Triumph has just launched the all-new Tiger Sport 660, which now beats out the Tiger 850 Sport to become the entry into the roaring world of Triumph’s Tiger line-up. This bike is based on the Trident 660 and gets the same 660cc inline triple, in an essentially similar chassis setup, with the added benefit of touring ergos and revised styling. Does it have an identity of its own and is it worthy of the ‘Tiger' moniker? We headed to beautiful Dehradun to find out.
The Triumph Tiger Sport gets its biggest changes over the Trident 660 in the design department. Starting with the front you get a new fairing adding to the sport tourer look of the Tiger Sport 660.
This fairing houses these sleek new LED headlamp units which do a good job of illuminating the road ahead of you at night. There’s also a nice tall windscreen which does a good job of keeping the wind at bay. The windscreen is height-adjustable but I must mention that the mechanism to adjust it isn't the most refined and it is a bit of a task to use while on the go.
Behind the windscreen, you have the instrument cluster which is the same physical units as those found on the Trident but in a different housing. The next big change is the bigger fuel tank which now holds up to 17.2 litres of fuel which is roughly 3.2 litres more than the trident and this is to aid in long-distance touring. Triumph claims that you can get a respectable 380km from a full tank of fuel. Moving behind, you have a nice roomy seat both for the rider and the pillion which is pretty comfortable for long days in the saddle. I rode the bike for around 250km with a mix of twisties and highways and I had no discomfort post the ride.
The bike also has a new subframe which has allowed Triumph to engineer mounts for pannier and luggage solutions. Triumph will also sell you panniers and top boxes as part of their accessory list. This change in the subframe has resulted in the seat height going up to 835mm but it is still fairly accommodating even for shorter riders. Lastly, the taillight design is identical to the Trident 660.
The chassis of the Tiger Sport 660 remains largely similar to the Trident 660 but with certain changes to make it more suited for the long haul. Starting with the suspension, the front Showa Separate Function forks boast 150mm of travel which is around 20mm more than on the Trident.
This meant that the Tiger Sport 660 didn’t bottom out even on taller bumps and breakers. Even the rear monoshock now gets a remote preload adjuster to make for easier adjustment especially when you quickly want to change the preload on the go or when you’re with a pillion or with luggage. In terms of ride quality, the ride is significantly better than on the Trident 660 and the damping feels softer as well, an issue that plagued the Trident. The Tiger Sport 660 soaks up smaller bumps rather well and is only unsettled by the bigger undulations. At 206kg (wet) the bike is up 17kgs over the roadster but does a decent job of handling its mass. Now since this is a sport-tourer, the ergonomics have been made to be more relaxed. Meaning it now has a taller wider handlebar and more relaxed placement for the footpegs. So, to ensure that the bike still feels sporty, handling wise, especially with the added mass, the rake has been sharpened ever so slightly. The good news is that the bike retains most of the sporty handling chops of the Trident while also becoming a comfortable mile muncher. The bike also gets the same sticky Michelin Road 5 tyres that we all loved the Trident 660 for. So when you do come across a set of twisted be rest assured that you will have a lot of fun. The added suspension travel also means the bike can handle some light soft-roading, meaning the going doesn’t need to stop when the tarmac isn’t perfect. This setup is not without its flaws though. The Tiger Sport 660 uses the same braking setup found on the Trident 660. The brakes don't have as much feedback as I would have liked and there's a weird issue where the brakes feel extremely wooden, momentarily, if you hit a bump while taking a corner, that is something that definitely needs to be addressed.
Now on the performance front, the Tiger Sport 660 is powered by the same 660cc inline triple as found on the Trident and it is in the identical state of tune as well. So, you have 80bhp at 10,250rpm and 64Nm of peak torque at 6250rpm at your disposal. The engine is extremely tractable and has enough grunt in the low end and the mid-range to not need to constantly work the slick six-speed gearbox. The top end of the bike is not as potent as it is on something like a Street Triple but that is honestly fine considering you’d be cruising around the mid-range for most of the time anyway. Speaking of cruising, with the addition of the windscreen and the fairing, if the roads allow it, you can comfortably cruise at 120kmph all day long without the engine feeling stressed or you getting fatigued because of windblast. Now, because of the added mass, the Tiger Sport 660 does feel a little slower than the Trident 660, but not by a huge margin. My only major complaint in this department is the rudimentary traction control system. The traction control kicks in at the smallest sign of trouble and it stays on for longer than it should. This is something that could definitely do with an overhaul. But you do have the option to turn it off, so if you trust your throttle hand enough, you can do that.
As with all the bikes on Triumph’s portfolio, the Tiger Sport 660 also comes with a plethora of official accessories. These include panniers, top boxes, luggage solutions, various guards and solutions for crash protection. You also have performance-based accessories like a quickshifter, tank grips and so on. Aesthetic accessories include scrolling LED indicators. Apart from this, you can also kit the bike with heated grips, a TPMS system, the My Triumph connectivity module which enables turn by turn navigation, ports and sockets for charging and a bunch more.
Now that I've spent some time in the saddle of the Tiger Sport 660, what do I think about it? It's a handsome looking motorcycle that does make for a very capable tourer. It also retains a lot of the sporty handling that we loved the Trident for and also Is a comfortable bike to ride on a daily basis and commute on and can even handle a bit of soft roading Although, it isn't perfect, the windscreen isn't the easiest to operate, the bike could have better brakes and then there's the ₹8.85 price tag. But if you stop to consider its rivals, ie the Kawasaki Versys 650 and the Suzuki V-Strom 650, it makes more power, gets more kit and weighs less, so it does begin to justify the premium. So, if you are looking for a sporty adventure tourer and don't want to spend more than 9 lakhs, this here is a great place to start.