Triumph Tiger 900 GT Road Test - The Most Sensible Middleweight ADV?

The switch to a chunkier and smaller front tyre, and more fierce bite from the Stylema calipers does allow the GT to come to halt quite rapidly. However, it does feel a bit nervy when grabbing a handful of brakes and that’s down to two reasons. Firstly, ABS intervention in Sport mode kicks in right at the very last minute, almost right on the edge when you feel the front end might lock up.

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This front-end scare becomes a bit too prominent thanks to the Metzeler Tourance Next tyres. These dual-compound tyres aren’t the greatest when it comes to outright traction and the bike deserves some better rubber, something like Bridgestone’s Battlax Adventure found on the BMW F 850 GS and even on the Rally.

And another reason why you might want to switch to some better rubber is the lack of edge grip on these Metzelers. The Tiger 900 GT allows you to carry a lot of lean, grinding the peg feelers on numerous occasions. But right before you grind these feelers, the tyres start to feel skittish and this serves a warning that you are pushing these tyres, not the bike, a bit too much.

Soft-roading
The Tiger 900 is a beautifully balanced motorcycle. The GT’s Marzocchi suspension components do not offer as much travel as the Rally’s Showas but that should not be too much of a problem for the most part. It manages to handle bad road sections quite well and even stays composed over prominent highway undulations while carrying a decent pace. Despite running a slightly firm stock tune, it is quite rare that you will feel sharp bumps.

The GT is not going to be as adept as the Rally on a trail, that’s given. But when you do wander into the countryside to look for that perfect picturesque spot for the ’gram, it will not disappoint. You have to keep your expectations in check and spend a day or two setting up the suspension for your weight and riding style to enjoy the soft-roading experience even more.

The Only Bike?
The Triumph Tiger 900 GT comes extremely close in being that one perfect motorcycle to literally do it all. It ticks all the right boxes that you want in a road-biased ADV and can do a fair bit of off-roading too. It could do with better tyres, yes, but that’s a fairly easy fix.

The lack of connectivity features isn’t that much of a bother as you can either spend Rs 20,000 and get the bluetooth module fitted from your Triumph dealer or spend a lot less and just get a good mobile mount. Even if you choose the former option, the overall package will still turn out to be significantly cheaper than the Ducati Multistrada 950S.

The Tiger Dilemma
If you are confused whether you should get the GT or the Rally, you need to ask yourself this basic question: just how serious are you about going off-road with a large adventure bike? If the answer is quite serious, then only should you think about spending the extra Rs 65,000 and get the Rally. For everything else, the GT should do just fine.

That, though, was until the Tiger 850 Sport came onto the scene. The 850 Sport is slightly low on performance, misses out on adjustable suspension and there’s no IMU here to aid the electronics suite. But crucially, it is priced at Rs 11.95 lakh (ex-showroom India), Rs 1.75 lakh less than the GT. Suddenly, the Tiger 850 Sport ends up offering the best value in the Tiger family. Sure it might lack the off-road prowess of the Rally, and even the GT to a certain extent, but with the money you save, you could get a Hero XPulse 200 with the Rally kit for all your trail riding escapades.