Triumph Tiger 1200 Explorer XC
Triumph Tiger 1200 Explorer XC | |
Manufacturer | |
---|---|
Production | 2013 |
Engine | Four stroke, transverse three cylinder. DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder |
Compression ratio | 12.0:1 |
Ignition | Digital |
Transmission | 6 Speed |
Frame | Tubular steel trellis frame, Swingarm Single-sided, cast aluminum alloy with shaft drive |
Suspension | Front: Kayaba 46mm upside down forks Rear: Kayaba monoshock with remote oil reservoir, hydraulically adjustable preload, rebound damping adjustment |
Brakes | Front: 2x 305 mm Foating discs, Nissin 4-piston calipers, switchable ABS Rear: Single 282 mm disc, Nissin 2-piston sliding caliper, switchable ABS |
Front Tire | 110/80-19 |
Rear Tire | 150/70-17 |
Wheelbase | 1435 mm / 56.5in |
Seat Height | 837mm / 32.9in - 857mm/33.7in |
Weight | 267 kg / 586 lbs (wet) |
Oil Capacity | 4.0 Liters / 1.1 US gals / 0.88 Imp gal |
Fuel Capacity | 20 Liters / 5.3 US gal / 4.4 Imp gal |
Manuals | Service Manual |
Engine[edit | edit source]
The engine was a Liquid-cooled cooled Four stroke, transverse three cylinder. DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder. The engine featured a 12.0:1 compression ratio.
Drive[edit | edit source]
Power was moderated via the Wet, multi-plate.
Chassis[edit | edit source]
It came with a 110/80-19 front tire and a 150/70-17 rear tire. Stopping was achieved via 2x 305 mm Foating discs, Nissin 4-piston calipers, switchable ABS in the front and a Single 282 mm disc, Nissin 2-piston sliding caliper, switchable ABS in the rear. The front suspension was a Kayaba 46mm upside down forks while the rear was equipped with a Kayaba monoshock with remote oil reservoir, hydraulically adjustable preload, rebound damping adjustment. The Tiger 1200 Explorer XC was fitted with a 20 Liters / 5.3 US gal / 4.4 Imp gal fuel tank. The wheelbase was 1435 mm / 56.5in long.
Photos[edit | edit source]
Overview[edit | edit source]
Triumph Tiger 1200 Explorer XC
Triumph will be offering a more dirt-worthy XC version alongside the standard Explorer for 2013. The new Explorer XC has some extra features aimed at improving off-road usability. The cast wheels are now replaced with Triumph-designed steel-spoke tubeless wheels with aluminum rims, which should be a little more damage resistant while still offering the easier flat repair of a tubeless design. Wheel sizes remain 17 inches in back, 19 in front The new XC will be delivered with heavy-duty crash bars, an aluminum bash plate, hand guards, and dual 55-watt fog lamps. You can get the Triumph Explorer XC in Khaki Green.
The new Tiger Explorer XC is ready for your next adventure Tiger Explorer. All-new bike. All-new excitement.
The ultimate choice for the long haul adventurer. Class-leading handling. The journey doesnt have to end when the Tarmac does. Brand new, 1215cc engine, with shaft drive of course. A Triumph to take on the world.
Looking for even more adventure? The new Tiger Explorer XC is ready for your next adventure. The XC isnt just designed to get you noticed. Its designed to go the distance on road or off the beaten track. Thats because it has the Explorers incredible dynamic handling, plus all the kit you need to keep going when things get challenging, including new aluminum rimmed, steel spoked wheels with tubeless tires, hand guards, engine bars and fog lights. Thats on top of the shaft-driven 1,215cc triple that produces 137PS and 121Nm of torque, the cruise control and switchable ABS. Triumph Tiger Explorer XC Features and Benefits The new Tiger Explorer XC gets new, aluminum rimmed, steel spoked wheels 19 inch front and 17 inch rear, with tubeless tires for ease of repair should your adventure get the better of your tires. It gets engine bars, hand guards, a sump guard and fog lights, while its tough Mat Khaki Green paint finish leaves no doubt that its ready for adventure. And if that doesnt go far enough for you, theres a full range of Genuine Triumph Accessories that let you really make it your Tiger Explorer XC.
Triumph Tiger Explorer XC Key Features
Aluminum rimmed, steel spoked wheels with tubeless tires
Dynamic handling and off-road durability plus
tubeless tires for easy puncture repair in remote situations.
Sump Guard
Robust, heavy gauge aluminum sump guard for
maximum protection on the rough tracks and passes.
Engine Bars
Tough 22mm steel tube engine bars for added
protection when riding off-road.
Hand Guards
Designed to protect you from off-road debris and
to keep you warm and dry, these high impact hand guards keep you out of harms
way on and off-road.
Fog light kit
High performance 55w dual fog lights increase
visibility for added security in poor riding conditions.
Mat Khaki Green paint
Its says rugged, it says off-road, it says
adventure. This distinctive Khaki Green paint is the perfect finishing touch and
complement for Tiger Explorer XCs tough good looks.
Before our readers enter into a rant about why these large, heavy adventure bikes are not sufficiently dirt worthy, I need to editorialize briefly. For most riders, the appeal of the new, large displacement Adventure bikes has nothing to do with their off-road capability. Zero. These bikes are frequently viewed as superior road machines . . . superior to many competing sport tourers and full dress tourers for both commuting and touring. They are primarily bought for this reason, not for their dirt worthiness. Having said that, these bikes do have varying degrees of ability to travel off-road. Many owners will never take them there, but they have the ability, nonetheless. So if you are shopping for a street bike in the sport tourer category, for instance, will you be better off with an adventure touring bike? Quite possibly. For many riders, the bolt upright seating position and relatively forward peg placement is simply more comfortable than the riding position offered by sport tourers that hang on to the pretense of sportiness with lower bars and more rearward peg placement (often with less leg room, as well). One of the most comfortable freeway jaunts I can recall occurred while I was aboard a large displacement Adventure bike. Which brings us to the subject of this test, the 2013 Triumph Explorer XC. A huge machine, no doubt, with its elevated seat height (32.9 adjustable to 33.7 inches) and claimed wet weight of 586 pounds. The XC takes the standard Explorer and adds features to improve its dirt capabilities, including steel-spoked wheels (abandoning the cast wheels of the standard model) that are nevertheless tubeless, crash bars, under-engine bash plate, hand guards and dual 55-watt fog lamps. The rest of the technical details are identical to those described in Gabes story. The headline feature is Triumphs all-new 1215cc 3-cylinder engine. The largest transverse triple ever created by Triumph. The engine is fantastic. With peak horsepower of 135 at the crank and nearly 90 foot/pounds of torque, this is an extremely fast motorcycle. Not just fast, it pulls effortlessly with that mountain of torque. The smooth feel and shrieking turbine-like sound are characteristic of Triumph triples. The seating position, including the seat itself, is hard to fault. The bars are comfortably high and close, placing your wrists at a natural angle. The seat is firm enough to be comfortable on longer rides, and broad enough to distribute your weight well beyond your sit bones. Wind protection was good, with minimal buffeting at the helmet level. On-road handling initially revealed a vague feeling from the front end. As we noted nearly a decade ago with Suzukis V-Strom, some adventure tourers are delivered without enough weight on the front wheel, necessitating the addition of spring preload in the shock and/or sliding the forks up a few millimeters in the triple clamps. We did both, sliding the forks roughly 5mm. The result was a much more confident-feeling front end and more accurate steering. We got comfortable enough on the big Explorer XC to utilize nearly all of the very generous lean angle on the street (resulting from all that Ground Clearance). The wide bars made it fun, and easy, to throw the big Tiger on its side. Is it the most nimble Adventure bike we have ridden? No. The huge engine displacement and corresponding crank intertia mean it wont change direction like a Suzuki V-Strom 650, for instance. What it has is added straight-line stability over a smaller, nimbler mount. The six-speed transmission offered more than enough gear choices given the extremely broad plateau of torque, but it was still nice to have an overdrive sixth gear for fuel economy on the superslab. Speaking of which, we averaged 39 mpg while riding the bike more aggressively, no doubt, than you would in day-to-day use. The 5.3 gallon tank should get you well beyond 200 miles between fill-ups on a tour, because we are confident that you can achieve 45 mpg while cruising on the highway. Given the engine performance on offer, not too bad. The large dial that allows you to easily change rear spring preload without tools comes in handy. You can not only quickly adjust weight distribution and handling with this feature, you can accommodate passengers/luggage loads. We added 3 turns (equaling 3 clicks) of preload before escorting a relatively small female passenger to dinner one evening. The instrumentation (described in our earlier stories) is both legible and complete, and includes a very precise fuel gauge. Off-road the big Explorer XC is a handful. It doesnt like to change direction quickly on loose soil or gravel, but the suspension works to carry speed on fire roads and through more gradual corners. I was able to comfortably travel 60 mph, or so, across the desert, with the suspension keeping things under control, on moderately rough roads. On the street, the extra suspension travel and 19″ front wheel provide another benefit versus traditional sport tourers, i.e., better absorption of small bumps. This is another reason why some riders now prefer adventure bikes for touring. Hondas big sport tourer, the ST1300, has an 18″ front wheel for similar reasons. The extra features offered by the XC (features you could add to your standard Explorer through the Triumph accessories catelogue) do improve its dirt worthiness. The high-speed desert travel I described would have concerned me a lot more without the engine bash plate and crash guards, and with the cast wheels found on the standard Explorer. Visions of cast wheels collapsing in aggressive off-road riding would have been dancing in my head, otherwise. The traditional, steel-spoked wheels on the Explorer XC look extremely stout and are undoubtedly leagues stronger. So what we have here is a large, extremely comfortable and powerful Adventure bike that changes directions easily, and confidently, on the street, while offering the ability to take you off-road where a traditional street machine would falter. Appropriately painted Khaki Green, the 2013 Triumph Tiger Explorer XC also looks the part. The typical comment was That bike looks badass, and one could imagine that it was morphed out of something seen in Mel Gibsons Mad Max movies.
Source
Make Model | Triumph Tiger Explorer XC |
---|---|
Year | 2013 |
Engine Type | Four stroke, transverse three cylinder. DOHC, 4 valves per cylinder |
Displacement | 1215 cc / 74.1 cub in |
Bore X Stroke | 85 x 71.4mm |
Cooling System | Liquid-cooled |
Compression | 12.0:1 |
Induction | Multipoint sequential electronic fuel injection with SAI |
Ignition | Digital |
Starting | Electric |
Exhaust | Stainless steel 3 into 1 , side mounted stainless steel silencer |
Oil Capacity | 4.0 Liters / 1.1 US gals / 0.88 Imp gal |
Max Power | 101 kW / 135 hp @ 9300rpm |
Max Torque | 121 Nm / 21.6 kgf-m / 89 lb-ft @ 6400 rpm |
Clutch | Wet, multi-plate |
Transmission | 6 Speed |
Final Drive | Shaft |
Frame | Tubular steel trellis frame, Swingarm Single-sided, cast aluminum alloy with shaft drive |
Front Suspension | Kayaba 46mm upside down forks |
Front Wheel Travel | 190 mm / 7.5 in |
Rear Suspension | Kayaba monoshock with remote oil reservoir, hydraulically adjustable preload, rebound damping adjustment |
Rear Wheel Travel | 194 mm / 7.6 in |
Front Brakes | 2x 305 mm Foating discs, Nissin 4-piston calipers, switchable ABS |
Rear Brakes | Single 282 mm disc, Nissin 2-piston sliding caliper, switchable ABS |
Wheel Front | 32-spoke 19 x 2.5 in, aluminum rim |
Wheel Rear | 32-spoke 17 x 4.0 in, aluminum rim |
Front Tire | 110/80-19 |
Rear Tire | 150/70-17 |
Rake | 22.8º |
Trail | 90.9mm / 3.6 in |
Dimensions | Length 2248mm / 88.4in Width (handlebars) 962mm 37.9in Height without mirrors 1410mm 55.5in |
Wheelbase | 1435 mm / 56.5in |
Seat Height | 837mm / 32.9in - 857mm/33.7in |
Wet Weight | 267 kg / 586 lbs |
Fuel Capacity | 20 Liters / 5.3 US gal / 4.4 Imp gal |