RIDE REVIEW I 2023 TRIUMPH TIGER 1200 RALLY EXPLORER & 1200 GT EXPLORER
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The tires are also important. For
this review, I rode the same tires
that come on the bikes from the
factory, which, for the Rally are Met-
zeler Karoo Street, and for the GT
are Metzeler Tourance. I point this
out because, in my initial review, the
Rally model I rode in Portugal was
fitted with the Triumph-handbook-
approved knobby—the Michelin
Anakee Wild. Having a full knobby
versus an 80/20, which is just
an aggressive-looking street tire,
makes a huge difference off-road,
and I quickly found the limits of the
Karoo Street tire when riding off-
road. So, let's get into it.
FIRST UP, THE
RALLY EXPLORER
The idea was to ride these bikes as
much as possible to get to know
them and understand what it would
be like to own one. I planned to ride
every day, rain or shine, for the two
weeks I had each bike. After picking
up the Rally, I proceeded straight
to the closest Forest Service roads
and began scrolling through the
beautiful menu on the full-color sev-
en-inch TFT screen, looking for the
Off-Road Pro ride mode. Triumph
has made it perfectly clear that their
goal is to make the Tiger 1200 a
better choice for the consumer than
the current best-selling large-dis
-
placement ADV bike, the BMW GS,
which makes this a perfect review
for me since I own a GS. Knowing
that, as I approached the first dirt
section, I asked myself: 'Why is
Triumph forcing me to stop before
I can switch to an off-road mode?'
I don't have to stop on the GS to go
from road mode to off-road mode.
For me, this is big because if I ride
a Backcountry Discovery Route, or
if I'm riding my favorite routes in
the North Georgia mountains, I'm
constantly going from street to dirt
and back again during my ride. I
The Triumph Tiger
1200 GT Explorer
would just as soon
stick to the pavement
(but doesn't mind
getting a little dirty).
