Until a few days ago i planned to buy the new Africa Twin (the main reason being DCT and also many dealerships in case i have a problem somewhere), but Honda ruined it and shortened the suspension (more details in the Africa Twin thread)

In my opinion the second hand price for the old Africa Twin model is too high, BMW does not have the F850 GS in Thailand yet (i was told next year) and the KTM 1090 is too expensive.

 

https://www.triumphmotorcycles.co.th/bikes/adventure-and-touring/tiger/2018/800/variants/tiger-800-xca

 

Monday i contacted the Triumph dealer in Khon Kaen, the guy answering their Facebook chat writes english very well, so communication was no problem.

He also directly invited me to come to the shop and make a test ride. Yesterday i went to Khon Kaen to see the bike in real and have a test ride.

The guy answering their Facebook chat also speaks english very well. We had a look at the bike and he asked if i want to test ride it, which i did of course want.

I was a bit surprised that he didn't ask me for anything, he just gave me the key and let me go (no contract, no passport copy, no deposit)

 

Off i went for my test ride. The review videos on Youtube and what people write about the bike are very accurate.

It gets quite warm in the knee region from the hot air comming from the radiator/engine, but it's ok, not uncomfortable warm.

I have some buffeting at my Helmet, not sure yet if it comes from the windshield (changing the height didn't change it) or from the mirrors.

But to get rid of this by changing the mirrors (some people got rid of it by using mirror extenders) or adding a windscreen extension is not a too big deal.

Other than that i didn't have any complaints, comfortable ride, very smooth gearbox, more than enough power, handles well.

 

Triumph seems to have some permanent promotion, advertising a "free gift voucher" for their bikes, for the XCA that's 40k THB.

But that's not really a gift voucher, it just means you pay 40k less, no idea why they don't just lower the official price. So the official price is 625k THB.

After negotiating a bit more the maximum his boss was willing to do is an extra 10k discount for paying cash. So they sell the bike for 615k if paying cash.

 

To be fair one has to compare it with the standard model Africa Twin which costs 550K (Honda doesn't give discounts, especially not on new models).

So the Triumph costs 65k THB more, but for this you get a lot of extras (the heated seat is obviously not needed in Thailand) and i think it is actually better value for money.

 

So right now i'm thinking if i really want to buy this bike and which color i want ?

Anybody else here riding one? Comments about the bike?

I have test rode the XRT in Ubon and was very impressed how easy and light it felt to ride. Just need some money to buy it now!
I think I’d go for the silver bike as it looked right against the colour of the frame and uniform silver parts on all models/colours.


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Go for it - you know it makes sense.

Plus, give your money to Mr Bloor rather than Corporate Big Red.

Other option would be a S/H GS800 Beemer - fair few on the Thai used bikes sites for decent/cheapish money...

I thought someone commented on the other thread that you can still get the new Africa twin at the right height?..

i like the triumph but if it was a choice between the two think I’d take the Honda,

Triumph - no doubt.  We're not professional riders who need a specific tool to do a much needed task - we buy bikes and ride them for pleasure.  If we applied pure logic, we'd all ride a Wave.

 

The Triumph triple will give you more enjoyment than a utilitarian parallel twin.  The Triumph looks great, sounds glorious and has a cooler name.  Just ask yourself, what would Steve McQueen do?

The Tiger is a great bike, I love my 2017 XCX.
However service and spare parts are crazy expensive.

7 hours ago, taninthai said:

I thought someone commented on the other thread that you can still get the new Africa twin at the right height?..

That was myself, because it looked like this on a picture which i saw on facebook from the standard model. But the Big Wing shop here in Udon and their headoffice shop in Bangkok both told me that it has the same shortened suspension as the Adventure Sports

Bit late on this thread but for others reading or if you haven't yet made up your mind.

i have a Triumph Bobber and I use  Khonkaen Triumph for my servicing. A truly excellent dealership. The Manager there is very professional.

Regarding the Triumph Tigers. I'm just in the process of buying an XCA from Khon Kaen. Keeping my Bobber for shorter journeys but will use the Tiger for distance, touring and minor off-road fun.

the tigers are an excellent all round package and in my opinion offer very good value for money once factoring in the 40k voucher and any other discount you can negotiate. 

 

Personally, I'd go Triumph over Honda any day of the week.