CarBrandLogos archive · Triumph Motorcycles · 2010

Triumph MotorcyclesTiger 800

The three-cylinder engine repackaged for gravel roads and long distances.

Photo: San Andreas · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Triumph Motorcycles history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Triumph Motorcycles Tiger 800, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

By 2010 the adventure bike had become the most profitable segment in motorcycling, and Triumph had only a large, road-biased Tiger with which to contest it. The Tiger 800 was the deliberate assault on the middleweight end, where BMW's F800GS was the bike to beat.

2010 Triumph Motorcycles Tiger 800 · San Andreas · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

The engine came from the Street Triple: the 675 cc three enlarged to 799 cc and retuned for torque low down rather than power at the top, which suited a heavy bike carrying luggage far more than a peaky four would have. Triumph split the range in two from the start — the road-oriented Tiger 800 on a 19-inch cast front wheel, and the XC with a 21-inch spoked wire wheel, longer suspension travel and more off-road intent. That two-model strategy became standard practice across the segment.

In production

A substantial 2015 revision brought ride-by-wire throttle, riding modes, traction control and cruise control on the higher specifications, and confirmed the bike's position as the sensible-money alternative to a GS. Production ran alongside Hinckley assembly with additional manufacturing in Thailand.

Legacy

It was replaced in 2020 by the Tiger 900, which enlarged the engine again and adopted an uneven-firing T-plane crankshaft to give the triple a more tractable, twin-like character off road. The 800 remains the model that established Triumph as a credible adventure-bike manufacturer rather than a maker of roadsters and retros.

At a glance