Seeing as my D675 was in for it's annual service I thought I'd take out a Sprint GT and a Tiger 1050 to see how they compared. I used to run a VFR Vtec 800 so was interested to try the Sprint ST but as the only Demo was a GT I thought I'd give it a whirl......kinda wish I hadn't! Not because I thought it was good.....quite the opposite! My VFR was an awesome commuting bike that could be hussled along just fine often taking "faster" bikes by surprise when it was. It had a lovely combination of supple ride but very good cornering ability to what was a big heavy bike (230kg). It was great fun.....especially when the Vtec system kicked in at 6000rpm :twisted: I though the GT would be similar. It wasn't. It was nothing short of barge like ! I rode it over a variety of roads that I take my 675 down and it managed to take all the fun out of them.....ALL OF IT! The steering was beyond vague and the engine felt like it was asleep . The cluster was non-sensicle with the speedo using some of the smallest / most unclear fonts I've ever seen! I really question what Triumph think the GT is good for other than carrying luggage. If all I wanted to do was cover the miles in comfort without ever wanting to smile....the GT is the bike I'd pick. I don't doubt you could ride it all day and not get sore but I challenge anyone to say that they actually had fun whilst doing so. So, dropped it back and took out the Tiger.....and.....YAY ! What a fantastic bike! Leagues ahead of the GT in pretty much every regard IMHO. Handling was great.....within two or three corners I found myself shift to hang off the bike . The engine too felt sooooo much more characterful. Very confindence inspiring and most importantly.....FUN ! The steering was very light thanks to the angle of the bars and the chassis was more than willing to change direction pretty quickly. If I had to drop the D675 and commute like I used to on the VFR I think the Tiger would be my Triumph choice. The upright riding position was comfortable and gave a fantastic view of the road / over hedgerows. The only downside was the lack of wind protection but a decent screen would sort that I reckon. With both the test rides done I jumped back on my D675 and remembered instantly just how good a bike it is! The way it corners is just sublime and the engine is superb! It had me grinning all the way home :mrgreen: . Sometimes it's great to jump on something completely different......it really helped remind me of how good the D675 is and just how much I enjoy riding it! If you've never taken a Tiger 1050 it I'd recommend it. It certainly passes the time in a good way if you're waiting for your service to be done
Good write-up!!....I've read some terrible reports about the Sprint GT...one US mag went so far as to say it was the worst bike they'd ever tested...a horrible attempt to re-do a proven machine, IMO.
Thanks Yeah, I was really surprised and disappointed at how bad the GT was. I was hoping it'd be similar to the VFR but with a bit more guts (the one area I sometimes found the VFR lacking). I can kind of see what Triumph were trying to do on paper......but the execution is just soooo much worse than the theory must have sounded! Guess it goes to show that a good idea is only ever as good as the end result :mrgreen:
I did 2k miles on a VFR then 20k miles on the tiger 1050 and loved it and then had one of the last of the pre GT Sprints and that was light years ahead of the VFR 800. Fabulous bike. Sadly the GT update turned a good sports tourer into a right lardy beast IMHO.
Have to echo this too - I have a Sprint ST 1050 and it's a really awesome sports tourer. However the Sprint GT 1050 seems to be Triumph's way of filling a category in its model range without having to do a lot of development. It's not as good as the Sprint ST 1050, it wasn't selling anywhere near as well, but with a few simple mods and a price increase I guess they can make more money out of it. They've concentrated their development effort on the Tigers and it shows. The 'adventure' type bike is also apparently one of the biggest growing sectors in the bike market (cruisers come out on top) with sports tourers a lot further down the list.
This is because the Adventure type bikes are being used as full on tourers now, as they are so comfortable, better handling and cheaper than a GT (especially if you drop it!). The BMW GS is one of the most used bikes for touring, more so than the BMW GT, and now the Tiger is supposed to have overtaken the GS in this category.
Two years ago sat at top of Stelvio and every other bike was a grey BMW GS. Mate and I had a game, first one to spot a non grey one got to punch the other, bit of a daft idea as I had two broken ribs at the time so I was being very observant.
Re: Tiger 800... Has anyone else ridden one of these and had an awful grinding noise when changing up a gear? :? My 675’s having its cracked downpipe fitted today and I’ve ridden up to Cambridge on a courtesy model. I don’t know if I’ve just got far too used to a quickshifter/stubby clutch lever or whether the gears are just really clunky. I’ve ridden one before (about 8 months ago) and I don’t remember it doing this (the bikes only got 1700 miles otc) What I will say though is that the riding position's a lot more comfortable than I remember and I might have to retract my comment on the wind sock thing – maybe I was just having a bad day on the road. Oh and the noise, if you’re reading this Mr Triumph, it sounds a bit quiet for a bike with a can the size of an a small elephants leg, please adjust accordingly.
So I left work early last night to go back to Romford and collect my poor sick baby and she wasn’t ready!! :evil: It was a bloody struggle to even get them to let me take the courtesy bike home, they were gonna leave me stranded!!! :? Not happy as he could’ve called to let me know not to make the 50 mile round trip too. Anyway, I’ve just had the most chilled out ride to work this morning on said Tiger 800. A bit windy still but bloody hell, I was almost nodding off at one point I was so comfortable. When the day comes that I give up haring about like a loon, I would seriously consider getting one of these or perhaps the larger version with a bit more grunt. Fabulous bike (even though it deffo does need a decent roar coming from the pipe). As others have said, a few bends into it and you feel like you can hang off it, great stability and control and unless it was my imagination, a lot more cars get out the way for the Tiger than they do for me on my Tona. Really got used to it now and loving it!! Why cant I be rich and have a bloody hundred bikes in my garage? :?
Just completed a trip around Europe on my 800 XC, down into Croatia and I can say that the bike was faultless... carried the crap I took, did not lag behind the others did almost 3000 miles in all. Bearing in mind this is the XC model which does have a very large skinny front wheel it handles pretty well, and as for the fun factor and noise, well she has plenty of that and fitted with the arrrow she sounds nice too. She is not to bad two up either, as she spent the fest ride out two up with H on the back, and I am sure if it was crap H would have said something And yes they do have a presence so cars do tend to see you, its like looking at Jonny 5 coming up being you
