Triumph Tiger 900 vs Rivals: Spec Comparison

The highly-anticipated Triumph Tiger 900 has been finally launched in India and the adventure tourer has been completely overhauled. The new Tiger is a motorcycle developed from the ground up and gets improvements in almost every department. It is massively better than the Tiger 800, while prices have only seen a marginal increment despite all those changes. The middleweight adventurer tourer segment is the one in which the new Tiger operates and this space has some extremely capable offerings on sale including the Honda Africa Twin, BMW F 850 GS, Ducati Multistrada and the BMW F 900 XR. It's time then, to do a quick spec comparison and see where does the new Triumph Tiger 900 stand against its rivals.

Also Read: Triumph Tiger 900 Launched In India

Engines

The Triumph Tiger 900 uses an 888 cc three-cylinder motor that has been upgraded with newer components and larger displacement over the Tiger 800. The new motor offers nine per cent more power and 10 per cent more torque. In comparison, the Ducati Multistrada 950 uses a 937 cc L-Twin liquid-cooled motor while the BMW F 850 GS uses an 853 cc parallel-twin cylinder engine as well. The 2020 Honda Africa Twin gets the largest displacement engine with a 1084 cc twin-cylinder motor and was upgraded to offer 7 per cent more peak torque and 6 per cent of additional power. The Tiger 900 GT is the road-biased model and the recently-launched BMW F 900 XR is a direct rival to the same, powered by an 895 cc parallel-twin engine. A word of caution, the F 850 GS and the Multistrada are yet to get their BS6 versions, which will arrive later this year.

The 2020 Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin is more agile and lighter than the older model. It's feature-packed as well

Features

The Triumph Tiger 900 is loaded to the gills and comes with an inertial measurement unit (IMU), ABS, traction, ride-by-wire and more. The top-spec Tiger 900 Rally Pro features six modes - Rain, Road, Sport, Off-Road, fully customisable Rider and Off-Road Pro modes. The off-road modes have been skipped on the GT variant. The bike also gets backlit switches, cruise control, heated grips and seats, as well as a standard tyre pressure monitoring system. The TFT screen is standard across all variants but varies in size. The ADV also comes with Bluetooth connectivity for hands-free phone control, turn-by-turn navigation, GoPro compatibility and more.

The 2020 Ducati Multistrada 950 S gets the new semi-active Skyhook electronic suspension, bidirectional quick-shifter, full LED headlight with cornering lamps and backlit switchgear. The Italian ADV also gets a 5-inch TFT colour screen, Hands-Free ignition system, cruise control, Ducati Traction Control, along with Bosch-sourced cornering ABS. The 950 S gets four riding modes - Sport, Touring, Urban and Enduro.

Also Read: 2020 Triumph Tiger 900: Variants Explained 

(The BMW F 850 GS matches closely with the Triumph Tiger 900 in equipment but is priced lower)

The electronics suite on the 2020 Honda Africa Twin includes a seven-level Honda Selectable Torque Control (HSTC) powered by a six-axis IMU, four power levels and three levels of electronic engine braking. There's also a three-level wheelie control, a new touchscreen console with Bluetooth audio and Apple CarPlay. The 2020 Africa Twin gets four riding modes - Tour, Urban, Gravel and Off-Road, and two more additional and customisable riding modes. The Sports mode in the DCT allows three levels of gear ratios. There's switchable ABS that can be turned off for the rear wheel.

The BMW F 850 GS Adventure is equally capable and comes with an adjustable windscreen, LED headlight, a dynamic brake light, slipper clutch, luggage carrier for the top case and a comfort seat. It also gets Automatic Stability Control (ASC) and two riding modes - Rain and Road as standard. There are two more riding modes as optional - Dynamic and Enduro along with Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) and ABS Pro.

The BMW F 900 XR is a proper road-biased tourer does the 0-100 kmph sprint in 3.7 seconds

While the F 850 GS Adventure takes on the off-road spec variants of the Tiger, there's the BMW F 900 XR that directly competes with the Tiger 900 GT. It also comes with Rain and Road modes as standard, automatic stability control. LED lighting, optional Pro modes with drag torque control, dynamic traction control, ABS Pro and dynamic brake control. The BMW electronic suspension adjustment (ESA) is optional and so are the adaptive cornering lights.

Also Read: 2020 Triumph Tiger 900 First Ride Review

The 2020 Ducati Multistrada 950 S now gets a SkyHook electronic suspension setup 

Fuel Tank and Kerb Weight

The 2020 Honda Africa Twin gets the largest fuel tank with a capacity of 24.8 litres while the kerb weight stands at  226 kg on the manual and 236 kg on the DCT version. The Ducati Multistrada 950 and the Triumph Tiger 900 have a capacity of 20 litres respectively. The kerb weight on the Ducati stands at 229 kg. Triumph hasn't disclosed the kerb weight on the Tiger range but the dry weight stands at 194 kg on the GT and 201 kg on the Rally Pro version. Lastly, the F 900 XR has a fuel capacity of 15.5 litres and the kerb weight is 219 kg.

Also Read: Triumph Tiger 900: All You Need To Know

The Triumph Tiger 900 is competitively priced but isn't the most affordable offering in its class.

Pricing

The Triumph Tiger 900 range starts at Rs. 13.70 lakh for the GT, going up to Rs. 15.50 for the Rally Pro version. While those aren't the most affordable motorcycles here, that's competitive pricing. The Honda Africa Twin holds the value quotient dearly with the manual variant retailing at Rs. 15.35 lakh while the DCT is priced at Rs. 16.10 lakh. It is also the only motorcycle here to get the option of an automatic.

The BMW F 850 GS is yet to get the BS6 upgrade and that will arrive later this year. The BS4 compliant version was priced between Rs. 12.95 lakh and Rs. 15.40 lakh and expect those prices to increase marginally. There is the BS6 BMW F 900 XR priced at Rs. 9.9 lakh and undercuts the Tiger 900 GT by a healthy margin. The 2020 Ducati Multistrada 950 S is yet to be launched in India. The BS4 version was priced at Rs. 12.84 lakh, and expect the new model to see a decent increment. It is still likely to remain more affordable than the Tiger 900 GT when it goes on sale by the end of the year.