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2016–2017 · Adventure · Buyer's Guide
Loaded Tourer, Triple Soul
The XRT is the top road-biased trim of the big Tiger, and it makes no secret of that brief. A 1215 cc inline-three puts out 137 hp and 91 lb-ft, and it drives the rear wheel through a shaft, so there is no chain to feed on a three-week trip. Cornering ABS, traction control and ride modes come standard, and the suspension settings are handled electronically instead of with a wrench. Add cruise control, heated grips, tire pressure monitoring, an electrically adjustable screen and adjustable seat height, and you are at the well-equipped end of the big adventure class.
It feels like what it is: a large, planted, long-legged machine that shrinks distance without asking much of you. The 19-inch front wheel and 7.5 inches of front travel put it squarely in gravel-road and fire-road country rather than rock-crawling country. This is a bike for riders who count trips in days instead of hours, often two-up or loaded to the grab rails. It ages honestly, helped by the shaft drive and straightforward servicing, though the fork seals are worth a look every time you clean it.
Spec sheets don't ride bikes, but they set the baseline.
| Power | 137 hp (102 kW) |
|---|---|
| Torque | 91 lb-ft (123 Nm) |
| Displacement | 1215 cc |
| Engine | Inline-three |
| Cooling | Liquid-cooled |
| Gearbox | 6-speed |
| Final drive | Shaft |
| Fork | Upside-down (USD) |
| Front brake | 305 mm |
| Front tire | 120/70-19 |
| Rear tire | 170/60-17 |
| Ground clearance | 6.8 in (172 mm) |
| Front travel | 7.5 in (190 mm) |
| Rear travel | 7.6 in (193 mm) |
| Seat height | 33.0 in (837 mm) |
| Dry weight | 560 lb (254 kg) |
| Fuel capacity | 5.3 gal (20 L) |
| Fuel economy | 44 mpg (US) |
Equipment check
Chassis
Comfort
Connectivity
Safety
This picture comes from years of listening: paddock conversations, owners talking at club nights, and the emails and messages riders send me directly. For the 2016–2017 Tiger Explorer XRT, the pattern holds steady. The praise centers on the engine and on how well the bike handles long days. The complaints are about low-speed manners and the gearbox.
The engine gets the most consistent praise. Owners describe strong pull from low revs that keeps building, acceleration that never feels like work, and a rasp they enjoy hearing. Next comes the long-haul case. Riders repeatedly say they finish a full day in the saddle without the fatigue they expected, and many credit the roomy, upright stance for that.
The most common gripe is how top-heavy the bike feels when you paddle it around. Owners say the high center of gravity makes you concentrate on balance whenever you're barely moving. The second concern is the gearbox. The reports are occasional and mostly involve early bikes. Some owners say adjusting the shift lever fixed it, but some buyers still see it as a worry.
Gearbox jumping out of second gear
Several owners report the transmission jumping out of second gear under load, typically around 5,000-6,000 rpm. The cause may be incomplete shift engagement and/or wear on the selector shaft. Adjusting the shift linkage or replacing the selector shaft can sometimes resolve the issue, but in some cases further internal damage has occurred.
Fork seal weeping / leaks
Oil residue on fork legs observed by some owners, occasionally progressing to full seal failure and oil leakage onto the front brakes. More common on earlier Gen2 bikes.
Where this Triumph Tiger Explorer XRT pulls ahead of — or falls behind — its rivals on the numbers, and the typical bike in its class on character.
Power
Torque
Displacement
Seat height
Forget spec-sheet bragging. Here's who the Tiger Explorer XRT is actually built for.
This one is yours. Two hundred to four hundred mile days on Highway 1 or the Blue Ridge are exactly what it was built around, and it still leans hard enough to keep the corners interesting.
Made for Highway 1 / Big Sur · Black Hills · Blue Ridge Parkway
Loaded or two-up, this suits you. Shaft drive, cruise control and a heated, adjustable cockpit make long park days easy. Budget for the optional luggage system before your first big trip.
Made for Beartooth Highway · Blue Ridge Parkway · Going-to-the-Sun Road
If you're cross-shopping the older generation, here's what changed.
Previous generation · 2012–2015
Britain's First Long-Haul Triple
Compare to the previous model →If this one isn't quite the fit, these are the bikes worth riding back-to-back against it.
Any price note compares both bikes at the same age — the youngest age both have on the used market — against this Triumph Tiger Explorer XRT. “cheaper/pricier” is what that bike costs second-hand, not how worn it is.
Competitor · 2013–2018
The Boxer That Rewired Everything
Roughly $3,000 pricier used than this bike at 9 yr
Competitor · 2013–2016
Brakes That Corner Hard
About the same used price as this bike at 10 yr
Competitor · 2010–2014
Superbike Genes, Long-Haul Composure