A midlife update that aims to improve the superbly capable yet flawed Triumph Tiger 900.
Four years down the road, the Triumph Tiger 900 gets a significant midlife update that aims to fix most of the existing 900’s issues.
Triumph Tiger 900 GT: engine, performance, refinement
The main improvements are within the 888cc three-cylinder engine, and multiple changes have resulted in not just more power and torque but also the promise of more efficiency. The previous Tiger 900 was far from slow, but the jump from 95hp/87Nm to 108hp/90Nm makes the bike feel even more potent and reactive.
It looks familiar, but the side panels have been redesigned.
But it’s not just about speed because this engine is also really lovely to ride at a relaxed pace. It’s torquey and very flexible with the gears, so you can ride over speed breakers in third and use sixth as low as 40kph. The fuelling is also beautifully smooth, and you can open the accelerator at very low revs without any signs of protest. This means less clutch use – both off the road and in heavy city traffic, and that’s always nice, even though this clutch isn’t particularly heavy to operate.
I’m also a fan of the sound and feel of this engine with its deep, raspy growl. That said, while it’s characterful, it’s also far from perfect. The big complaint with the 900 engine was its high-rpm vibration, and Triumph has tried to improve that. Heavier bar-end weights and rubber-damped handlebar mounts have made some very clear improvements, but this is still not the smoothest engine in its class at high speeds.
Triumph Tiger 900 GT: comfort, ride & handling
Wind protection is usually based on your height and helmet, but I find that this height-adjustable windscreen results in some uncomfortable helmet buffeting at high speeds. Thankfully, the rest of the ergos are beautiful. Despite having gone up by 10mm, the 820-840mm seat height is very low for an ADV of this size and capability, and even tall riders will be comfy here. The seat is also new, and the comfort is fantastic.
Seat and suspension comfort are both superb.
The highly impressive chassis remains unchanged, and some fantastic suspension allows this bike to tear effortlessly through any form of terrible road. Like before, there’s a 45mm USD fork with 180mm of travel and a monoshock with 170mm of travel. The suspension is adjustable, but not fully – compression and rebound at the front and preload and rebound at the rear. The stock settings are good enough, but with a remote rear preload adjuster, you can easily make any changes you need.
Even though the GT is the road-biased bike in the line-up, it’s fun to ride off-road and will easily get you through one of those Ladakh adventures. But you must remember that it’s running road tyres on alloy wheels and has no crash protection; Triumph has even removed the earlier GT’s plastic sump guard. For most casual ADV riders, this will be more than capable enough off-road, and I’d only recommend going for the Rally if you really want that hardcore capability or taller seat.
Despite being the road-biased 900, it’s still surprisingly capable off-road.
Road handling is neutral and easy but not particularly sporty, and you won’t have to work too hard to scrape its footpegs. It’s definitely no Multistrada V2 in the corners, but it’s still good enough that you’ll have fun.
The impressive braking hardware is the same, but there’s a new linked-braking system that adds in some rear brake when you use the front. It feels quite natural while bringing some more stability to the braking.
Triumph Tiger 900 GT: verdict, price, service cost
As for features, the biggest change is the new 7-inch TFT from the Tiger 1200. This one has a great layout and, thankfully, gets rid of those weird layouts from the old Tiger 900. But, like in the Tiger 1200, it takes an eternity to boot up and feels laggy to operate. Triumph really should have fixed this.
New TFT looks great, but very slow to boot up.
But what’s most frustrating is that Triumph still expects you to pay an additional Rs 43,531 if you want a quickshifter. It’s a feature I really missed, and not getting one in this day and age on a Rs 14 lakh motorcycle is quite annoying. Thankfully, you get most of the essentials you’d want on a big ADV, such as two power outlets, cruise control and heated grips; you can even opt for heated seats.
The Tiger 900 has always been the sweet spot in the big ADV segment in India, and this latest update only sweetens that package, especially since it costs just Rs 20,000 more than before. Tigers have also built a great reputation for reliability over the years, and they run fine on regular petrol.
However, there are some cost concerns. The first is that the Tiger 900 GT is a CBU, so the on-road price gets very high in certain states that heavily tax CBUs – it’s nearly Rs 18 lakh in Mumbai. The other disappointment is that spares and service costs for the big bikes actually went up instead of down and are now about 20-30 percent more expensive than before since Bajaj took over Triumph’s operations in India.
Nevertheless, the Triumph Tiger 900 GT is a fantastic all-round motorcycle, and it continues to be my go-to recommendation for the casual adventure rider looking for a premium midsize ADV.
Also See: 2024 Triumph Tiger 900 GT video review