Noob advice - Tiger 900, buy or not?

[madmic]

Hi All, newbie here - currently riding a Z1000sx (apologies for the language) and looking to change since riding a 800 whilst doing the Triumph Off-Road course 18 months ago - which by the way is excellent! Though I swear my Zed has cottoned on I'm tempted to trade her in for a younger model...

Can't quite step down to the Tiger 800 and didn't really like the "in" the bike riding position. Been eyeing up the 900's since launch and have a test ride booked for tomorrow covid safe and apparently allowed  but 

My question is around pricing, a new 900 GP Pro is £13,100, there is a secondhand GT Pro (same spec) 2.5k miles for £12,100. This seems top-end to me? Or is it because these bikes are so in demand with supply shortages?

Do I go for a secondhand GT Pro and get it now - hoping lockdown eases - or plump for a new bike and wait out whatever the waiting list is?

Factory spec with the toys and bits I want ramps the cost up to £14,500  most of this is panniers. Think I could get away with the topbox and a rollbag for long weekends away - what do other people use?

Any opinions or advice are most welcomed 

[Explorer]

Go for the new one. I've ordered one, with lots of bits...about £14500...but still got more than a few quid knocked off. The price on the second hand bike seems excessive,

[madmic]

Interesting - can I ask when you ordered yours and what was the wait time?

[Explorer]

I ordered it the last week in January and expect delivery late March. Say, a 2 month lead in. Bearing in mind I won't be riding again until mid March, I can live with that.

[JonesTheBass]

What do you mean by "step down" to the 800 ?

[mcinlb]

Just a thought, unless you specifically need the heated seats and electronically adjusted rear preload / damping , do as I did and went  for the 900 GT and just spec'd the quick shifter as an add on.
I'm quite happy to adjust the rear preload and damping by hand (usually just for luggage as far as I'm concerned). And, if it's that cold you need heated seats, them I'm not going out 

A fair bit of cash to be saved  that way.. and also I'd spec aftermarket luggage, I'm not a fan of the HUGE Triumph boxes that stick out so much either side.   

[madmic]

Originally Posted by JonesTheBass
link=topic=29142.msg314615#msg314615 date=1613147571

What do you mean by "step down" to the 800 ?

No offense meant - more of the change in power and the way it was delivered comparing the 800 to mine. In the same way going up from my old 650 to the Zed was quite different.

[Djairouks]

Originally Posted by madmic

No offense meant - more of the change in power and the way it was delivered comparing the 800 to mine. In the same way going up from my old 650 to the Zed was quite different.

Also no offense meant, but some thoughts.

I do not really understand what you're looking at here, if you like a 4 cylinder torque that climbs all along
substantially, maybe the 3 cylinders aren't your cup of tea, because then the low down of the 900 behaves
even more like a twin not a 4 cylinder  even if the 800 and 900 aren't night and day !

I have an older yami Fazer 8 4 cylinder, it's not exactly the same delivery as the Tiger, I love both for different
things.

Are you leaving the SX because of the more demanding riding position, or you just want off-road fun !?
Keep both having more choice is fun 

[Have a cup of tea]

The amount of extra kit you get on the GT pro is worth it value wise especially if you are thinking of adding shift assist, centre stand and fogs to a GT ( Heated seats a nice if you do any riding in cold weather)

[rainbow-walker]

Madmic, hiya.

I went from having a Ducati 899 for 6 years and 35K miles to a 900 Rally Pro last year, and that was driven by doing the Triumph adventure course (level 1, 2 and then the 2 day gravel tour in 2019).  Amazing how capable the bikes are off road isnt it !

My bias, and hence my advice is go for the Rally Pro model, the suspension is great.  I did manage to do a 1 day level 2 day on the welsh trails on the new 900 with Triumph last year and it was even better than the 800's off road.  The suspension will be a bit softer than the GT pro, but I think it's ideal for our pothole ridden roads.  I've done 5K on mine so far and am loving it.



RBW.