2024 Triumph Tiger 1200 Explorers Take On Scotland [Review]

April 30, 2024

It’s raining. It’s been raining all day. In the wet and cold, I am desperately trying to push a large, 550-pound adventure motorcycle to its limits on rain-soaked, narrow country roads. All that is going through my mind is: “Left is right, right is wrong. Left is right, right is wrong.”

Despite repeating this mantra all day, I still blew through an entire section of narrow and curvy Scottish pavement on the wrong side of the road during a photo shoot! Luckily, there was no oncoming traffic, and all that was injured was my pride. It really wasn’t my fault, though. I blame the seductive, sexy sound and rocketship power of the Triumph Tiger 1200 triple whispering in my head, “Go faster, don’t worry about the wet pavement or which side of the road you’re on. Go Faster!”.

And what am I even doing here? Triumph launched a brand-new Tiger 1200 model line two years ago, so it’s early for an update. And I’m riding in Scotland in the spring?! This is a rainy place already, and especially so in April! Just flip through a history textbook, and it is easy to see. The Scots and the weather will do anything to repel the British and their motorized vehicles like Triumph’s Tiger. Scotland was brewing up a recipe for disaster.

Two years ago, I attended the launch of a brand-new from the ground Triumph Tiger 1200. As an avid adventure bike rider and owner of a couple of Tigers in the past, including the older 1200, I was anxious to sample changes that Triumph made. Happily, the changes were huge in 2022. The flagship Tiger lost a ton of weight, gained a ton of power, featured incredible technology, and had fantastic suspension; it seemed to do almost everything beautifully. The engine was powerful and fun. The 1200’s off-road capabilities were fantastic, despite weighing 550 pounds. All in all, I was very impressed with the 2022 edition. When I was tapped to cover the 2024 update in Scotland, all I could think was, “What would Triumph do to make its Tiger 1200 better?”

On the flight to Glasgow, I spent some time reviewing my assessment of the ’22, reminding myself of which areas I thought needed improvement. My list of criticisms was short: A bit of throttle roll-on snatchiness, some vibes in the bars at higher rpm, not ideal wind protection at higher speed, and the pegs dragging earlier than expected on the GT model. All in all, there was not much to complain about.

The next day, I analyzed the list of Triumph’s changes to the Tiger 1200 and headed to the tech briefing. The engineers covered all the changes, including increasing inertia at the crankshaft and playing with the balancer to mitigate vibration. Within a few minutes, my head was spinning with engineering complexities.

Basically, the updates came down to some impressive engineering aimed at improving rider comfort and smoother low-rpm engine performance—the very things that I disliked about the previous generation Tiger 1200. And I wasn’t alone in those critiques.

Based on extensive rider feedback, the Triumph engineers focused on improving low-rev torque delivery and smoother throttle roll-on to improve low-speed riding, which is particularly useful for chugging along off-road. To do this, Triumph increased rotating inertia in the crankshaft. The engineers also took the opportunity to modify the balancer to reduce the engine forces, such as pitch (front-to-back, back-to-front), roll (side-to-side), and yaw (left-to-right, right-to-left). If you’re not entirely familiar with those terms, or the engine creates them, don’t worry! All that really means is the Triumph engineers were trying to make the bike smoother.

Other engine-related changes included updating the alternator rotor and recalibrating the engine. In addition to the engine revisions, Triumph redesigned the driver seat to be flatter with greater comfort, slightly increased the clutch lever length, and changed the peg position on the GT models to improve ground clearance.

Lastly, in a bit of nifty engineering, the Tiger 1200 now has what its marketing department calls Active Preload Reduction. APR provides the ability to lower ride height by 20mm at slower speeds. By pressing and holding the Home button when traveling under 40 miles an hour, the reduction of shock spring-preload lowers the bike. Once getting back above 50 miles an hour, the ride height returns to normal. This is something that Harley Davidson pioneered in their Pan America adventure motorcycle, and it is a handy feature for shorter riders. It also provides a bit more confidence during low-speed off-road maneuvering. Getting a foot or two down easily as things get gnarly is always welcome.

If you purchased last year’s Tiger 1200, fret not. You aren’t left out on this great tech. A simple software upgrade gives you this feature, too. Why don’t all motorcycle manufacturers do easy, customer-pleasing things like this?

Was Triumph successful in its efforts to improve an already fantastic Tiger 1200? We will get to that in a minute. What I found most impressive was the effort Triumph put into the project. These guys spent a lot of engineering time and redesign hours to address issues that were not materially significant. Yet, they felt these improvements were important enough to warrant a fast update cycle. That level of commitment to excellence and trying to develop the best bike possible would make my German ancestors jealous and impressed.

On ride day, as forecasted, I woke up to cold and rain. Being a Southern California resident, riding in the rain is a bit foreign. Given that I was riding an open-class adventure bike on potentially sketchy, narrow, windy, and left-is-right Scottish roads, I had a bit of concern.

The 2024 Triumph Tiger 1200 comes in two models—the GT and Rally. Each has variants—the Pro and the Explorer. The GT is more road-focused with a 19-inch front wheel, cast wheels front and back, and slightly less than eight inches of wheel travel. The Rally has a 21-inch front wheel, tubeless wire-spoked wheels, and three-quarters of an inch additional suspension travel. While the Pro models are nicely speced, the top-of-the-line Explorer receives every feature Triumph offers, plus a larger fuel tank.

For 2024, the US only gets the Explorer version of the GT and Rally bikes. The Pro models will be available to US customers in model year 2025. Because they are the only ones we’ll see in The States this year, I rode the GT Explorer and Rally Explorer. I hopped on a Rally Explorer in a very good-looking Matte Sandstorm livery. This color and Carnival Red for the GT are new to the Tiger 1200 family for 2024.

Not having much experience riding motorcycles on the left-hand side of the road, I was a little worried as I started out. As I remembered the bike from the launch two years ago, the 2024 Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer is immediately very comfortable, solid, great sounding, and ready to ride hard.

Pulling away from the hotel, I immediately started fiddling with the heated grips and seat to warm things up. Unfortunately, the next thing I knew, I was hurling towards an oncoming car. Thankfully, my speed was slow enough that I could make that essential safety adjustment quickly.

I wasted no time getting up to speed and flying through Scottish towns. Once out in the countryside, I encountered a fair amount of traffic, which led to some pretty aggressive passing maneuvers on the rain-slicked pavement. Cracking on the throttle immediately reminded me of how amazing the 1160cc inline-3 sounds and pulls. In a blink of an eye, I shot past cars.

Given the road conditions, I was initially pretty cautious taking turns and accelerating. However, the more I pushed the bike, the more confident I became in the suspension, braking, and grip of the GT Explorer’s Metzeler Tourance. Throughout the day, with steady rain, a wide variety of road conditions, and even spirited photo passes, the 2024 Triumph Tiger 1200 never felt out of sorts—very impressive for such a large and powerful motorcycle.

As I alternated between the GT Explorer and Rally Explorer, I was surprised to find the Rally Explorer nimbler through the turns. It has a bit more balanced and natural feel. No doubt, the Rally’s narrow 21-inch front tire helped with turn in, and my increased comfort level came from my natural proclivity for adventure bike geometry.

During the breaks in riding, I fiddled with the multitude of adjustments that can be made to the engine power, traction control, ABS, and semi-active Showa suspension. Typically, I prefer slightly softer suspension to soak up the road imperfections on big adventure bikes. In the case of the new Tiger 1200s, it was the opposite. I dialed up firmer Sport suspension, which closed the gap between the Rally and the GT. Once dialed in, the GT Explorer performs better in the curves.

Throughout the rest of the day, the rain continued to fall ever harder as I continued through the backroads. I kept thinking about Robert the Bruce and the rest of the Scots of olde laughing at all the soaked and miserable English troops who were sent up to subdue the Scottish uprisings over the centuries! Fortunately for me, the standard heated grips and seat did their jobs, as did the rain-repelling Spidi All Road jacket and pants combo and the Xpd H2Out X Venture boots.

My aggressive riding and overtaking continued in the afternoon, and the Tiger 1200 continued to shine, unlike the sun. There’s something addictive about that Triumph triple-cylinder howl. When I light it up, I ignore the wet and the less-than-smooth Scottish pavement and simply enjoy the experience.

As I rode the ferry across a large inlet back to the hotel, I had some time to contemplate the most recent changes to the 2024 Triumph Tiger 1200 family. Yes, the engine is smoother. Yes, the engineering and pursuit of improvement are impressive. However, throttle roll-on is still not as smooth as it should be, and wind protection remains just fair. Overall, are the changes enough to swap last year’s model for the 2024 editions? Based on my rain-soaked ride, I think not.

That being said, I decided two years ago that when I was ready to trade in my 2019 BMW R 1250 GS, the Tiger 1200 would be on the list of replacement bikes. With the recent update to the Tiger 900 giving it more power, I was starting to get pulled in that direction. Riding the 1200 around Scotland, I remembered all that I love about it. As I write this story, my local Triumph dealer is prepping a new leftover Tiger Rally Pro for me to take home. Yes, I put my money where my mouth is—the current Tiger 1200 platform is that good.

Photography by Stuart Collins, Chippy Woods, et al

Riding Style

Helmet: Schuberth E2
Jacket: Spidi All Road
Gloves: Spidi NKD H2Out
Pants: Spidi All Road
Boots: Xpd H2Out X Venture

2024 Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Explorer (and Rally Explorer) Specs

ENGINE

Type: Inline-3
Displacement: 1160cc
Bore x stroke: 90.0 x 60.7mm
Maximum power: 148 horsepower @ 9000 rpm
Maximum torque: 96 ft-lbs @ 7000 rpm
Compression ratio: 13.2:1
Valvetrain: DOHC; 4vpc
Transmission: 6-speed w/ quickshifter
Clutch: Wet multiplate w/ assist and slipper functions
Final drive: Shaft

CHASSIS

Frame: Tubular steel w/ bolt-on aluminum subframe
Front suspension; travel: Fully adjustable semi-active Showa inverted 49mm fork; 7.9 inches (Rally Explorer: 220mm inches)
Rear suspension; travel: Linkage-assisted, fully adjustable semi-active Showa shock; 7.9 inches (Rally Explorer: inches)
Wheels: Cast aluminum (Rally Explorer: Wire-spoked tubeless)
Front wheel: 19 x 3.0 (Rally Explorer: 21 x 2.15)
Rear wheel: 18 x 4.25
Tires: Metzeler Tourance (Rally Explorer: Metzeler Karoo Street)
Front tire: 120/70 x 19 (Rally Explorer: 90/90 x 21)
Rear tire: 150/70 x 18
Front brakes: 320mm floating discs w/ Brembo Stylema M4.30 monobloc 4-piston calipers w/ Magura H1 adjustable radial master cylinder
Rear brake: 282mm disc w/ Brembo single-piston caliper
ABS: Cornering ABS