2024 Triumph Tiger 900 Review – First Ride

Upgrades for All

Since its launch in 2020, Triumph’s Tiger 900 platform has been impossible to keep out of the middleweight ADV conversation. With 45,000 sold to date, Triumph clearly didn’t need to reinvent the wheel with its 2024 models, but there are a few key revisions across both the Tiger 900 GT and Rally Pro models that really make them shine even brighter on and off road. After arriving in Malaga, Spain, Triumph sat us down for a brief presentation to tell us all about the new updates for 2024.

The Brits continue to refine their ever popular 900 Triple with a push to 106.5 hp (claimed), up 13 hp from the previous generation. Thanks to some serious revisions to the top end, the new peak power doesn’t come at the sacrifice of the T-plane crank’s renowned low-end grunt. Just the opposite, actually. Below 5,000 RPM the power stays almost exactly the same while carrying more horsepower and torque through the entire remainder of the rev range. Did I mention they were also able to do this while increasing fuel economy by 9%? A once very good engine has become great. Revisions to the engine include new pistons, increased 13:1 compression ratio, a new cylinder head, new cams, longer intake trumpets, a new exhaust header assembly, and a new silencer. Triumph has also managed to extend valve service intervals from 12,000 up to 18,000 miles which they claim will reduce service costs by 27%.

Tying that powertrain to an otherwise unchanged gearbox is a new quick shifter lifted directly from the Tiger 1200 that somehow manages to be even smoother at every RPM. Also adopted from the 1200 is the gorgeous 7-inch TFT that is crisp and clear no matter what the angle of the sun.

Aside from mo powah, the rest of the overarching updates for the Tiger 900 line are focused on safety, style, and comfort. When not actively using your turn signals they stay illuminated as marker lights and under heavy braking, flash to alert traffic behind you to grab some popcorn and see what happens next. This is becoming more commonplace in the automotive world in general, and much like blind spot indicators, they are quickly becoming one of my favorite peace of mind updates in motorcycle safety.

On the comfort side of things, all handlebar options are rubber mounted to help reduce engine vibration making its way back to your hands. The rider’s seat is flatter, offers more space to move around, and is packed with thicker foam that makes all day riding a breeze without sacrificing any of the low seat heights the outgoing lineup was known for. As expected, there are plenty of new color options across the entire range, and the popular matte khaki green is here to stay.

On Road Riding Impressions

As our shuttle careened through the hills of Malaga early Wednesday morning, it quickly became evident I was in for some of the best roads the south of Spain have to offer. Huge elevation changes, microclimates, narrow mountain roads, and a variety of off-road terrain lay just beyond the entrance to our hacienda we’d call home for the next two days. Day one for our group was on-road focused with a few gravel transition areas to connect the route and we had the opportunity to ride both the Tiger 900 GT Pro and Rally Pro on their standard fitted tires – the Metzeler Tourance Next for the GT and Bridgestone Battlax Adventure for the Rally.

As the Rally Pro fits closer to the Ducati Desert X in my garage at home, I decided to start the morning with a change of pace and hop on the GT Pro first. I placed the standard heated seat into the low position, dropping the seat height from 33 inches down to 32 and at 5-foot 11 inches with a 32-inch inseam, the low position allowed me to comfortably put both feet on the ground with a healthy bend in the knee. Shorter riders will no doubt find the low center of gravity and seat height to be a huge confidence boost and Triumph offers an accessory low heated seat that drops you down roughly another three quarters of an inch. Though I appreciated the low position of the seat around the stop and go urban riding to start our day, I eagerly swapped it into the high position after our first break to give myself more leg room with my feet up on the pegs.

I like how easy it is to adjust preload and rebound from my fingertips with the new Marzocchi electronic rear shock on the GT Pro, but unless you are constantly swapping between two-up riding or accessory luggage, the hydraulic preload adjustment is still nearly as convenient on the Rally Pro and the compression/rebound adjustment didn’t need a ton of changes between on- and off-road riding. Surprisingly, the move up to a 21-inch front wheel from the GT Pro’s 19 incher didn't seem to have much of an impact when it comes to on-road performance, only a slightly slower initial turn in for the Rally pro. Ten years ago you'd be crazy to say a 21-inch front wheel would feel as good on-road, but the engineers and chassis designers just keep getting better and better.

Aside from the bump up to a 33.9-inch seat height, the other difference I noticed between the two was the handlebar position. The Rally Pro’s bars are taller and had considerably less sweep than the GT Pro, which made for a more comfortable and open rider triangle for my lanky frame. I wish I could say the two bikes felt vastly different on the pavement but it really did feel like a wash, and that’s not a bad thing.

Both bikes share the same Brembo Stylema calipers found on the previous generation of the 900, but new for 2024, Triumph has incorporated an improved Continental ABS system with linked brakes at the front lever. The front brakes are only linked to the rear (and not vice versa) in the street-focused riding modes. I found them to work great in combination with the substantial stopping power and feel of the superbike calipers fitted to the Tiger 900s. Both models provided quick turn-in with excellent stability mid-corner and thanks to their plush suspensions (with differences I’ll get into later), were equally at home tearing up winding mountain roads or eating highway miles. Heated rider/passenger seats and heated grips are standard on both Pro models and alongside the easy to use adjustable windscreen make the Tiger 900 one of the best in class for on-road comfort.

I mentioned the updated engine and quick shifter earlier, and in combination with the Tiger’s handling characteristics, I found it damn difficult to criticize aside from adding a few clicks of compression and rebound to the fork for some added support under hard braking. Some have complained about the previous Tigers being buzzy at highway speeds, but the new rubber mounted bars seem to have mitigated most of that issue. If you are looking for a middleweight adventure bike that is exciting, approachable, and comfortable on the pavement you won’t be disappointed in either Tiger 900.

Off Road Riding Impressions

It should come as no surprise that the Tiger 900 is a great street performer when you consider Triumph’s reputation for road performance, but having previously owned a KTM 890 Adventure R and now a Ducati Desert X, I was a bit dubious of how the on-road juggernaut would perform off-road. Rolling out of the hacienda on day two, our Tiger 900 Rally Pros were equipped with one of my favorite ADV Tires for the dirt: Michelin’s Anakee Wild. I absolutely love these tires on- and off-road and ran them on both of my previous ADV bikes religiously until I adopted a second set of off-road specific wheels for my Desert X. Unfortunately the Anakee Wild isn’t available as an OEM tire from Triumph, but is considered an “approved choice” from our friends at Hinkley. Pretty lame if you ask me, especially when you consider just how capable the Tiger 900 is off-road. One of my other main gripes with the Rally Pro are its extremely small and road biased foot pegs. Our press bikes for the off-road day were equipped with Triumph’s accessory adventure footpegs that offered a much more stable and commanding platform for standing all day.

I was worried the tall gearing would have me hunting for gears that didn’t exist, but the almost immediate steep and winding hill climbs on our off-road route quickly put my mind at ease. More times than I’d care to admit, I found myself one gear too high in a hairpin and the T-plane Triple would just chug along smoothly until it found more momentum on corner exit. This combined with a remarkably light clutch pull and intuitive rider aids in “Off-Road” mode allowed me to focus on the rapidly changing terrain in front of me. Hard pack, loose gravel, sand, rocky hill climbs. Our route had it all. The only time I could really get the off road traction control to actually hamper me was from a dead stop, otherwise the intervention on loose rocky climbs was almost unnoticeable until really cracking the throttle.

You might worry that those superbike Stylema calipers might be overkill in the dirt and way too sensitive, but this is one of the areas where the Triumph engineers really worked their magic. Unlike most road going variants of bikes that utilize these stonking calipers, Triumph has set up the master cylinder of the Tiger 900 to have a super progressive lever feel. Instead of that instant grab you would get on a sports bike, the initial lever pull is soft and really builds up pressure in a way that offers tons of control and precise modulation off-road. This works in absolute harmony with the Off-Road ABS system in the Off-Road mode and continued to provide me with more and more confidence on loose terrain and tricky descents. Most importantly, it made it easier to have fun!

The factory suspension settings for taking the Rally Pro off-road initially raised concern. Essentially removing all preload from the back helps rake out the bike and make it more stable in low traction environments, but at the cost of using up more of the available travel out back. At 150 lbs this strategy isn’t usually an issue for me, but several journalists in our group were pushing more than 200 lbs in their full gear.

Many motorcycles tend to be sprung on the lighter side for the average American rider, which had me a bit worried for some of my colleagues and their pace once we approached the off-road training center filled with jumps and logs. I found the 9.4 inches of travel up front to compliment the rear beautifully off-road, but when I saw one of the broader journalists in our group hauling ass for the biggest jump, I couldn’t help but brace myself. I heard him blip the throttle right as he bounced the front tire off of the rock at the end of the take off and continued gaining altitude past me until his axles were at eye level. Whole seconds later he landed completely flat and the bike made a sound I can only describe as dropping a box full of wrenches onto a slab of concrete. I immediately ran over to ask him how it felt and was happily surprised to report that, not only did the bike survive, it handled its brief trip into orbit with flying colors and a scuffed skid plate. The Showa’s bottoming resistance is nothing short of phenomenal, and when you finally do manage to overcook a jump, it shuts up and takes the abuse. For those worried about an undersprung rear end – fear not.

Conclusion

Flying into Malaga for my first-ever global launch as part of the press, I had to mentally prepare for over excitement. I was warned that Triumph was going to put me in a fancy hotel on the Spanish coast and wine and dine me until it was impossible to say anything negative about their motorcycles, but I knew I had to be strong. The problem is, I could have been put up in a decommissioned water treatment plant and I’d still struggle to complain about these bikes. Triumph came out the gate swinging with the Tiger 900 in 2020 and have really managed to refine an already outstanding motorcycle with one fatal flaw; after swapping over to the Rally Pro after lunch on Day 1, I never looked back at the GT Pro. If you can stomach the 33.9-inch seat height and the $500 price difference, I would go with the Rally Pro. Every. Single. Time. And remember, with the optional heated low seat you can actually get it down to GT Pro height.

In isolation, the GT pro is fantastic on-road but when you consider the huge advantage the Rally Pro has off-road with its extra 2.4 inches of suspension travel and 17/21-inch wheel set, it’s so hard to justify not making the leap. It also comes with a crash protection suite standard and has every cushy touring luxury the GT pro has to offer and so much more if you decide to go off the beaten track.