Dirt & Trail Aug2020

“Why?” You might ask. “Surely
they have simply upgraded their
latest rendition.”
Well – yes and no.
We’ll try to explain it all…
Triumph international is pretty
good with feedback – and when
we purchased our last 800 Tiger,
the UK sent a questionnaire
asking whether we had any
suggestions. Our one wish was for
just a bit more horsepower. While
the 800 Tiger Mill is absolutely
brilliant, it has been eclipsed by
offerings from some of the other
manufacturers – and as a result,
locally, the 800cc Adventure
market tapered off quite rapidly
relative to some of the newer,
faster, bigger cc bikes. We are sure
that suggestions flooded in – and it
seems that Triumph has a knack of
listening to their customers.
A year or so goes by – and
guess what arrives? A new bike
with many more features and even
more performance. A 900cc that
looks distinctly familiar in a very
modern way.
But that’s just the surface.
Triumph has done a real
number and taken ideas and
designs common to most modern
bikes and come up with a machine
that – well speaks volumes about
their will to give customers
what they want in the midrange
adventure market.
If you are keen on a bike like
this, you’ll have an idea of all of
the bits that they have done and
included with the new machine.
We’ll run through them and try
to explain how they are relevant
and what they mean in the real
world… This is a quantum leap
forward if you will.
The changes are not merely
cosmetic – this is more or less an
all-new machine.
Not only did they up the
capacity of the engine, but they
changed the firing order so that
it feels – well different. More full
of personality and it makes more
exciting power without going
berserk.
Then they added some
electronic wizardry and made
the modes simple enough for
even plebs like us to enjoy and
appreciate. Really - really, if there
is a stand out feature in this bikes
function, it is the fact that we can skip between modes
without having to pull out a wiring diagram each time.
Then they paid attention to the frame making things
more modular and easy to replace – simple bolt on
and bolt off should you have a prang. A fairly logical
thing to do – but the outgoing 800 is a one piece affair.
Tubeless tyres, once again, a logical step. New Showa
longer travel suspension. The previous suspension
is excellent, this is better. With over nine inches of
travel at both ends, the Showa suspension gives you
heaps of confidence. Long travel suspension can
make a big adventure interesting if the setup is not
spot-on. Triumph set-up the travel with that perfect
combination of supple performance at lower speeds,
with enough damping to keep the chassis steady as
speeds increase. We had not a single oh sssshhh….
moment out there.
New shaping, the riding position is more natural –
especially when you want to stand up and open up.
The new TFT display is top of the line and if you are
keen on tech, it offers amazing Bluetooth connectivity
and all of the info you would ever need.
Ummm you get what we mean?
Out with the conservative, in with the latest and
greatest tech, powered by a far more exciting triple
cylinder engine.
Ride Impressions:
In order to do a proper feature, Triumph gave us the
new bike for a full weekend. Climbing aboard the bike
feels quite compact and is not tall for normal sized
people. From the shop, the Mrs was popped onto the
back, the heated seats were switched on, the heated
grips switched on – and we headed out onto very
chilly JHB freeways for the longest possible route back
home. Freeways, back roads and even some gravel
railway and gnarly dirt just to round off the journey.
The Handbag gave the pillion seat two thumbs up and
was very complimentary about the bum warmer.
The bike was stashed and a full day of solo riding
happened the following day.
We are not going to sugar coat it – we love the
previous 800XCX, but Triumph fans will discover that
the new 900 Rally Pro is pretty flippen amazing.
The Heart of the matter:
Properly equipped:
Brembo Stylema Brakes.
Top Shelf.
Crash bars, spotlights,
skid plates - all standard.
The TFT display is
proper modern tech.
The new 900cc engine has a unique 1-3-2 firing order.
Dubbed the T-Plane Triple Crankshaft, Triumph uses
an uneven firing order to help find traction off-road,
with a short gap between the 1-3 sequence, and longer
gaps between 3-2 and 2-1. Peak torque comes at 7250
rpm, 800 rpm sooner than on the Tiger 800, and there’s
about 10 percent more torque all along that range.
64 DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020 65