Industry News
The 2013 Triumph Tiger Sport
Details Category: Industry Published on Sunday, 13 January 2013 10:43 Written by Brandon
The Triumph Tiger moniker has been bandied about quite a bit over the recent year or so as several new models have all be adorned with a variant of the Tiger name. With the Tiger 800 and 800XC as well as the Tiger Explorer, Triumph has convincingly thrown their hat into the adventure bike segment and have been making quite a bit of buzz since their release. But what about the Tiger 1050? That particular model (and the 955 as well) was sort of stuck between pigeon-holes as it were.
It had the height and styling gave it an adventure bike stance, but like the Kawasaki Versys and Suzuki’s V-Strom, these were not really full on adventure bikes.
I may be criticized for saying that and I agree that with the right rider, some more appropriate rubber, and some suspension fiddling/upgrades, any these bikes could be wrangeld off road, but in stock form, there are better choices. In fact the new 800 and 1200 Tiger’s are a perfect example of what needed to be done to meet challenge of on-road/road riding, but I digress. The Tiger 1050 looked like it might be going the way of the Dodo, like it’s brother, the Sprint 1050, but instead of disappearing, it appears the Tiger 1050 will live on in the new 2013 Tiger Sport.
With the Tiger Sport, Triumph has dropped the pretense that this bike is made for some degree of off-road use and instead has targeted it directly at the street rider. This is a good thing and a welcome addition to the lineup which many felt had a hole left in it after the Sprint left the picture. In fact the only bike in the Triumph stable that still uses the venerable 1050 mill besides the Tiger is the Speed Triple.
The Speed 3 is certainly a great champion for that engine, but the layout of the Speed 3 isn’t for everyone.
With the new Trophy, Triumph has a great touring bike with a good dose of sport mixed in, but it is a heavy tourer nonetheless. The Speed 3 is a super fun bike to ride no doubt, but maybe, for some at least, not the most comfortable or luggage friendly ride for the daily commute or long afternoon/weekend rides. The Tiger Sport looks to fill the gap between these two bike,s and on paper, has the chops to do so.
The New Tiger Sport still has that taller stance and underseat exhaust that makes its heritage recognizable, but updated styling has been applied to the fairing and bodywork and the the Tiger Sport now has the single sided swingarm from the Speed 3 and Sprint 1050. The wheels also looks similar (if not the same) as the ones from the previous generation Speed 3.
The engine in the Tiger Sport has been retuned (or simply borrowed) from the 1050 Sprint as the HP and torque numbers look nearly identical to the last generation Sprint. This is up a few percent on each value from the previous Tiger 1050 specs and now the engine makes 123 bhp at 9400 rpm and a respectable 77ft.lbs at 4300 rpm. (The previous model’s number where 113 and 74 respectively)
Engine improvements are always welcome but Triumph didn’t stop there. The fully adjustable suspension received some updating to both spring rates and damping and the steering angle has been slightly steepened as well presumably to make the Sport more flick-able. Braking between those curvy bits of road is improved thanks to a newly revised ABS system with a new modulator for better feel when the system engages.
The entire look has been updated with a new fairing containing new headlights. Gone is the deeply pocketed seat of the previous Tiger 1050 and now the pillion sits closer in height to the rider and lower to the ground overall making it easier for the passenger to get on and off the Sport. The seat is also 5mm lower for the rider as well which is welcome to riders of shorter stature.
The luggage (available as an option) has been updated and increased in payload capacity by 10kg for each pannier thanks to the new aluminum luggage rails used on the Tiger Sport. The luggage is part of Triumphs DLS, or Triumph Dynamic Luggage System, which allows the luggage to swing from side to side as the bike travels down the road and makes its way through turbulent wind.
So it all sounds good and on a personal level, very exciting, as I own a Sprint 1050 and the new Tiger Sport seems to carry on the spirit of comfortable sport biking that the Sprint 1050 did (and still does) so well. The only concern at this point is that Triumph has not yet announced US availability of the Tiger Sport. Much of the information presented was gleaned from the UK Triumph website and indeed, the Tiger 1050 and Sport are absent at this point from the USA Triumph site.
Rumors are though that the Tiger Sport will be coming to our shores, but perhaps as an early 2014 model instead of a 2013. This is completely unconfirmed though so don’t quote me :). You can quote me, though, as stating that I think the Tiger Sport will be one excellent all-rounder meeting the needs of the commuter, the day tripper, and the weekend warrior all with equal aplomb.
- 2010 Triumph Scrambler motorcycle review @ Top Speed
- Triumph Speed Four review – Naked – Motorcycles – Visordown
- 2011 Triumph Tiger 800 First Ride – Motorcycle USA
- First Ride – 2006 Triumph Rocket III Classic – Motorcyclist Magazine
- 2000 Triumph Sprint ST
