Anybody who has seen Ewen McGregor and Charlie Something in The Long Way Round knows that the BMW GS 1200 is the ultimate touring adventure bike.
Adventure bikes are awesome for their upright riding position, long suspension travel and general styling with all kinds of knobbly features that definitely make them the bike of choice for any hard, rugged, outdoorsey type. I am one of those (in my mind).
If you have ever considered owning one, you also know that they cost the same as the gross GDP of a medium sized country!
I do not have that kind of dosh and also, I am a Triumph guy, loyal to a brand that does not know I exist. Triumph’s are amazing! They have developed a lovely in-line three cylinder engine called a Triple to those in the know, you are now one of them. The Triumph Tiger will definitely be mentioned by any serious adventure riding enthusiast along with the KTM, the Honda Africa Twin and the Yamaha Super Tenere. These other bikes are also awesome but the KTM is designed for giraffes as it has a seat height of about 12 feet high. I am a Triumph guy.
I looked into a brand new one at Munroe Motors in San Francisco, or rather, I wanted to just look at one but the sales guy was pretty awesome and I considered buying one. The down side to owning a new one is that even the Triumph costs about the same as the gross GDP of a small sized country, about $14,000 with the taxes and fees for the smaller Tiger 800XC. The Triumph hard cases and mounting hardware add about another $2200. But it does come with fog lights and crash bars and metal skid pan and all the knobbly styling you can shake a stick at. The 1200 Explorer with it’s shaft drive and stonking power house is closer to $25K. But I was interested in the 800XC as it is a very capable off roader and had all the bells and whistles, including heated seats and grips.
I continued looking at used bikes and found the one I ultimately purchased at Santa Clara Motorcycles in Sunnyvale. The one I bought was $8250, it is a 2014 Triumph Tiger Explorer with 19,000 miles on it. It came with factory fitted boxes, a cover, a tank bag and a Triumph duffel bag and motorcycle cover. I think this is a pretty good deal.
This model did not come with crash bars or fog lights so I quickly added them. I will also add the metal skid pan so my ruggedness can properly shine through! It does have cruise control which, despite sounding like a stupid thing to have on a motorcycle, adds a degree of comfort on long rides when you are, well, cruising.
I have had this bike for a couple of months now and my initial impressions are very positive. It has a big digital display so you can actually see how fast you are going, the screen (with an added deflector) allows for riding with the visor open even at freeway speeds, the riding position is far more comfortable than the Sprint. The most impressive thing about it is the comfort of the ride. On other bikes I have owned, I frequently have to brace myself for or even stand up for to allow my knees to take the jolt. Not so on the Explorer, it is like riding a rather comfy sofa, one feels that you could feasibly fit a cup holder and it not be totally unusable. Leaning in to corners would negate that and the full face helmet would undoubtedly need to be negotiated, but you get the point, right? The only thing I find a little odd about it is the sound it makes which, compared to the much loved Sprint, with it’s smooth high revving engine, is more like a thumping tractor. This is not a complaint, just something I will have to get used to.
The whole point of this blog is to write about our actual trip and I think it is fair to say that there will be plenty of waxing poetic about the bikes and there will certainly be loads of pictures of them to come.
Comments are welcome.
You got a smoking deal on that bike.