2018 Triumph Tiger 800 XRT and XCA review

I’ve always liked the Triumph Tiger 800, despite it being on location for two of the most horrific episodes on two wheels I’ve ever experienced. Luckily for me I was a witness, not a participant, and I happened to be astride a Tiger 800 on both occasions.

I must tell you about at least one of them. I was riding through the Outback – I’m talking Bourke and Broken Hill, not the Great Sandy Desert or something that hardcore – with my mate Garthy when up ahead I could see a big cloud of dust.

When I arrived at the scene, it was like a plane crash. His bike and luggage were strewn all over the wide sandy track and he lay in a crumpled heap in the middle of the track. His head was at a funny angle, and on closer inspection I thought I was suddenly an extra in The Exorcist. His head was facing backwards. The only thing missing was green vomit and levitation. After hearing a faint moan I realised his helmet had twisted around his head. He wasn’t dead after all. The only levitation going on would be when he had morphine in the back of the ambulance.

Turns out a big spot of bulldust had claimed Garthy and, as he was on the least suitable adventure bike of us all, it had to be him. As we waited for the ambulance I walked into the table drain and found it was much harder ground there. Another mate used to live at Wanaaring and later said: “You don’t ride in the bulldust, you ride in the table drain. It’s much safer.” If only we knew…

Now onto the new Tiger 800 range!

Two streams
The updated line-up consists of a three-tiered off-road biased XC range as well as a four-tiered road-going XR range.

The off-road duo consists of the XC, XCX and the XCA which use a 21-inch wire-spoked front wheel, while the road-going cast-wheeled range (with a 19-inch front) consists of the XR, XRX, XRT and XRX Low – as in seat height.

However, the XR and XC won’t be coming to Australia – the same strategy that Triumph Australia is also adopting for the updated Tiger 1200 range.

Related viewing
Tiger 1200 XRT video review

Triumph says there are over 200 upgrades to the chassis and engine for 2018. Most you wouldn’t notice I’m guessing, so we’ll concentrate on the ones you will – and there are more than a few of these.

Straight up, those with a keen eye will notice the new bodywork, and it is a bit of a looker in a weird sort of way. But then, most adventure bikes are. In Triumph speak it’s more ‘contemporary’, and in reality it is. It seems to have a more edgier, dare I say, ‘harder’ look to it.

It’s got some new colours and stickers and so on. You can’t have 200 or so updates and keep the same old bodywork now can you?

Many of the upgrades are behind the scenes, and there’s a major leap in technology over the previous model. There’s up to six riding modes now available, and anti-lock braking (ABS) and traction control (TC) are standard of course.

Numerous sensors and fly-by-wire control this, with each riding mode not controlled by ‘maps’ as such, merely the butterflies in the throttle bodies are either sped up or slowed down (in relation to your throttle) to suit what mode you have selected.

Sounds great on paper, and in reality it works a treat too. Even in some reasonably serious off-road terrain the relationship between the throttle and the rear wheel was pretty much faultless.

All of this is accessed via the new switchblocks and toggle switch. Once you get the hang of knowing what to push to access the modes etc it’s easy to use. The switchblocks are back-lit too, so at night it’s easy to see.

Riding Modes can be changes on the move but anything requiring a change of ABS or TC requires you to stop. When you select what you want in regards of modes and so on, it remains selected when you stop and then restart your bike, except for ABS and TC. They always default back to the ‘engaged’ position.

As you would expect, the characteristics of ABS and TC are also changed depending on the mode. Off-road mode has less intervention from these fun killers, and in Off-Road Pro (XCA only), the system expects you to ride like a boss, so it turns off ABS (at the rear) and TC. But be careful here, as I nearly jettisoned myself and the Tiger into the stratosphere one occasion during the launch, as I got a little too ‘bossy’ with the throttle.

Overall though, I found the settings for each mode to be spot on for me. I actually prefer to have ABS, at least, on when I’m coursing my way through fire trails and the like with scant regard for my own safety. The days of me brake sliding a big adventure bike into a turn then rear wheel steering it out have left me, so I found the Off-Road ABS well suited for me. Not too intrusive but intrusive enough to save me from myself. Sometimes I need saving you see.

The instruments are pretty flash too, with a Thin Film Transistor (better known as TFT) display, which you can change to a variety of displays. It’s an auto contrast set up, too, so changes when the light gets low. But what about when you’re standing on the pegs, blasting through a river crossing or jumping a log on this brute? Well, the dash can be rotated up or down so you can still see it. How good is that? Just make sure you don’t look for too long though, you don’t want to run out of track.

It’s got cruise control too, and it’s easy to use. One button, press it twice, and you’re good to go.

One other thing I liked was the new LED headlights, which look like a pair of furrowed brows looking at you. It’s like it’s a bit angry and giving you the stink eye. Luckily I didn’t get stuck in the bush at dark, unlike the last adventure launch I was on, so never got to actually sample them as such. I’m sure they work well though.

Like a banshee
That’s how I like to describe the sound of Triumph’s three-cylinder engines. With a peak 95hp and 79Nm, it’s no slouch, and I’d find it hard to imagine anyone complaining of a lack of them in this case. If you do, you’re probably a Finke Desert Race winner.

A lower ratio first gear makes life easier in the bush, and it works. Down snotty hills and up them too, the lower first gear allowed you to concentrate on getting the bike where it had to be rather than slipping clutches and so on. Letting you experience the aural symphony of the triple is a new freer-flowing, and louder, exhaust.

You might use more fuel though, as you’ll be revving that engine with gay abandon, just so you can hear that wail. Don’t worry, these Triumph donks are robust, so you can rev away to your heart’s content.

On the launch, Bikesales rode the Tiger 800 XRT and Tiger 800 XCA. Let’s look at both of those individually.

Tiger 800 XRT
I spent most of the first day of the launch on the 800 XRT, the most road-going of the models. With alloy wheels, 19-inch front and 17-inch rear, plus Brembo brakes, it was a hoot thrashing it around the back blocks of the Northern NSW hinterland.

With mid-range road/off-road tyres it still had plenty of grip, and as a result I found the hero knobs on the footpegs touch earlier than I expected at times. They are easy to remove and turf into the bin though. I was pleased to find that fantastic seat was still in place. I simply have never sampled a better seat on any motorcycle – ever.

I know that’s saying a lot but it’s true. I normally have a 100km bottom, but on the Tiger 800 it’s at least a 250km rear. Helping that is a good sized 19-litre fuel tank which, with a more economical engine, gives a range of well over 300km.

Gone are the days when manufacturers inflicted us with terrible screens just so they could sell us a factory accessory one. The Tiger 800’s screen was perfect for me, a six-footer. No buffeting and, even though it’s manually adjustable, it’s easy to do so on the move. Most of the time I had it mid-height on the road, with my helmet visor up. I loved it.

Soaking up the bumps, and there were a few, were the Showa 43mm forks and single shock. There’s plenty of travel too, with 180mm up front and 170mm down back. Plenty of adjustment is on tap, but I never had to venture away from the standard factory settings.

Tiger 800 XCA
We even sampled a fair amount of dirt on the XRT, and it acquitted itself admirably there. But on day two I was to venture far deeper into the Northern NSW rainforest, but I would be astride the XCA, the full-on adventure Tiger 800.

I must admit I was a bit nervous as to how hardcore we would be going on the XCA, especially after the last bit of adventure riding I did saw me spearing myself into a muddy hole on the side of a Sicilian mountain. But I need not have worried as the XCA was more than up to the task, and then some.

Now the XCA is better equipped to fight the off-road fight, with a 21-inch front wheel, spoked rims, and knobby tyres (as fitted to our test bikes). It also had the Off-Road Pro Riding Mode available, which switched off ABS and TC.

Both the XRT and XCA have different riding positions than the previous model, with the handlebars 10mm further back, and a height adjustable seat. Steel footpegs on the XCA are better for gripping your boots than the steel/rubber ones on the XRT, and of course the longer-travel WP suspension on the XCA (220mm front and 215mm rear) makes it easier to handle the big erosion banks like you’re Travis Pastrana.

After a 20km on tarmac we hit the dirt. I’m not talking dirt road stuff, but fire trails and 4WD tracks. I’m quite confident the XCA could have coped with aggressive single trail too if it had to. Of course this depends on the rider and terrain, but I was impressed big time at how easy the XCA was to ride off-road. Not many large capacity adventure bikes react well to getting air off erosion banks. The weight and soft suspension usually have them bottoming out fairly easily.

That wasn’t the case with the XCA. It could be ridden aggressively and do so with ease in fact. Even some very rutted steep hills were no issue for it. Not once did it bottom out, and the low first gear made these sections far less of a chore than before. I’m sure a talented rider could take the XCA through some pretty wild terrain.

Dry weight for the XCA is 208kg, which is on the heavy side for serious off-road work – but it never feels like that when you’re doing it.

When you sit the Tiger 800 and Tiger 1200 side-by-side there doesn’t seem to be much of a difference is size, but you do notice it when you ride them. That’s the reason I think the 800 would be a better choice for more serious adventure riding, for the majority of riders.

Summing up
All the Tiger 800 models are fairly well equipped in standard guise, with heated handgrips, cruise control, hand and engine guards and so on. When you opt for the XRT or XCA models you get heated seats and alloy protection for the radiator and engine instead of plastic on the XRX and XCX models, for example.

Prices aren’t bad, with the XRX model starting at $18,550, going up the $21,300 for the full house XCA.

What would I buy? Money being no object, I would go for the XCA. It’s the most equipped of all the Tiger 800 range, the more off-road capable – and still a belter of a road bike.

When I took it into the rain forest I was surprised at how well it coped. I’m not sure many Tiger 800 owners would venture into terrain like this, as it was more suited to enduro and trail bikes, but it showed me how capable the XCA actually was. You can get serious knobby tyres for it, but also road/trail tyres for the 21/17-inch wheel combo, so you’re covered for all the riding you’re likely to be doing on the bike.

I also believe the price is very reasonable, considering what you get.

2018 TIGER 800 RANGE SPECIFICATION