Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro First Ride Review

It took Triumph nine long years to update the Tiger 800. Sure it went through three different (small) frame updates, two different suspension manufacturers, three engine management updates, three different dashboards even, but at the end of 2019 the Tiger was still a little long in the tooth (pun intended). Here we are now with an all-new Tiger ‘900’ for 2020. A bump in displacement is only the beginning though. When Triumph said “all-new” they meant it. 

Newly dubbed the Tiger 900 Rally (off-road focus) and GT (street focus), each can be had in either Standard or Pro variants. We got a chance to test the hell out of the Pro versions cause well, at a press launch everyone should be a Pro. And everyone was eager to pounce on the test fleet in Morocco to see if the new Tiger would hold up its end of the Pro title.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new Tiger 900 comes in two different lines: the dirt-focused Rally with Showa suspension and tubeless spoked wheels (left), and the road-focused GT with Marzochi suspension and cast wheel (right). 

First, let me say that I have been a long-time fan of the Tiger 800. I actually used it as my race bike competing in the NASA Rally, SandBlast Rally, Rally Saguney, Black River Stages, Raceway Park Sprint Rally, and the Dacre Challenge (twice). My old Tiger took a beating and still carried me to more places around the North American continent than I can count. So ever since the new 900 Rally was announced, I’ve been itching to see how it measures up.

So let’s get the big question on everyone’s mind out of the way: Is it better than the old one? Yes, the new Tiger (900) Rally Pro is better than the former Tiger (800) XCa. That’s really where the comparison should end (it won’t), but I’ll explain why. It’s not an upgrade. It’s a massive leap forward. This isn’t a refresh or just a bump in displacement with new brakes and suspension, either. It’s all-new baby! There also isn’t one thing on the outgoing 800 that is better than the incoming Rally Pro 900, except the tachometer.

New 900cc Powerplant

The new larger capacity 900cc triple engine is tilted further forward in the frame and positioned lower for improved weight distribution. It is also 5.5 lbs (2.5 kg) lighter.

How do you define character? When thinking about the “old Tiger’s” engine, it was very distinctive but lacked personality. The old triple had a 180-Degree firing order with a secondary counterbalancer that would mimic the “missing” other cylinders of an inline-six. See, inline-six engines are naturally balanced and extremely smooth with 180 degrees between each piston’s fire order. It’s what gives Triumph’s their distinctive “triple whirl” sound. The problemo with that is an evenly spaced 1-2-3, firing order doesn’t exactly have a lot of character. Character comes from being odd, unique, or having a particular bias in one direction or the other. 

With the new Tiger 900, they’ve managed to build in a little ‘oomph’ without losing any of the company’s triple heritage. Specifically, a “270-degree-style” firing order has been developed by Triumph called the T-Plain Triple Crank Firing Order. MotoGP bikes used this style of “Big Bang” engine firing order on four-cylinder bikes, calling it a crossplain firing order. This allows the engine to produce maximum power, but it also gives a small amount of time between the firing order for the rear tire to regain traction. If this sounds like marketing hype, I can tell you firstly MotoGP engineers don’t do things for marketing hype. 

Engine updates include new camshafts for increased torque and acceleration, new NIKASIL aluminum liners allowing increased capacity and torque, a new T-Plane triple crankshaft for improved engine character, and more.

If you’ve ever spent a significant amount of time on an old Tiger 800 Triple, you’d feel the difference in character, tractability, and traction immediately. It’s like someone took the down-low grunt of a V-twin but added another cylinder in there somewhere. This allows the engine to be incredibly smooth down low and pull from as low as 2000 RPM, rather than wait for the power to kick in. The distinctive “triple whirl” can still be heard but it also has a mix of 270-degree parallel-twin soundtrack mixed in there. The new T-plane engine also wants to be ridden differently than the outgoing 800. It can be launched from a standstill without the high revs of the outgoing 800 and generally wants to be lower in the rev range at all times.

12% more horsepower in the mid-range and more power across the entire rev range up to peak power.

10% more peak torque plus torque is improved across the entire rev range.

To go with the new engine, Triumph added a revised secondary counterbalancer to help quell the unbalanced engine vibrations. Some media outlets have reported the new engine is not as smooth as the old one or that there is excessive engine vibration, but that only becomes noticeable at around 7500 RPM when you are doing well over 90 mph.The new 900cc powerplant is a significant improvement and it’s the sum of the parts to go with the bump in bore size that makes it so unique. New camshaft profiles improve torque, while NIKASIL coated aluminum piston sleeves receive new pistons and rings, carried by new connection rods for an optimized ability to catch every last horsepower during those uneven power strokes. To describe it in my own words, it feels like a parallel twin down low and goes like a trophy truck when you’ve got the Tiger 900 spun up past 7000 RPM.

An interesting update is the new oil sump casting. It’s more shallow than the old one, which decreases oil capacity slightly for an increase in the Tiger’s ground clearance and some weight savings (maintenance interval has not been affected at every 6,000 miles). It also reroutes the exhaust to the other side of the bottom of the engine and then the catalytic converter is located aft of the sump with another catalytic converter just before the exhaust canister. This is a great improvement as all three of my old Tiger’s oil pans were cracked by the catalytic converter being smashed into the bottom of the casing even with a skid plate.

A new skidplate eliminates many of the flaws found in the outgoing Tiger 800’s design.

An additional benefit of the new oil sump is relocated skid plate mounting points; gone are the rubber-mounted pucks of the 800. Skid plate mounting was a well known weak point of the old Tiger 800. New solid mounts get bolted through the oil pan into the engine case, and the front of the skid plate is mounted to the front of the engine with a sturdier bracket. The Rally Pro Skid plate still looks a little thin for my personal taste and it also doesn’t cover the catalytic converter mounted under the bike, and frankly, it should. If you want to be a Pro, act like one.

The engine certainly does act and perform like a pro, though. 10% more peak torque and 12% more horsepower in the mid-range put the Rally Pro in a new category when it comes to performance. Numbers are one way to put it into perspective, but third gear stand up power wheelies are how I like to categorize power. Even in fourth gear it’s possible to get a little roller going if you give a good  yank on the handlebars. The old Tiger wouldn’t do those with stock gearing. It’s a good way to gauge the engine performance gain by “feel” if you don’t have a stopwatch and the ole 800 handy.

Keeping the Tiger 900 engine cool seems to be pretty easy with the new split-radiator design on the new bike. Separated by a frame rail, two individual radiators handle incoming coolant one at a time. This creates a dual-pass cooling type system, which gives the coolant sufficient time to… well, cool as it must complete two journeys through radiators. The bodywork on the Tiger now has large ports to direct heated air away from the rider. One thing that was never talked about on the press launch was the bike being hot. Consider that a huge win for the Tiger 900 and its rideability. It also has a cooling fan on each radiator, which I never heard kick on during our test rides.

Forward momentum is important, and yes, the Rally Pro does that better than ever. The Tiger has always gotten the forward thrust done with one of the slickest gearboxes on the market. Now the Rally Pro’s six-speed transmission is linked to the rear tire via an all-new slipper/assist clutch. While the clutch pull is light, it requires a smooth engagement on the rider’s behalf. Not that it’s grabby, but if you find yourself fatigued and making hasty clutch and throttle inputs, the assist side of the slipper/assist clutch will make you want to take a second, catch your breath and start acting like a “pro” yourself. The first four gears of the transmission are reportedly the same as the outgoing 800, but fifth and sixth are said to be taller to reduce engine speeds at highway speeds.

 

 All-Pro trim level model, Tigers, come with shift assist actuators on the shifter linkage (the rest can get the shift assist added.) Some journalists at the launch noted that they didn’t “need it or use it,” but I found it extremely useful and entertaining. Few things feel better than going from 1st to 6th, never lifting the throttle, toe-ing through the gears. It also works going the opposite way and blips the throttle for you on clutchless downshifts. Wanna feel like a boss? Go from sixth to third as you roll on the throttle for a highway pass at speed with no clutch.

The shift assist is also useful in off-road situations. Picture this: you’ve blown a turn in an off-road setting in third gear, but you’ve managed to get your braking done. Instead of stalling out and tipping over or being overwhelmed by all the skidding and clinching, you simply press the shifter down, and you’re now in a gear that the motorcycle can stay running. You’re not reaching for the clutch or revving the engine, and instead, you just carry on down the trail. Who’s the pro now?

New Showa Suspension

Triumph used to deal with WP suspension for the Tiger XC’s — A company that sells, and I quote “pro components” for suspension upgrades. Unfortunately, even WP certified suspension shops were not allowed to service WP branded Triumph suspension. Instead, owners were directed back to Triumph dealerships as per Triumph’s and WP’s contract. For a lack of better words: that sucked. Because WP makes a great product and also has some really outstanding certified service centers. While most Triumph dealers can handle a fork seal replacement, they aren’t necessarily known for tuning a custom shim stack or even being able to handle a full tear down and replacement of internal suspension parts. 

 

Not being able to upgrade or tune the old Tiger 800’s suspension pointed customers toward the aftermarket and left many owners uncertain as to which choice to make. Hopefully, now that Triumph has moved from WP to Showa suspension, they can support owners who want a custom setup at  Showa certified suspension tuning centers.

The Tiger 900 Rally and Rally Pro both now come with a new Showa suspension front and rear. 45mm forks are clamped onto by nicely detailed and finished triple clamps. They’re now “fully” adjustable for compression and rebound damping like the outgoing WP units but also feature external preload adjusters! Thank you Triumph for that. The forks also have 240mm of travel up from 220. Travel doesn’t mean that much though, unless the valving is appropriately tuned. 

Aggressive Testers in our group ranged from a svelte Bob Barker sized 140lbs to somewhere north of new dad bod 230lbs. I land right around 215 and have a reputation for pushing an adventure bike past its limits and ruining everything. I even once blew the fork seals out of a brand new Tiger 800 XCA in just three days while testing it at AltRider’s Taste of Dakar in Nevada. Showa built this suspension for a wide range of rider weights and styles, and they’ve done it well.

The rear shock has 230mm of travel (up from 215mm on the 800 XCa) and is hooked up to the swingarm via linkage. Adjustable for spring preload and rebound damping only. I’m feeling a bit let down that they didn’t add compression damping in this update. Even so, the Rally Pro never felt under dampened. In fact, it felt a little firm on a few g-outs in the desert terrain. So, maybe I should just keep my mouth shut because firm is better than soft and wallowy. The rear still exhibited some of the typical rear wheel lift the old 800’s had but didn’t do it nearly as much  – only on one jump and a few heavy compressions to the rear suspension.

Off-Road Performance

The Tiger has always been one of the best adventure bikes on the street, but on the dirt, it was a different story. You needed to know how to handle it… err “Ride the Tiger.” Now, with the Rally Pro, I found myself hesitant to approve the claims that it’s improved. So I tested the Rally Pro, and I tested it hard. Under what some people would consider a top-level pace, I never found the bottom of the suspension stroke except one time on a larger than average jump. Before you say, “what’s top-level pace?” Let me introduce you to our ride leader Gary “Baulless” Morgan. FIM road race license holder, ex-Euro motocross A-level racer and almost MotoGP racer. A broken leg ended his road racing career, and now at the beautiful age of 50-ish, he’s an instructor at the Triumph Adventure Riding Experience in Wales, and he’s top-notch in my mental book of “fast guys” on anything with two wheels.

 

 

Posted in: Motorcycle Review, Triumph 900 Rally Pro, Triumph Motorcycle