Triumph Tiger 660 Sport: First Ride Review

The Visuals

The first thing that hits you when you look at the new Tiger Sport 660 are its proportions. It’s pretty evident that this is a 'baby' Tiger. But compact dimensions aside, the Tiger 660 is a smart looking motorcycle. Triumph hasn’t given it the typical Tiger design language. Now, the Tiger 900 and the soon-to-be-launched 1200 still look identical but not the 660.

The baby Tiger gets the upright adventure stance with the large upright windscreen. The angled slim LED headlights look smart with the DRLs taking up their spot in the bottom corner of the headlights. Below the angled fairing, you have a floating shroud on either ends of the radiator which adds some more mass to the motorcycle.

The side profile displays the glorious three-cylinder engine, the perimeter frame and the low slung exhaust which is similar to what you see in the Trident. However, Triumph has lengthened the swingarm with the wheelbase going up by 17mm, giving it a total wheelbase of 1418mm which does make it look longer than the Trident when you see the side profile. Also, the belly pan that you see on the bike which adds a sporty touch is an optional extra.

Overall, the Tiger 660 Sport is a good looking motorcycle and the only thing that might go against it is the compactness of its dimensions especially when you compare it to the large Versys and V-Strom.

The Package

When it comes to features, let’s take a look at what you get. First up is the instrument cluster. You get a split screen TFT console with the top half getting the tachometer, fuel bar and speedometer while the bottom half displays the gear position, clock and the telephony details like turn by turn navigation and more.

Apart from that, the Tiger 660 Sport gets road and rain riding modes, ABS with switchable traction control modes and remote hydraulic preload adjustability which is extremely convenient to use and is a boon when you suddenly have weight or a pillion to haul. Another interesting addition is the set of pannier notches which means you just buy the panniers from Triumph and slot it in.

Now the Tiger Sport 660 also gets a bi-directional quickshifter, bluetooth connectivity and a USB charger. But, surprise surprise, these features are optional extras which we think is a bummer and adding these features as standard would have made the Tiger Sport 660 stand out as extremely good value at its price. What we think could have also been a valuable addition to the feature list is cruise control which would make a lot of sense for a long distance road muncher like the Tiger 660 Sport

The Ride

Now the Tiger 660 might have the same components as the Trident, but the Tiger gets plenty of changes. Apart from the longer swingarm and the increased wheelbase mentioned before, the Tiger 660 also gets 30mm longer suspension travel at the front and 16.5mm at the rear as compared to the Trident 660.

Getting on to the saddle, the first thing you notice is how slim the tank feels and that really helps in making the bike feel lighter than its 206kg kerb weight. With my height at just over 174 cm, the Tiger 660’s 835mm saddle height felt reassuring and since this is a road based motorcycle, one won’t need to get on and off as much as with an off-road based motorcycle.

Get going and the baby Tiger’s relaxed ergonomics comes into play almost immediately. Triumph has enhanced rider comfort with a taller handlebar and much more forward-placed footpegs as compared to the Trident. And thanks to this very neutral position and a generously padded seat, the Tiger 660 encourages all day riding.

What also helps is the large adjustable windscreen. The manual adjust mechanism feels a little flimsy but once in place, the windscreen does a decent job of deflecting the windblast. The entire 230 plus kilometres that I managed was a piece of cake for the baby Tiger.

However, I can’t say that about the pillion seat. My photographer had to hop on for a few kilometres and he wasn’t really happy as a pillion. For starters, the pillion seat is pretty high so getting on is a task in itself. The Tiger 660 also gets a lengthened subframe that is supposed to add extra space, however it’s still a tight fit unless both rider and pillion have really petite frames.

Relaxed ergos aside, the handling definitely lives up to the Sport moniker. The upright riding position helps place the knees flush against the fuel tank and that provides an ideal anchor point before tip-in. The baby Tiger just loves to take on corners thanks to the precise and direct steering while side-to-side transitions are swift and fluid. What adds to the brilliant dynamics are the grippy Michelin Road 5 sport-touring tyres that just give you immense confidence.

However, this handling feel wasn’t right out of the box. The stock pre-load setting on the Showas was too soft for my weight which is a tad over 85kg. The Tiger 660 was wallowing way too much on encountering mid-corner bumps. I had to go up as much as 15 clicks using the easy remote preload adjuster to make the motorcycle ideally stiff.

Taking on corners with a vengeance requires strong braking too, and the Tiger 660’s dual two-piston Nissin front calipers mated to 310mm discs bite really hard. There is a slight lack of initial bite post which the brakes come on really strong, but that could also be because this was a brand new motorcycle and the pads still needed to bedded in. Dual-channel ABS increases confidence, while switchable traction control and Rain mode, which softens throttle response versus Road mode, act as safety nets for less-than-ideal conditions or technique.

Triumph is known for making the best three-cylinder layout engines and the 660cc unit shoved inside this Tiger is no different. With 80bhp and 64Nm on tap, the Tiger 660 is extremely tractable with a very linear power delivery. While most of the power is available towards the middle, the engine is just as much fun when one wants to exploit the top-end revs.

While there are no major vibes, the engine does pass on some buzz through the handle bar and the footpegs closer to 8000rpm. But then, for its intended purpose of touring, the Tiger 660 happily chugs along at 100kmph in top gear with the revs at under 5000rpm. What was noticeable was that the engine does tend to get warm and I could feel it on my legs and this is despite the bike being used on the highways and in the relatively cooler climate of Uttarkhand. A proper review in a city like Mumbai will tell us how hot the Tiger 660 can really get.

Why should you buy it?

The Tiger 660 Sport does not really blow your socks off when singled out. It does not get top-spec suspension or electronics or have a really explosive engine. But then, when you place it next to its immediate competition which is the Kawasaki Versys 650 and the Suzuki V-Strom 650, it suddenly becomes a no-brainer. It has the competition beat when it comes to performance and handling and it also feels the most modern of the lot.

Price-wise, the Kawasaki Versys 650 is unbeatable at Rs. 7.15 lakh ex-showroom, but then you only get what you pay for with the Versys and nothing more. It’s close between the V-Strom priced at Rs. 8.88 lakh and the Tiger 660 at Rs. 8.95 lakh, with the V-Strom only having an edge with better pillion comfort over the Tiger 660.

The Tiger 660 Sport comes across as a well-balanced package that will not only keep the expert riders happy but will also not be intimidating for the new riders. It’s fast enough to keep the excitement going, mild mannered enough for daily commutes and will always be up for crossing continents when you want to. This baby Tiger has definitely earned its stripes.

Photography by Kapil Angane