Review: 2024 Triumph Tiger 1200
Asking for directions in Scotland can be challenging. “Jist follaw thes road ‘til ye see a lairge sign fur th’ change-hoose ‘n’ caw left,” is the closest approximation I can give of the advice I received. Fortunately, a driver provided me with transportation from the airport to the hotel, and this press ride aboard Triumph’s new Tiger 1200 was guided by staff who knew the Scottish countryside quite well. Rainy skies and sometimes questionable roads around Glasgow, Scotland, provided the perfect environment to get a feel for the new 2024 Triumph Tiger 1200 family of bikes. The Tiger variants come in two categories—the 1200 GT and 1200 Rally—and both bikes comes in two further variants, Pro or Explorer.
At first glance, the differences between the GT and Rally can be summed up as “street versus dirt.” On the tarmac side, the GT sports a 19/18-inch cast aluminum wheel set, 7.8 inches of front and rear suspension travel, and a seat height adjustable between 33.4-34.2 inches. A more off-road focus is evident in the Rally model, with its 21/18-inch spoked wheel set, longer suspension travel at 8.6 inches front and rear, and a seat height raised to 34.4-35.2 inches.
Only the Explorer variant of both the GT and Rally will be coming to U.S. shores for 2024. For anyone adhering to the “more is better” philosophy, this is a good thing. The Explorer models feature heated seats, a larger fuel tank at 7.9 gallons, a tire pressure monitoring system, and blind spot detection radar. The Pro and Explorer variants sport the same seven-inch TFT as the previous model year, and updates can be found in a redesigned seat and longer clutch lever. Also, the Pro models now feature the same rubber handlebar dampers as the Explorer version.
Suspension And Engine Updates
Both Tiger versions sport Active Preload Reduction, which allows the bike to lower itself by up to 0.8 inches when parked for ease of getting on and off, loading or unloading luggage, or any other situation where having the bike closer to the ground would be helpful. It’s important to note that this feature is available as a software update to the previous Tiger 1200s going back to 2021, as those model years share the same Showa semi-active suspension hardware.
While the semi-active suspension internals employ straight-rate springs, a staggeringly fast reaction time engineered into the system results in a “virtual progressive” spring rate, as the real-time damping continually changes the spring’s behavior over different terrain. The electronic Showa suspension interface lacks a preload selection feature, because it doesn’t need one. An auto-leveling feature detects the load on the motorcycle between rider, passenger, luggage, and anything else and automatically adjusts preload accordingly.
To further reduce and balance engine forces translating vibration and other movement to the rider, the 2024 Triumph Tiger gained a small amount of strategically placed weight. Most notably, Triumph’s unique T-plane crank now benefits from a new design, which positions rotating masses farther from the center axis. Only around two pounds was added to the bike between the redesigned crank and other engine bits, but that small amount of weight spinning at high RPMs is designed to reduce the forces of pitch (front-to-back tipping), yaw (twisting), and roll (side-to-side tipping).
Unlike the distinctive sideways lurch felt when revving a horizontally-opposed twin, the forces Triumph is addressing in the redesigned Tiger 1200 come on in a more subtle way. The engine internals mitigate vibrations in each of the six axes of movement based on feedback from motorcycle riders. Triumph found that side-to-side roll energy was the most significant force riders reported, and it was thus reduced by 89%. Yaw was next in line with a reduction of 43%, and pitch benefited with a small decrease of 5%.