VOLUME ISSUE MARCH , P137
Bosch controls the sequential
electronic fuel injection, which
facilitates three riding modes:
Rain, Road and Sport. Each
mode changes the engine's
power characteristics and the
lean-sensitive traction control.
Rain mode. However, as the
fueling is so smooth and
the torque curve so flat, I'm
unsure if it is even needed.
The standard Michelin Road
5 rubber works well in poor
weather, and I could only
provoke the traction control
by deliberately accelerating
hard over white lines or slip
-
pery manhole covers. It's
simple and easy to change
modes on the move, but
it's not actually clear which
mode you're in once it's se
-
lected. A few times after a
short stop or at lunch, I was
unsure which mode I was
in as there was no obvious
indication on the dash.
In town, there is a lovely
burble and rasp from the ex
-
haust that's complemented
by an induction roar from
the airbox. The bike feels up
for some fun and certainly
processes traffic with a
smile on its face. Like the
Tiger Sport 660, the 17-inch
front wheel and road-biased
geometry allow the bike to
steer quickly and easily, and
there's none of the slightly
top-heavy feel experienced
on some older Tigers like
the 1050 Sport.
With Faro behind us, a
brief stretch of fast motor
-
way riding revealed that the
new 800 triple isn't as revvy
as the 660 unit and is notice-
ably more relaxed and relax-
ing as speeds push past 80
mph. The riding position is
adventure style—upright but
balanced and in the bike
rather than on top of it—and
the largish, manually adjust-
able screen was effective at
diverting a wintry blast from
my upper body and head.
Thankfully, our test bike
also had the optional heated
grips fitted, which were
simple to operate and kept
my hands perfectly warm.
I know this is primarily
a sports tourer, but I was
looking forward to hitting the
mountain roads of southern
Portugal. Triumph makes
some fine-handling bikes,
and the new Tiger adds to
that tradition. You could
argue that it is unfair to com
-
pare it to other middleweight
adventure bikes with off-road
biased 19-inch front wheels,
as the 17-inch front of the
800 gives it a decisive han
-
dling advantage. On twisty
roads, its 472 pounds seem
to disappear, making it as ef-
fortless to ride and hustle as
the 660, with which it shares
similar dimensions and ge-
ometry. It's flickable and fun
like its smaller sibling, but
the chassis has more refine-
ment and control.
Japanese Showa suspen-
sion controls both ends,
and initially, I thought the
absence of spring preload
adjustment on the front
might be missed, but it isn't,
at least with this relatively
light and single rider on
board. Despite the 800's
adventure looks, its unam
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