ThE lAST WoRD

72 Farkling Good Fun!

Cindy Bennett, Member #4170

Ahighlight for me in June was finding and buying an upgraded Triumph Tiger, this one being a 2022 model 900 GT Pro in pearly white, with a mere 3km on the clock. While my unfortunate co-Editor has been waiting since last December on his new Tiger (900 Rally Pro), I merely strolled in Team Moto Springwood and saw one on the showroom floor – “is it available”?, “yes” was the answer – deal done! Of course none of the accessories that were on my previous Tiger (a 2017 800 XRt “Red Ruby”) fit the new one, so a frenzy of accessory ordering was in order. Luckily Team Moto had a 25% off deal at the time which was kinder to the hip pocket. This will be the bike that gets shipped to South America later this year for our 100 day “Ultimate South America” trip with Compass Expeditions which starts in Feb 2023. So needed a few musthave’s to make her hardcore expedition-worthy. Triumph very temptingly has on their website a “configure your dream machine” section to “accessorise your ride”, hmmmmm. I love my Triumph panniers and top box so kept them but had to order new mounts of course. Protection is very important as we are all told in High School sex ed classes, so lower engine and fuel tank protection bars were also on the list. A headlight protector, tank pad and sturdier barkbusters rounded out the protective purchases. The seat was another issue, the standard Tiger seat was still slightly too tall for my comfort so I purchased the low seat, however this is like sitting on a plank of wood so I took the standard seat to the famous John Moorehouse (now working out of Ellaspede in West End) to work his magic on making the standard seat comfortable and lower. Of course the tyres that came with the bike are not adequate for semi-serious off road riding, so a set of Metzler Karoo’s will be put on before she embarks on her sea journey to Santiago, Chile.

So, am I happy with the new ride? – you betcha! It’s lighter and zippier than the 800 and has a great engine note and I am getting used to the fancy TFT display and quick-shift assist, features that are new to this model. I did look seriously at the BMW F750 GS (as it was a fair bit cheaper than the Tiger!) however the lower fuel capacity would be a concern on a long expedition, and a consideration is us both having the same type of bike (to make carrying the necessary spares more efficient).