Triumph upgrades, revives Daytona, enters new era with TF 250-X
By Ben Purvis
The current Triumph Tiger 1200 only reached dealers in 2022, so it's still a pretty fresh face, but the bike has already come in for some substantial changes for 2024 models that will be available from April.
Based on feedback from some of the 14,000-plus customers who've bought the Tiger 1200 since its launch, Triumph has opted to rework the 1,160 cc three-cylinder engine, adding a heavier crankshaft and generator rotor and rethinking the balance shaft with the aim of improving low speed tractability and to make the bike easier to ride off-road.
The change comes just months after a mid-2023 update that saw all versions of the Tiger 1200 get improved Showa semi-active suspension capable of dropping the rear ride height by up to 20 mm as the bike comes to a halt, making it easier to get feet flat on the floor.
Triumph's latest engine changes don't alter the peak performance, 150 PS at 9,000 rpm and 130 Nm at 7,000 rpm, but promise better useability.
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| Tiger 1200 Rally Pro |
The range is now made up of four models, the GT Pro, GT Explorer, Rally Pro and Rally Explorer, with the original entry-level version, the Tiger 1200 GT, dropping out. For 2024, the two 'Pro' models get the damped bars and risers that were previously exclusive to the Explorer versions. Both GT models get repositioned footpegs to increase cornering clearance.
Meanwhile, there's a quiet revival underway in the market for affordable, middleweight sports bikes as a growing number of manufacturers rediscover the all-rounder formula that made machines like Honda's CBR600F so successful in the 1990s.
Triumph is the latest to join that trend, reviving the Daytona name for the new Trident-based Daytona 660. While it would have been simple for Triumph to wrap a fairing around the existing Trident 660 roadster, instead the company has taken a more in-depth approach. Yes, it uses essentially the same steel frame, three-cylinder engine, tank and rear bodywork as the Trident, but there are revisions throughout.
Going up against an increasingly strong group of rivals that includes the likes of Yamaha's R7, Kawasaki's Ninja 650, Honda's CBR650R and Suzuki's new GSX-8R, the Daytona 660 has a unique selling point in the form of its three-cylinder engine and manages a combination of performance and price that its competitors struggle to match.
Where the Trident uses a 60 kW (80 hp) version of Triumph's signature three-cylinder engine, the Daytona 660 packs a 70 kW (94 hp) variant, slotting exactly onto the power limit for bikes that can still be detuned to 35 kW and used with an A2 licence in Europe.
The extra performance comes from a new cylinder head, crankshaft, camshafts, valves and exhaust header, but most importantly from the adoption of three individual throttle bodies instead of the single throttle used on the Trident. All the extra performance comes by moving the peak power higher up the rev range, without any loss in torque at lower rpm, with the maximum power arriving at 11,250 rpm instead of the Trident's 10,250 rpm.
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| Daytona 660 |
Torque is increased by 9%, too, with a peak of 69 Nm at 8,250 rpm, and there are three riding modes: sport, road and rain. The changes to the chassis include a steeper steering head angle, changing the fork rake from 24.6 degrees to 23.8 degrees, while the offset is increased and the wheelbase lengthened a fraction to 1,425.6 mm. Revised final drive gearing takes advantage of the engine's wider rev range.
Finally, it has been 40 years since building magnate John Bloor took the reins at Triumph - buying the company out of receivership and embarking on the slow journey back to prominence as a global motorcycle manufacturer - but this year's new TF 250-X marks one of the biggest steps since then as Triumph dives headlong into the off-road market.
The new motocross bike doesn't come as a surprise. Triumph has been open about its development since 2021 and already plans to add a larger 450 cc model next year alongside a pair of enduro models and has even adopted some big names including Ricky Carmichael and Ivan Cerventes into the project to make sure it's heading in the right direction. A works entry in the 2024 FIM Motocross World Championship has been set up with former Kawasaki team boss Thierry Chizat-Suzzoni at the helm and Monster Energy sponsorship, while a second works squad will compete in the AMA SuperMotocross World Championship.
For 2024, all those efforts will be focused on the new TF 250-X, the first dedicated Triumph motocross bike of the modern era, and customers can buy the same machine right now from a growing network of dedicated Triumph Motocross and Enduro Centres across Europe, the USA and Australia, with the target of 300 such outlets due to open by the end of this year.
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| TF 250-X |
The TF 250-X itself packs a DOHC single-cylinder, 250 cc engine that features a 78 mm bore and 52.3 mm stroke, numbers that are fairly consistent with the measurements used by rival machines. A high, 14.4:1 compression ratio is more extreme than most, though, and the engine is packed with exotic components and materials including titanium valves and a forged aluminium piston. Helped by Dell'Orto fuel injection, the bike is claimed to have the highest power-to-weight ratio in its class, although Triumph hasn't announced the exact power figure.
Weight is kept to an impressive 104 kg (wet) thanks to an aluminium spine frame, which is fitted with KYB suspension at either end - 48 mm forks at the front, a piggyback shock at the rear - with full adjustability including separate high- and low-speed compression damping at the back. Brembo supplies the calipers, gripping Galfer discs, while the wheels use Dirtstar rims and machined aluminium hubs. As with the company's street bikes, Triumph appears to be targeting a high standard specification, but there are still options to improve the TF 250-X. You can add a titanium Akrapovic exhaust, improving throttle response and cutting weight further, and a variety of race-oriented add-ons including the MX Tuner Pro, a launch control system and an XTrig holeshot device.
The bike managed podium positions at its first competitive event, the opening round of the Spanish Motocross Championship, where Mikkel Haarup took two second place finishes and teammate Camden McLellan manged a third and a fourth.
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