Page 120 - 2022-08-01 RiDE

BRITAIN’S BEST RIDE-OUTS ADVENTURE

HE TRIUMPH FEELS alive as it clatters
and dances over the cobbles and loose
rocks. It’s pointed at the sky, climbing
relentlessly toward an unnamed
summit, rear wheel occasionally
scrambling for grip, traction control
working hard to keep things in line. All
T around is wilderness. Moorland
stetches to a green horizon and hardy sheep brace
themselves against the cutting wind. It might be June,
but up here on the Peaks, even that’s still pretty bracing.
The Tiger drives towards the top and I hold on, looking
ahead, picking my path and revelling in the go-
anywhere ethos of a dirt-loving adventure bike. Despite
the blusters, beauty abounds.
The A537 Cat and Fiddle road wends its serpentine
way below me. From this viewpoint I spot a few
repressed bikes making their tentative way through its
50-mph limit, nervous about triggering the average
speed cameras. But up here there’s no speed cameras, or
any need to go fast for your thills either – on the right
green lane, there is enough challenge without ever Taking to the
tarmac between
shifting out of second. And every turn of your muddy
trail sections
wheels feels like freedom.
I’m adventure touring, dipping in and out, chopping Making the
and changing between tarmac and the loose stuff – transition from
How we found
something that before adventure bikes took over the our way before tarmac to trail
biking landscape was a million miles from sat-navs arrived
motorcycling’s mainstream. Back in the leather-clad
days of sportsbike Britain, this was reserved for a beardy
minority. But now, thanks to the leaps of bike tech, tyre
design and electronics, even big adventure bikes can
take voyages into the unknown.
Today I’m riding a Tiger 1200 Rally Pro, standard apart
from the optional semi-knobbly Michelin Anakee Wild
tyres. The off-road version of the Tiger, it boasts
long-travel semi-active suspension, a 21-in front wheel
and bags of off-road attitude. Today isn’t about gnarly

BIKE FEATURED

TRIUMPH TIGER
1200 RALLY PRO
Price £17,700
Power 148bhp
Weight 249kg
The ‘off-road’ version of the big
Tiger has wonderful semi-
active suspension, brilliant
build quality and a superb,
1200cc T-Plane crank triple
engine. A huge step up on
previous trail 1200s, it can eat
up fast, flowing gravel trails,
has great ergonomics and true
dual-sport ability.

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