Is it a Triumph Tiger Sport 660 or a Tiger 660 Sport? Either way, I’m bouncing along one of the roads we use to test suspension, and I’m all over the place.
The road is an uneven stretch of tarmac covered in a never-ending patchwork of fixes and over-banding. I know the road is challenging, but I’m somewhat mystified as to why I’m bouncing around as the Tiger Sport 660 has received high praise for its handling in most reviews.
Back in the garage, I take four clicks out from the rear preload and set the tyre pressures correctly. I’ve no idea who had the Tiger Sport 660 before me, but they appear to have thought 36/42psi were the correct tyre pressures rather than the 33/36psi specified in the handbook.
With everything reset, let’s try all of that again.
Tiger Sport 660 Numbers
At some point in most motorcycle reviews, there will be a list of vital statistics—this much horsepower, that amount of torque, and so on. You can find the facts and figures for the Tiger Sport 660 on Triumph’s website, but if you assess the Tiger 660 by those numbers alone, you may miss the real story.
That guy at the local tea stop, who “needs” 180BHP and finds anything else dull and not worthy of his unique riding skills, isn’t going to get the point.
Tiger Sport 660 owners know what I’m talking about. You can identify them by their wry smile. They are the ones that didn’t read the specifications until after they had ridden the bike.
Suspension
Having been bounced all over our back road suspension test track, my first reaction to the non-adjustable 41mm upside-down Showa front forks was, “here we go again”.
This would have been the second Triumph our test road has beaten. The rapid succession of surface changes overwhelms the damping, and you get that feeling that it is all about to turn to custard and back off the throttle.
This time though, the problem was that I hadn’t taken the time to ensure the Tiger 660 was set up correctly. Reducing the preload on the rear and setting the tyre pressures correctly made a considerable difference to the ride.
The suspension isn’t cosmic, but it is competent, and if the Triumph has a suspension weakness, it would be a tight operating window. Stray outside that, and you will get bounced around. Find the sweet spot, and you’ll wonder what I’m talking about.
The video below shows the road we use to test suspension. It is the worst kind of B-road with excessive patches, over banding and a road surface that is chewed up. Video stabilisation hides many of the bumps. Watch the Tiger’s screen in the bottom left of the frame for an idea of how bumpy it can get.
Brakes
Considering how sharp the brakes on Triumph’s Tiger are, I was sure I’d discover they were a hand-me-down from one of Triumph’s heavier bikes. If they are, I can’t find them.
Where all the other Tigers get fancy four-piston, radially mounted Brembo Stylema callipers, the Tiger 660 has to make do and mend with Nissin axially mounted twin-piston callipers. Even the front discs are 10mm smaller than found on other Tigers at 310mm.
So, if I have Nissin callipers and smaller discs, why am I – metaphorically – peeling my face from the inside of the visor every time I hit the front brake hard? Describing them as effective would be an understatement.
Perhaps highly effective is the correct – if unimaginative – description. “Damn … they are good”, would be the polite version of my reaction the first time I hauled on the brake lever.
The Showa front forks dive significantly under heavy braking but never bottom out. I’d prefer less dive, or perhaps I need a better braking technique.
To minimise the front fork dive, I started working the rear brake harder and discovered it is also highly effective. So effective that I could set off the rear ABS if I got the timing wrong and had transferred the weight to the front before firmly applying the rear.
The brakes need to be finessed. They are more than capable of stopping the 206Kgs (wet) Tiger Sport 660. Naturally, there is ABS to assist you. However, your ABS options are limited to on or off.
Power
The fact that Triumph has squeezed 80BHP from the 660cc triple is impressive. Add to that major service intervals of 10,000 miles, and Triumph are confident that this isn’t a high-strung pony that needs constant attention.
The engine is eager to spin up, and 15mph in first gear has the engine spinning at a little over three thousand RPM and happily into its torque band. Triumph has engineered the Tiger Sport 660 – and the Trident with which it shares an engine – so that at least 85% of the maximum 64nM of torque is constantly available between 3,000 and 9,000RPM.
In practical terms, this translates to having useable acceleration available all the time.
Filtering past the slower moving traffic on a Sunday afternoon was as simple as mirror, signal, manoeuvre, and as quick as that, I was past and onto the next target.
It didn’t seem to matter which gear I was in or what speed I was doing. All it took was to roll on and off the throttle to scoot past and be on my way.
Where is 7th?
For the wonders Triumph’s engineers have worked with the engine, there had to be a trade-off. With the motor busily humming all the time, I noticed I was using a gear higher than I would typically use on a larger-capacity motorcycle.
I was filtering through town traffic in 3rd, where usually I’d be in 2nd. Arcing my way across the Lincolnshire back roads, I’d usually be in 4th and 5th, whereas on the Tiger Sport 660, it was 5th and 6th.
The number displayed by the gear selector is irrelevant. The 660cc engine is comfortable at 70mph and is buzzing at just over six thousand RPM. That said, I have occasionally gone looking for 7th gear.
What’s Missing?
Not very much. Yes, the suspension could be better, but it is more than capable.
What is missing are the little things. There isn’t any space under the seat for a tyre kit. There isn’t a USB power point inside the fairing. Some say the Tiger Sport 660 should have cruise control, and whereas it is most welcome when fitted, it isn’t the defining factor.
A centre stand would be a great option, especially when you could easily head off across Europe on the Tiger 660 without thinking about it.
From the factory, a quick shifter would be the one extra that I’d put on the must-have list. It is a cracking engine, and its always busy nature would make a quick shifter the one thing I’d have to have.
Fit and Finish
Triumph makes gorgeously finished motorcycles. Even the flap over the lock on the petrol cap has been lovingly designed and oozes quality. The paintwork on the frame and the tank has a deep gloss finish.
The switch gear has a crisp feel, and there are creature comforts such as heated grips and self-cancelling indicators. So, what is it with the ugly weld on the swinging arm?
I hope it is just on the Tiger I’m riding. It would be disappointing to think Triumph’s welding robot was doing that bad a job on every Tiger Sport 660.
That weld aside, it is a beautifully finished and highly desirable motorcycle that the specification sheet does an excellent job of understating. Get yourself a ride on one, and don’t judge it by the specification sheet alone. The Tiger Sport 660 is much more than the sum of its parts.
