A bike is a bike is a bike, right? Not so in the world of the 2022 Triumph Tiger 1200 most definitely not an ordinary bike.
Aiming to dethrone the king of large-capacity adventure bikes, BMW 1250 GS, the Tiger 1200 2022 is a motorcycle built for two things: cruising and adventure. It’s undeniably handsome, with a body obviously intended for adventure. And if you want to cruise, you can do that, too.
The 2022 Triumph Tiger 1200 is not just an update but an all-new ground-up redesign of the previously 1200 explorer.
While the other manufacturers have made bikes that are more road-based, that are more touring biased, KTMs for instance take a more off-road approach.
This is Triumph’s take on the juggernaut, GS 1250 and it’s neither an off-road bike nor a road bike. It’s a more all-around adventure and touring bike with a modern package.
The 2022 Tiger 1200 is built for the type of rider who wants it all. So, which variant is right for you?
Related article:
2024 Triumph Tiger 1200 Variants and Range
The new Triumph 1200 starts out at 240 kg for the lightest one and sneaks up to 261 kg for the one with all the bells and whistles bolted to it.
There are five models on their way:
- GT – which is the base model
- GT Pro –
- GT Explorer – the touring one with a 30 liter fuel tank capacity
- Rally Pro –
- Rally Explorer – the rally version with a 30 liter fuel tank capacity
A total of five bikes, three touring models and two off-road models.
They’re shaft-driven motorcycles with 150 horsepower and are loaded with useful technology.
The ergonomics, the riding position, the weight, the way the bike feels when you’re riding it, make a touring bike into an adventure bike when you’re out of tarmac.
Technology
Triumph’s chief engineer, Stuart Wood explained the new tech in this motorcycle like blind spot system and radar lane change.
These two features let you know if there is a car or another bike in your blind spot. Basically, the blind spot system while you’re riding, you’ve got lights on both mirrors which will indicate if there’s a vehicle there.
While the radar lane change gives you flashing light on your side mirrors to give you a more definite warning and catches your attention while changing your lanes.
Essentially, this is similar to what you see on a car mirror when changing lanes – a true lifesaver.
Weight
During the bike reveal, Triumph emphasized the 2022 model’s weight difference from its predecessor.
Triumph took 25 kilos from the previous generation model which is a huge weight reduction. The interesting thing with the mass reduction is actually the more spec you add, the bigger the mass difference is to their competitors.
To make a comparison, the Rally Explorer was 17 kilos lighter than its competitor. Now, 25 kilos is a lot of weight – imagine removing a 25 kg plate from your regular bench press weight or removing a half sack of rice from the trunk of your car.
Twenty-five kilograms is more luggage you can take on an easy jet flight and that’s a lot of weight taken out of a bike.
How did Triumph manage to reduce the 2022 Tiger 1200’s weight?
Stuart Wood said that total commitment and total focus of the design and manufacturing team is the key to achieve this milestone.
The 2022 Tiger 1200 is a completely new bike with new engine and new frame that’s completely different layout of all the components to optimize the package minimizing everything including wire lengths.
Seat Height
The motorcycle community loves to talk about this topic. Seat height is not just as simple as a flat number, you can’t just say it’s just a seat height because it’s actually about the width of the seat, where the foot pegs are and it’s really hard to say without sitting on the motorcycle seat.
The lowest seat height on GT is 850 mm. These variants have three options for the seat height with 20 mm adjustment on each option.
The rally variant has 875 mm and 895 mm standard adjustment.
Triumph focused on packaging, ergonomics, and standover height on how easy it is to get to the floor.
Off-road
The rally models made a huge difference to the GT models in terms of off-roading.
Suspension
Both rally pro and rally explorer have longer suspension. These variants got 20 millimeters more travel – 200 mm (GT variants) and 220 mm (Rally variants).
All the bikes are equipped with semi-active suspension combined with dedicated off-road riding mode. This gives the rider appropriate damping and rear preload for off-road.
Wheels
The front wheel of Rally is 21 inch while 19 inch for the GT. Both are optimized for road touring with off-road capability.
All models have an 18-inch rear wheel which gives a great combination with the 21 and 19 front wheels paired with a nice set of tires.
The 2022 Tiger 1200 is tested and pushed to its limits by the most competent riders and one of them is the AMA Motocross champion, Richard Carmichael.
Durability
You don’t want to throw hundreds of dollars for a broken LED indicator just because of riding it off-road.
To offset these off-road problems, Triumph addressed this by having a solid aluminium sump guard, engine protection bars, tank protection bars that come stock on Rally variants. The best part, these accessories also fit on GT variants.
The bolt-on rear subframe is also a feature to make these parts easily replaceable. The bike features steel front frame with aluminium forged outriggers and aluminium rear subframe to reduce mass.
Touring
The windscreen can be adjusted easily by just grabbing (to increase the height by 60 mm) and pushing (to lower the windscreen). This one-hand ratchet operation is available in all variants.
Heated handlebar grips and heated seat
Features like these on a motorcycle are not something you really need, but as soon as you experience them, you can’t forget them. Available on every variant except the base GT variant.
Take note that the heated seat is a standard on both GT and GT Explorer. Both rider and passenger can get the full benefit of these heated seats.
Conclusion
On paper, this bike is lighter than BMW’s 1250 GS by up to 25 kilograms. Compared to the GS 1250, the 2022 Tiger 1200 has more power, has more technology and has a slimmer riding position. If Triumph achieved what they are saying, this thing is going to be absolutely phenomenal to ride.
