Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro Review
The brand new 2024 Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro, a bike with plenty of updates all across the bike to keep it fresh for the new model year.
But look, is it enough to keep it as one of the best options in that middleweight adventure market, especially considering some of the other options from the competition are really very good?
we’ll go through everything that you need to know about it, both good and bad, to find out.
Engine: Power with Unique Character
Start with the engine, and it’s their 888 cc inline triple, same as the previous iteration of this Tiger 900.
it has to be said, the T-plane crank in these Triumph that they also use in the Tiger 1200 is unique. Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
You won’t find another triple-cylinder powered bike that sounds or feels anything like the ones that Triumph make with this particular crank configuration.
The idea is to give it a little bit of the low down talky sensation of a twin-cylinder bike that you’ll find almost everywhere in the middleweight adventure market.
But with the three-cylinders in this bike, you’ve still got that playful top-end, the sportiness, I guess, that you got with the old Tiger 800.
I think it does the trick, to be honest. It’s a very versatile engine. It’s happy chugging in the low revs.
There’s plenty of mid-range, and then it does rev up quite nicely, and it’s a very fun bike to ride.
New for 2024, they’ve given it 106.5 horsepower, so that’s quite a lot up on the 94 horsepower of the previous iteration.
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there’s also three newton meters more torque, so it now makes 90, I believe, as opposed to the 87 that you get in the Tiger 900 that came before this year.
Now look, you will have to rev it a little bit harder to access this new peak power figure. Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
So in the majority of riding in the mid-range, it’s not going to feel vastly different.
But the thing is, if you’re going to ride two up and you’ve got luggage as well and you want to perform those quick overtakes, or if you’re just someone who really likes to wring a bike’s neck, then over 10% more power up at the top is never going to be a bad thing.
It also puts it pretty much on a par with the other middleweight adventure bikes on the market.
It’s much more comparable now with the likes of the KTM 890 adventure for example, the new BMW F900 GS.
they also say they’ve done that at the same time as improving fuel economy, which has to be said is fairly impressive.
Comfort: Smoother Rides for Long Journeys
I will say, though, one of the big downsides of the T-plane cranking these triples with all that unique character and twinny soul is that it does vibe quite a lot more than the old Tiger 800 with its even firing intervals and even more than some of the twin-cylinder bikes that it’s going up against.
And look, generally, I’d say it’s not that bad if you’re going up and down rev range, but if you’re sitting at a constant speed on the motorway, the vibes do start to creep in and it does get quite noticeable.
I’d say it might be off-putting for some riders, especially if you’re particularly sensitive to that stuff, if you’re intending to buy one of these bikes as a bit of an adventure tourer. Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
Now, I can only assume that Triumph have had similar feedback from their customers because they’ve made two key changes on this particular 2024 bike to address this problem.
The first one being the handlebars, which are now mounted on of a bus is.
while that might sound like it had compromised on the rigidity of the bars and the way the bike handles, it’s a little bit more nuanced than that.
They’re not all floppy and moving around, but just have those amounts in there to take a little bit of the buzz out the bars.
The other is the seat, which now has 10 mil more pad in.
they’ve also made it flatter and roomier, they say, which allows the rider to move around a bit.
So if you are getting a bit of discomfort when you’re spending long stints in the saddle, at least you can shuffle about a bit more easily now and and find a new, more comfortable spot. Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
Now look, when the Tiger 900 first came out, I think it was around 2020, the first iteration of it,
I remember publishing a distance-focused and touring-focused review in which I mentioned I did find the vibes a little bit irritating, and I found the same as well on the launch of the Tiger 1200.
But I’m pleased to report I do think that these two measures have really helped to minimize that sensation.
And look, although there’s no way around the fact that it’s never going to be as smooth as the old the Tiger 800,
I think what they’ve done here is brought it down to a level where it is realistically comparable to the other bikes on the market, like the Parallel Twins.
So yeah, for me, that’s a bit of a relief, and I think a big plus for this particular update.Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
the other thing to mention with regards to comfort and ergonomics is that with this particular Rally Pro model, they’ve moved the handlebars actually 15 mill closer to the rider, and they say that should make the bike more comfortable when seated and standing.
Chassis: Off-Road Ready with Smooth Handling
As for the chassis, well, no particularly huge updates for this year. You’ve still got the 21-inch front on this Rally Pro model, the 17 at the rear.
They’re tubeless, which is my preference, so definitely a good feature. Braking is really top spec.
You’ve got Bremo Stylema, four-part, radially mounted calipers, so plenty of break in power.
Suspension is courtesy of Shoher with this upside down fork, Mono shock at the rear, and plenty of travel, as you’d expect with this more off-road bias model.
The GT and GT Pro, for example, sit a little bit lower. I believe the frame is pretty much the same as well, so it doesn’t handle particularly different to the previous gen, but I’d say that’s a good thing. Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
It’s a really nice balance of on-road and off-road capability.
the only criticism I’d have is that the suspension It does feel a little bit soft when it’s middled out.
Riding
For road riding, my preference is a little bit more compression, damping on the fork just to stop it diving so much, especially under break in.
But to be honest, that’s more so a set up thing, and it’s got full adjustability, so you can get it down to your taste.
And once I’ve made that tweak, I think it’s acceptable for what you’d expect for a fairly tall adventure bike. Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
Tech: Big Improvements with Better Displays
Now onto the tech on this bike, and it’s had some really nice updates in this department.
I think a lot of the rider modes and rider aids are pretty much the same, and you’ve still all the connectivity features and good stuff like that.
But what you do get is this very nice seven-inch TFT display that you’ll also find on the likes of the Tiger 1200s. It’s a nice big dash, very easy to read.
It’s got this nice coating that’s anti-glare as well.
But I think more than that, it’s the new graphics and layouts that it inherits from the Tiger 1200s as well and also the speed triples that make it feel nicer to use.
And also some of the basic information like the revs are much easier to read in this layout. Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
I mean, it’s not perfect. It can be a little bit slow to animate.
It does feel like there’s a little bit of wasted screen space around the outside as well. But largely, I think it’s an improvement for the good.
I think it’s always good news for a middleweight bike like this to inherit some of the more premium features from the other bikes higher up in their lineup.
Then you’ve got some nice little safety bits as well. The indicators now, much like a Honda, for example, are always on.
So they’re extra position lights that make you a little bit more visible on the road.
And they’ve also implemented an emergency brake light feature so that they flash at the rear under heavy braking.
And look, that’s not an uncommon accident for bikers to get hit from behind by another vehicle. And so anything to lessen the likelihood is a good thing in my book.
Styling: A Sharper, More Vibrant Look
Now, also new for this year, we’ve got some little visual tweaks as well.
They’ve sharpened up the bodywork. You can see there’s a bit more detail around here. Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
There’s different lines to these side panels and also some perhaps slightly more vibrant paint options like this gray and orange.
Now, to me, it seems like at the moment there’s a bit of a movement towards a more rally-inspired image in the adventure bike market.
I don’t know if there’s a little bit of their response to that.
Perhaps also the fact that some of the other bikes on the market, like the 890 adventure, the F900 GS, are just that bit more vibrant, whereas pretty much all of the color options for the previous Gen Tiger 900s were fairly subdued and muted.