Triumph Tiger 800 XRx

This entry is part 15 of 21 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #13

If the XCx is a serious adventure mutha, the XRx is the sexy sister. It’s tight, light and fast, and you really want to ride it.

There’s a huge swathe of riders who build their adventures to include the excitement of hugging tight curves on mountain roads, hammering along little-used country byways and exploring secondary dirt roads. These guys don’t go looking for technically challenging trails, savage hillclimbs and tank-deep river crossings, but they need to know their bikes can cope if those things crop up.

For those riders, Triumph has the XRx. It has a heap of familiar features from the Tiger 800 XCs Adventure Rider Magazine has enjoyed so much, but it’s just a little slinkier, a shade more compact, and noticeably more flickable on the road.

It’s also extremely comfort-able, has killer good looks and is a ton of fun.

The same, but different

For anyone who’s ridden the Tiger 800 XCs the XRx will feel familiar straight away. The same three-cylinder, 800cc motor sits in the same trellis frame, and the tank, seat and instrumentation are all the same spec. The rider modes – Road, Off-road and Rider – are there, and the controls and peripherals are all distinctively Tiger.

But sitting on the bike straight away causes the eye-brows to rise. So many things are so familiar, the things that feel different are all the more surprising, and the first thing is the lower seat height.

We chuckled to ourselves at being so knowledgeable and experienced and everything, and jumped off to flick the seat to its higher position. Except, when we checked, it was already on the ‘high’ setting.

The seat is a whopping 35mm lower than its XC stablemate.

The same feeling embraced us when the front end felt so light. As we rode a little more we realised it wasn’t so much ‘light’ as ‘fast’. The smaller front wheel is obvious – a 19-inch instead of the 21-inch on the XCs – but what’s not so easy to see is the wheelbase being a substantial 15mm shorter. The result is a very nimble and fast-handling 800.

Then, the more we rode, the more we found ourselves carrying a surprising amount of mid-corner speed and slamming open the ride-by-wire throttle as the bike railed around to line up the exit. The lean angle was enough to cause a real rush of blood to the groinular area, too.

Hmm…

It’s still a Tiger, but it has a few different stripes to the ones we’re used to.

Leisure seekers

What would prompt a rider to choose a bike like this one over the more off-road-oriented XCx?

It didn’t take us long to work that out.

This Tiger is for that huge group of riders who live for country pubs, scenic destinations and being able to head for out-of-the-way places without worrying about whether or not the bike will cope with whatever happens on the way. Putting the feet down at the lights or for a yarn at an intersection is easy, and the aerodynamics make for a minimum of buffeting. Another way of looking at it might be to say the XRx will suit riders who ride for leisure, not challenge.

In that context the XRx is a peach. It’s comfortable, very, very rewarding to ride and is still more than ready for the unex-pected challenges and obstacles that make for an adventure. The hard panniers – which we normally don’t like because they catch on trees and things – allow for easy and secure luggage transport, and everything about the bike is polished and smooth.

We’re grinning quietly to ourselves as we write this, because the XRx has a major-league ace up its sleeve that we haven’t mentioned yet.

It’s a performer.

Good sport

We don’t normally have much call to talk about on-road performance with adventure bikes. They’re all fairly good these days. But we can’t stop grinning when we think about how the XRx carves a tight line and powers hard through bitumen turns. It’s stable and comfortable in a straight line up to some fairly ridiculous speeds, and that might make a rider think it’d be reluctant in turns, but the opposite is true. The bike feels a little like it falls into corners.

We were a little put off by the feeling at first, but once we became used to it we realised the super-smooth motor and equally smooth gearbox could be combined with the sensational braking to actually drive the bike hard through the turn – as opposed to the point-and-shoot method some of the taller bikes prefer. The ‘falling’ feeling means the bike’s starting the turn with no effort from the rider. All that needs to be done is select the line, keep the throttle and brake application smooth, and hoo-aah! Mountain roads are a wet dream.

Seriously, anyone who enjoys a taste of road-bike-type performance is going to go crazy-ape bonkers for the XRx.

And the braking! The feel and power at both ends is fantastic, and that, combined with the ride-by-wire throttle, allows for very precise input from the rider The other thing the XRx offers for the throttle jockies is the same linear feel to the power and torque delivery that make the XCx so manageable in tough going. As we were scratching our way through the curves it meant the motor wasn’t in the least intimidating. It felt as though the whole 95 horsepower is there to use. Unlike some sports bikes that frighten the poo out of a rider and leave him scared to use what the motor offers, this bike encourages a rider to have a red-hot go, and then makes that action seem easy.

A blast along dirt roads is good fun.

Nice

Once we settled down and began to consider our professional obligations the XRx again showed its quality. It’s a real pleasure to ride when sticking to the speed limit, and on the freeway the cruise control is a gift. On secondary and dirt roads – not trails – it made life easy.

We were surprised at how comfortable the standing position is. Riders up to around 180cm are going to sit and stand on the XRx in comfort, and that’s a good thing, because while the front end is lively and precise on the road, the payback is that it’s not as steady off road as its sister the XC. A set of more aggressive tyres would make an enormous difference off-road, but then, of course, some of the cornering precision on the bitumen would be compromised. That’s something each rider will have to decide for themselves.

They’re tubeless tyres, by the way.

There’s a lot to like about tubeless, especially how easy it is to chuck a set of plugs in the toolkit instead of levers, tubes and a beadbreaker.

Braking is superb, front and rear. Attention to aerodynamics makes for a comfortable rider. Note the shaping of the fork protectors, for instance. Touches like the guard being painted to match the tank give the bike a beautiful, polished look.

Set and forget

The suspension worked well for us, but there’s no adjustment except preload on the rear. The action was good, especially on ripples and small corrugations, so we were happy. We can’t see the XRx being often in situations where it’s going to need suspension tweaking. It’ll cope with just about everything expected of it as it is.

Those who are feisty and outside the ‘average’ weight range will have to have a suspension tuner have a look if they find it a problem, but we were satisfied with the stock set up, even with the 62-litre Adventure panniers fitted. We put tools in one side and a camera bag in the other to approximate the five-kilo payload each pannier is designed for and expected the bike to feel lumpy as a result.

The pendulum effect is there, undeniably, but it didn’t create any problems we could find.It’s no different to when we carry those same loads in any type of pannier, except when we stopped for a coffee in town we just left every-thing on the bike, locked up and secure.

That was an interesting experience for us. We were once again left wondering if we hadn’t been missing something. Maybe there’s a place for hard panniers after all?

The pannier-mount system on the Triumph is interesting, too. It works on a concealed cable that connects the two cases, and as the bike leans, the panniers have a little lateral movement that lets them lean too. It’s tricky to explain, and to be brutally honest, we couldn’t feel a big advantage from the set-up.

Of course, we don’t use hard panniers normally, so we’re not good ones to be offering an opinion on the rig.

The mounting system for the Adventure panniers allows a little controlled movement. Fitting and removing the hard panniers takes just a few seconds.

The bike is very comfortable for a standing rider, but, as usual, we had to remove the rubber inserts from the footpegs to stop our feet sliding off in the wet. They pull straight out, no tools needed.

A smart choice

There’s a lot about Triumph’s XRx that’s caused us to have a good long think about things.

Mostly it’s started us thinking about riding for leisure and pleasure instead of survival. There’s a world of enjoyment to be had from just being on a great bike and taking in some fabulous countryside. The manufacturers know it, and that’s why we have bikes like Kawasaki’s Versys, BMW’s F700GS, Suzuki’s V-stroms and heaps of others. The XRx is a beautiful example of the genre. Its performance on the road is sharp enough to keep any adventure rider grinning, and on the dirt it’s still very capable. There’s no doubt the 19-inch front wheel has more of a tendency to follow ruts than a 21-inch wheel, and less ground clearance might seem a problem to the hard-core off-roaders, but that’s the point. This isn’t a hard-core off-roader. And if you yourself aren’t a hard-core off-roader, the XRx might give more smiles per kilometre than you’d thought possible.

We haven’t stopped grinning since we first rode this bike, but we’ll get serious again soon.

As soon as we have to give this Tiger back.

Damn that blue is nice!

Triumph 800xRx Tiger

We fell for the ol’ ‘Open the pannier and have everything fall out’ trick. It does make for easy access though, and Triumph has a set of liner bags available.

Web: www.triumphmotorcycles.com.au
Rec retail: $16,590 plus ORC
Adventure panniers: $1046
Pannier mounting kit: $455.20

Engine type: Liquid-cooled, 12-valve, DOHC, in-line three-cylinder
Displacement: 800cc
Bore/stroke: 74.05mm x 61.94mm
Rated output: 95PS (70Kw) at 9250rpm
Maximum torque: 79Nm at 7850rpm
System: Multipoint sequential electronic fuel injection
Exhaust: Stainless steel 3-into-1, high-level stainless steel silencer
Gearbox: Six-speed
Final drive: O-ring chain
Clutch: Wet, multi-plate
Oil capacity: 3.7 litres
Starter: Electric
Fuel tank capacity: 19 litres
Transmission: Six-speed
Frame: Tubular steel trellis
Swingarm: Twin-sided, cast aluminium alloy
Front suspension: Showa 43mm upside-down forks, 180mm travel
Rear suspension: Showa monoshock with hydraulically adjustable preload, 170mm travel
Front wheel: 10-spoke 19 x 2.5 inch, cast aluminium alloy
Rear wheel: 10-spoke 17 x 4.25 inch, cast aluminium alloy
Front tyre: 100/90-19
Rear tyre: 150/70 R17
Length: 2215mm
Width (handlebars): 829mm
Height (without mirrors): 1350mm
Seat height: 810mm/830mm (adjustable)
Wheelbase: 1530mm
Brakes front: Twin 308mm floating discs. Nissin twin-piston sliding calipers, switchable ABS
Brakes rear: Single 255mm disc. Nissin single-piston sliding caliper, Switchable ABS
Wet weight: 216kg
Dry weight: 191kg