The Tiger name has a long history at Triumph, with early models dating back to the 1930s. In the modern Hinckley era, Tigers have been adventure bikes, starting with the Tiger 900 that debuted in the U.S. for 1994 with a 19-inch front wheel, spoked rims and long-travel suspension. By 2007 Triumph had abandoned off-road pretense in favor of a street-focused adventure model called the Tiger 1050 that had 17-inch wheels shod with sport-touring tires. Torquey, tall, comfortable and imminently capable on any type of pavement, the Tiger 1050 stayed in Triumph’s lineup with few changes until 2012, when it was pushed aside by the newer Tiger 800 and Tiger Explorer 1200 models.
Read our 2007 Triumph Tiger 1050 review
The liter-sized, adventure-street Tiger is back, and it will now be called the Tiger Sport. BUT, the new-for-2016 model will not be offered in the U.S. That’s a real shame because the Tiger Sport promises to be even better than its cult-favorite predecessor. We don’t normally tease bikes that aren’t destined for our market, but we’re hoping it might show up here for 2017. (When we shook our Magic 8-Ball, it said “ask again later.”)
At the heart of the new Tiger Sport is the latest generation of Triumph’s iconic 1,050cc in-line triple, which we sampled recently on the new 2016 Speed Triple R (read our review here). Updates to the engine include more torque, better fuel economy, a new exhaust system and throttle-by-wire, which enables rider modes (Rain, Road and Sport) and electronic cruise control, both of which are now standard.
Other enhancements include multi-level traction control, a slip-assist clutch, standard ABS and an all-new instrument panel. The Tiger Sport has new bodywork that’s available in either Matt Black with neon yellow detailing or Aluminum Silver with red details (shown), as well as new engine covers, mirrors and a billet machined rear wheel spindle finisher. It also features a tinted windscreen with single-handed manual height adjustment, handguards and new, grippier footpegs.
Love the new look and upgrades. Too bad it’s not making it to the states, because I’d buy this over a FJ-09 in a heartbeat.
Me, too. But I think it will be quite a bit more expensive.
any idea if this has been launched in US? Would love to get one of these beauties
I’ll take two.