XC XR etc, alpines, GT pro's and sports..... They all look so similar except they just change small stuff. Its like when Porsche roll out a "new" 911....! Its been like that for ages. I blame Honda and the CB range. There were loads of them that came along every 2 years or so but they did discontinue the previous model OR it was changed big time. Triumph just changes the cc a bit and next to nohting and calls it a new spec, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. (Is the sun over the yard arm yet)

Edited by romft123 on Sunday 28th July 17:04

Edited by romft123 on Sunday 28th July 17:05

[Speed addicted]

They also dropped the explorer name at some point so they’re all tigers.
Essentially everything up to the latest models have the same basic 1215cc triple with updates along the way.

Then you have road versions (cast wheels and some other stuff on later models) and Offroad versions (spoked wheels, some different stuff like fog lights and alloy sump guards). Think XR is road and XC is Offroad.
Bear in mind I’ve had mine for 9 years and haven’t followed the new ones closely.

Then a couple of years ago they totally revamped the 900 and 1200 tigers into the current models, completely new bike.

[romft123]

Speed addicted said:

They also dropped the explorer name at some point so they’re all tigers.
Essentially everything up to the latest models have the same basic 1215cc triple with updates along the way.

Then you have road versions (cast wheels and some other stuff on later models) and Offroad versions (spoked wheels, some different stuff like fog lights and alloy sump guards). Think XR is road and XC is Offroad.
Bear in mind I’ve had mine for 9 years and haven’t followed the new ones closely.

Then a couple of years ago they totally revamped the 900 and 1200 tigers into the current models, completely new bike.

bangs head against wall/....................Why manufacturers do this I dont know, evolution yes, but putting a different colour lipstick on, its still the same old ........as before.