Triumph Tiger 800 XC review report whatever

[africajim]

I bought a Triumph Tiger 800XC at the beginning of 2011 and following a summer season here in the UK I would like to report my findings, if for no other reason, to clarify the half truths regarding my complaints over the last six months.

Following the press releases through the MSN I was intrigued by the new bikes to be launched by Triumph this year, the Tiger 800 and 800XC. I then went to the open night held by my closest Triumph dealer, Shirlaw motorcycles in Aberdeen for a close up look at the release of the bikes. (Closest, but a round trip of 140 miles)
Not being put off by the fact the salesmen never contacted me to organise a test ride, as he had agreed, I went over with SteveT from this forum to take both bikes out for an hour. Impressed by the XC I spoke to my local bike dealer (non Triumph) if he could supply me with a Tiger and any problems regarding servicing . Willie Young motorcycles, Elgin, Morayshire, said it wasn't a problem, he has supplied me with numerous bikes, some new, and I have no problems dealing with Willie and continue to use him for servicing and tyres.
A new Tiger 800XC was ordered in February 2011. I was given a delivery date of three weeks, this was then extended to seven weeks due to the frame colour change, which meant I had to use the Mighty varadero for the Boil rally in Cumbria and the Galloway forest rally in April. This was irritating but I accepted it, (would be worth the wait I thought).
The bike finally arrived so I put the intitial 600 miles on to the bike in a week and proceeded to get it serviced at Willie Youngs to save the 140 mile round trip to Aberdeen to Shirlaws for the Triumph service. Willie carried out the service, no problem, but a spanner icon on the dash was still there, clocking up the miles since service due! I had to take half a days holidays to travel 140 miles to Aberdeen to Shirlaws to have the icon removed and the the service limit reset. So, loss of time, petrol and wages. Annoying? You decide.
Ok, 1500 miles on the clock and I'm off to the Stella Alpina Rally in Italy, a two week trip around Europe. Thirty miles into Holland off the ferry and the ECU light comes on! Also noted the gear indicator is not showing the correct gear! Do you cancel all your holiday plans? As the bike is running ok I decide to live with the warning light and the fact the bike won't start without the stand up! A week into the trip, the 12v power socket next to the ignition stops working, refuses to power satnav or phone! A temp workaround in place, we continue our trip!
Back in Britain, two weeks later, the bike is transported to Shirlaws in Aberdeen, where it sits for another two weeks waiting repair. Eventually it's fixed and returned to me. Iritating? You decide!
So, onwards, a month later, and the power socket stops working, again! Triumph dealers, Shirlaws and Team Roberts (who supplied the bike) both state the accessory power socket is an "accessory" and as such not covered by warranty, I have to pay £27 plus labour to replace! On the instruction of Willie Young Motorcycles, I send a letter of complaint to Triumph regarding a socket, supplied by Triumph, on the bike, has failed and their agents, Shirlaws and Team Roberts have refused to repair under warranty. The response from Triumph was breathtaking to say the least! They have advised me as I have bought the bike and had the bike serviced outwith their dealer franchise this may affect this and any further warranty claims! To compound this, Shirlaws in Aberdeen have told Willie Young motorcycles Triumph have spoken to them regarding this issue and if my bike comes into their shop it will be "rolled up the back" and forgotten about! As my next closest Triumph dealer is in Edinburgh, round trip of over 300 miles, my service and warranty cover from Triumph is now untenable. This and the last four recalls by Triumph have rocked mt faith in Triumph as a manufacturer.
To compound this further, the 6000 mile service is now due and I have been informed "don't call us, we'll call you". I now have a Triumph Tiger 800XC sitting in my shed, has been for two weeks now, requires servicing and new tyres. The end of the season for me is in one week, this weekend I'll take the Mighty Varadero out, just like I did last weekend.
The saving grace for this whole sworded tale is, thank f*ck for Honda! The Mighty Varadero has stood in for the Tiger on so many occasions over the season. The Varadero has covered far more miles than the Tiger and given me no grief whatsoever. Next month both the Varadero and the Tiger will be replaced by the Ickle Beemer (F650ST) for the winter months, another solid motorcycle that never lets me down.
So, to sum up, I love the Triumph Tiger 800XC, it has been a brilliant motorcycle to ride, covered eight countries in Europe, climbed the mountain at the Stella Alpina, and made it home with no more than a small electrical failure, which never impeded the bike. It has a brilliant power spread which, unfortunately requires much fuel to achieve max thrust! Suspension, lights and handling make this a very competent motorcycle. BUT,,,, the lack of customer satisfaction and the hassle caused by Triumph and their franchise dealers have proved too much for me. I now have a bike that cost me more than £8k sitting in my shed like a pointless paperweight due to servicing issues, caused by my logistic issues? Well, maybe, but none the less, I will be selling the Tiger and will NEVER own another Triumph motorcycle.
Just my opinion, but a word of caution to everyone in the north of Scotland, fall foul of Triumph or Shirlaw and you'll live to regret it. I'm expecting to lose a couple of grand over this, an expensive lesson to be learnt. Triumph UK? Shame on you.
Bring on a decent Honda adventure bike to replace the Africa Twin, or the dark side (BMW) comes forever closer.

Decades of riding, mostly on Hondas, this has been the worst year for me, EVER! Triumph? GO YOU OWN WAY!

[scouse]

First year of new model... always worth waiting for a the second version to come out... bit like never install a new version of MS Windows until it's up to a third Service pack

[outrunner]

New model or not, it's still crap service from a major manufacturer and a franchised dealer!


Andy.

[Udders]

Lings Triumph in Watton have a shockingly bad reputation too! All smiles until you buy a bike then they couldn't give a shit about you. Rude staff (if they speak to you at all), don't return phone calls etc...
I don't even bother calling in anymore. Two mates now use Orwells in Ipswich which is a shame cos they both live in Watton!

[Freeloadeur]

Sorry to hear about all your problems, it sucks big tinge to have a great product let down by appalling customer service. If I could suggest one thing before you sell it, perhaps for those cold winter days, ring your local Trading Standards office for a chat and some advice. It may be the last thing you want to do, but sometimes the only way people will take notice is when someone with authority gets in touch.

Or there's always Watchdog...

[Tramp]

Sorry to hear of your disappointment Jim ..

But I was always under the impression that regarding manufacturer warrenty`s concerning servicing..that as long as the vehicle is serviced according to their specs and with spec oil etc you can have it done by who you wish...

sure the manufacturers contact the service agent if any probs come to light as in your case, BUT it all sound like typical Triumph Dealers :whistle: .

Honda`s might be old school technology but they never let you down
I`m sure you wont have much problem selling your bike in the spring.

[davecopland]

Mornin Jim , Sorry to hear this , it looks like things have gone from bad to worse since I saw you last . As Freeloadeur mentioned it might be worth a wee call to Trading Standards which might do no good but may raise awareness of triumph`s & shirlaws crap service . Plus , as you know I`m thinking of a new bike so a trip to shirlaws could be fun as I wonder what they would say if those of us who live up here went in and said we like the XC ...... BUT ?
:evil:

[jasext]

Thanks for the honest write up ,have been looking into buying an xc but after reading some of the issues the bike has been having i am put off slightly ,there have been quite a few for sale lately with quite low miles in dealers ,fully kitted up with under 10k for less than £6000 ,makes you wonder why these people are selling them back to the dealers and taking a huge loss .
Out of interest could you pm what price your looking for if you decide to sell the xc ? might be worth a gamble at the right price

[AckAckFlack]

Sorry to here this Jim
I do hate warranties and I kind of avoid them wherever I can , mainly by not buying. Ew I suppose!
Reading this Jim you love both bikes but it is the dealer letdown which is hurting.

Team Roberts are local to me and I have only ever bought a 2nd hand varadero 125 from them which didn't stay long after passing he bike test so I cannot comment on them other than from a sales point of view.

I agree with getting in touch with what ever the Scottish version of trading standards is.

On a lateral thi king moment. Rather than losing money on the XC why not carry on using your local dealer for servicing, keep it until the warranty has finished anyway and then sell it privately - most of the loss is in the first year or two anyway.

The varadero is old faithful and you gotta love it, sadly there doesn't seem to be a replacement for the Africa twin and by the time there is it will be so electronically complex that you will be back to ECU lights coming on and having to plug it into a laptop at the dealers.

What I have learned , sadly from your problems, don't buy a bike or car new from a dealer where you can't visit it easily.

[Darren]

Lings Triumph in Watton have a shockingly bad reputation too! All smiles until you buy a bike then they couldn't give a shit about you. Rude staff (if they speak to you at all), don't return phone calls etc...
I don't even bother calling in anymore. Two mates now use Orwells in Ipswich which is a shame cos they both live in Watton!

Ditto this worst thing about owning a Triumph in Norfolk is Lings