Dancing the Polka

Yes to this. Seemingly out of nowhere, Triumph has pulled the cover off a new adventure/sport-touring motorcycle of the sort it should have made years ago. Or, perhaps more accurately, an adventure/sport-touring motorcycle of the sort it never should have stopped making.

Looking perhaps just a little too much like a Kawasaki Versys 650, the new Tiger Sport 800 replaces the half-assed Tiger Sport 850 with a genuinely road-focused machine aimed at people who want to go far and have fun when they get there. Powered by an ‘all-new’ 798cc three-cylinder engine, the Tiger Sport 800 claims a peak power output of 84.6 kW (113 bhp) at 10750 rpm, along with 84 Nm (61.9 lb-ft) of torque at 8500 rpm. 

SHOW SOME LOVE
Support this site

A step up from the Tiger Sport 660 in terms of both power and bells and whistles, the Tiger Sport 800 “offers thrilling engine performance, an engaging yet comfortable chassis, unrivaled versatility, and rider-focused technology, with a high specification and a premium finish,” according to a media release issued this week.

Whereas the 660 keeps tech to a relative minimum ─ offering traction control, ABS, two ride modes, and not much else ─ the 800 promises so-called “Optimised Cornering ABS and Traction Control,” a quickshifter, cruise control, and the sort of TFT/Bluetooth whizzbangery that allows your bike to be controlled by enemy states (Tongue firmly in cheek for that last comment, by the way).

“We know [the target customer for this motorcycle] is very discerning and is looking for a bike that is exciting to ride, but also delivers all the practical criteria that they need,” the media release quotes Triumph Motorcycles Chief Product Officer Steve Sargent as saying. “That’s why we’ve developed a compelling package that includes smooth power delivery and a perfect balance of agility and stability.”

As with the 660, the Tiger Sport 800 comes equipped with Michelin Road 5 sport-touring tires. An 835 mm (32.8 inches) standard seat height means the bike should be more accessible to a wider range of riders. And an 18.6-liter tank is just a little smaller than I’d want for a long-distance bike, but not by enough that it’s worth complaining about.

Keeping in mind that all motorcycles cost too much these days, Triumph has priced the Tiger Sport 800 relatively reasonably, giving it a starting price of £10,995 in the United Kingdom. Add some of the 40 accessories that are available for the bike and the price will no doubt jump considerably.

All in all, though, I’m pretty excited. In terms of power output, the Tiger Sport 800 is right there alongside the Yamaha Tracer 9 and Honda NT1100, while costing £21 less than the former and £1,684 less than the latter. However, it does cost about £600 more than the excellent (and underrated) BMW F 900 XR. But I’m willing to bet its seat is more comfortable.

If you detect an element of snarkiness in my reporting of the Tiger Sport 800, it is only because I feel Triumph should have been making this bike years ago. In my humble opinion, the Tiger Sport 1050 (2006-2021) was one of the best bikes Triumph ever made ─ the second generation, in particular. And one of my greatest annoyances with the company came in its effective abandonment of the platform. 

With that bike, Triumph had arguably been one of the first to come up with the idea of an adventure/sport tourer, offering the upright comfort of an adventure bike with the road-focused suspension, wheels, and performance of a sport-touring motorcycle. In the mid/late 2010s, while other manufacturers were catching up with this idea, Triumph just sat and did nothing. After 2013 it didn’t even offer new color schemes for the Tiger Sport 1050. 

BMW, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, KTM, and Yamaha were all proving the Tiger Sport 1050’s theory of the case but Triumph was too busy trying to create an adventure bike with a three-cylinder engine that felt like a V-twin.

Related to that… Triumph says the Tiger Sport 800 is driven by an ‘all-new’ engine that offers a “rush of instant acceleration with smooth, linear power delivery.” 

Note that it says nothing about the T-plane crank that has divided opinions on the Tiger 900 models. Allegedly, Triumph has finally worked out the kinks with the 2024 Tiger 900s but they are still reportedly a little buzzy at highway speeds. Whereas the Tiger 800 XRt that I rode to Scotland six years ago was delightfully smooth.

So, I can’t help but wonder if the ‘all-new’ engine in the Tiger Sport 800 is, in fact, just another thing that Triumph shouldn’t have abandoned, ie, the inline triple that used to power the Tiger 800 models. Although, in fairness, this new engine claims roughly 10 horsepower more than those had. And, hey, if the new engine is just a tweaked old engine, it’s still a really good engine.
If I had £11,000 (That’s still well outside of my budget), I think I’d definitely be looking forward to next March, when these bikes will be hitting dealerships.