By Mike Huber
The 4th of July is a perfect time to tell my riding story from this weekend spending two days riding a British motorcycle. This was a 180 from my usual chant this time of year of “Screw the British,” but my BMW GS1200 happened to be in the shop for another week waiting parts from Germany so getting on any bike for a weekend was just what my soul needed. My girlfriend allowed me the honor of taking her 2023 Triumph Tiger 900 GT Pro out to tear up 200 miles of Route 299 through northern California. Along this stretch of highway, it is more important than ever to be alert as it is Sasquatch Country.
I was excited to ride this portion of northern California but didn’t expect to be that impressed with the Triumph. Previously having test rode several Triumphs I was familiar with them. They are wonderful machines but they never really spoke to me or my riding style, so I steered towards Ducati or BMW. However, one of my favorite guitar players, Billy Duffy (from the band The Cult) is a HUGE Triumph rider. I had the pleasure of meeting him last November and being semi star struck. All I could mutter was “I am sorry I ride a BMW GS, but my girlfriend rides a Triumph, and oh yeah…you’re an incredible guitarist.” I guess there have been worse encounters with celebrities than that. He high fived me, we shook hands, and we had a laugh over my awkwardness (more him than myself I am sure). Anyway, back to the Triumph Tiger and Sasquatch hunting along Route 299.
This bike is fast. It doesn’t hesitate to go once you twist that throttle, and the acceleration is smooth. Coming from a background where torque is king it was almost a relief to not have to worry about your front wheel leaving the earth every time you go to pass someone, although I have always felt wheelieing by cars as you pass them is just…. Well, it’s cool.
The Tiger is 60 pounds lighter than my BMW GS1200, and the weight is distributed much lower. This makes it extremely easy to just throw into turns, which I did numerous times along Route 299. There are no longer chicken strips on the tires. The Tiger is also much easier to maneuver due to this, which is helpful in sand, difficult terrain, or having to move it 8 feet into a different parking spot.
Changing modes on the BMW when switching from on road to offroad modes you simply hit the button and shift gears. With the Tiger you need to stop the bike, place it in neutral and switch modes. This is a minor complaint I understand, but I was in the heart of sasquatch country and any delay could result in serious injury or death by being mauled by one of these magnificent beasts.
For some reason Triumph didn’t add a steering damper, or weights on the handlebars ends. This can at times cause a wobble at high speeds and it is not a wind friendly design. When bringing this up to the Triumph dealer they stated it wasn’t supposed to go over 85 MPH with a full load and he asked how fast I was riding it. Without divulging the answer in this write up I will say he raised his hands and walked away at my answer (this happens frequently with me when I am too honest).
Overall, I am much more impressed with this motorcycle now than I was previously. It was a breathtaking 200-mile ride in northern California as the road snaked along the Trinity River and in Six Rivers National Forest. The twisties were a blast and by simply clicking down two gears I was able to rocket past slower vehicles with no problem and put any threats far in my rearview mirror (to include Sasquatch). Speaking of which, we didn’t see any Sasquatch along this route. I swore I could smell them as I dropped into Humboldt County but I suppose that could have just been the marijuana cultivation.
Disclaimer- I moved the Triumph to the other side of the Starbucks parking lot as soon as I saw several GS riders pull up.
Triumphs are da’ bomb. ‘Nuff said.
Yeah, I agree, having owned several of them. I had a 2006 Tiger. Love ’em.
I rode some dirt back in the day. My brother bought a Honda CR125M and a Honda CR250M from a guy for practically nothing. These were dirt specific bikes. The 125 was easy. The 250 was a scary beast, and it weighed in at only about 200 pounds! For the life of me I can’t imagine why anybody would take a 500 or 600 pound bike off road when there’s lighter ones that exist? And nobody’s ever explained it. It must be miserable. Especially when there’s no Starbucks in the woods.
You’re lucky you got to borrow it. I don’t lend my bikes out,but anyway the closest BMW or Triumph dealer is 120 miles away or I might have thought about buying one. Sounds like a grand life 😉
very lucky indeed! 🙂 solid weekend
Totally unrelated to this story but good for filler:
I had a Triumph 750 Bonneville back in the 80’s. It was the Jubilee edition with a brown seat, deep metallic brown gas tank with gold sides. The thing was a real beauty.
Unfortunately it was a dog. Slow, it shook like crazy. Going for a long ride was torture.
It sounds like they have improved.
I had a ’78 Bonneville which was essentially the exact same motorcycle. Loved it. Wish I still had it. I owned a string of the pre-Hinckley Triumph twins. Even had the 250cc single.