I booked the motorcycle in December 2021 and it was delivered to me in June 2022.
BHPian nbhat24 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Here’s my review of the big cat & the baby Tiger; the Triumph Tiger Sport 660! But is it really sporty as the name suggests? Hmm, yeah I can agree on that.
So why I chose Tiger 660?
Well, I was riding a 250 earlier. The beautiful Yamaha FZ25. And I had always dreamt of buying a superbike but never had an interest in ltr class bikes, even today I wouldn’t buy a ltr class. I was always interested in 500-600cc segment and looking for the same. I personally felt this segment is sufficient for my usage/purpose of ride and not to forget our road conditions and how bad our traffic discipline is!
Bikes I tried
Back in 2020, just before we entered into the COVID phase, I went into Benelli to try TRK 502. Not the X, just the 502. Hell of a beauty & really was/is a beast. First impression was a great impression but I kept cool because I knew I shouldn’t compare 502 with my previous 250. It will obviously push you to buy the 502 because the power/handling/feel is entirely different. What I wanted to do was to compare the 502 with the same segment bikes. I personally felt the weight-to-power balance of TRK 502 was poor. 47 PS pulling a 230-245kg bike didn’t make sense to me. Plus I realised the CG of the bike would make me more uncomfortable on uneven surfaces, hilly roads. Hence, I strongly held myself from buying it and waited.
Then came the news of Honda CB500X. I was super excited! Thought of giving it a shot. I was disappointed about the pricing once it arrived. Karnataka being the highest road tax levier, made it even higher. An 8.56L for a 47 PS was too high for me back then! Plus the look of that bike was not really worth the price! Would’ve bought it if it was somewhere between 6.5L & 7L. Coming to Versys 650; Nah! Heavy plus seat height was high for me. I even had been to CF Moto and tried their 650 bikes. Bikes were okayish!
Which other option did we have back in 2021 in the 500-600cc segment? I don’t really think we had any. Royal Enfield was way out of my league. Never considered buying one for myself. That left me nothing but to wait.
The real ONE
Finally a piece of good news! Aug-Sep 2021, news started circulating saying a new model is coming out and there was this beautiful baby Tiger camouflaged with wraps roaring on the roads of the UK and it was specifically mentioned, “to be launched in India in early 2022”. When I saw the camouflaged version itself, that just was love at first sight for me. Crossed fingers for better pricing.
The Launch
October 5th, 2021. Beautiful baby Tiger was launched globally. Watched the launch event with excitement and fell in love with the red one. I read almost everything about it, checked all the details. Now I was waiting for the India launch. Booking in India was opened by the end of October. I took another month to think, read, study, etc and finally booked a red on December 16th, 2021. Nobody knew about the waiting period, onroad price, and not even the launch date in India. When I booked, there were already 16 bookings in Bengaluru. There were only rumours about everything. I just waited without any other option.
March 29th, 2022 the beautiful Tiger Sport 660 was launched here in India with an ex-showroom price of 8.95L and 9.08L specifically for red ones. In Karnataka, on road price was almost 11.5L. Was the price ok? Looked a bit high but the engine, that roar, the looks deserved the price.
Well, yet another wait of 3 months and boom, I took the delivery of my bike on June 3rd, 2022. Can’t express those feelings of getting a new bike, doesn’t matter how big or small is the bike.
It’s been a year now and I have completed 10k kms on the bike. I believe it’s time now that I can share my opinion/review of this bike. Has my opinion changed from calling this bike as beautiful to something else? Not completely true nor I deny it.
First ride, first impression, first month and first service
I never took a test ride! Why? Because there was no test ride bike at all. There’s only one showroom for the entire Karnataka state. And there was no test ride bike. I bought this bike straight away after studying it theoretically. Even the 2 bikes which I owned earlier, I bought without taking a test ride. Yamha FZ S 2013 model and Yamaha FZ 25 2017 model. Both of them were successful for my purpose and fulfilling my desire of riding bikes. A few people suggested me to wait till I take a test ride but I had no such patience nor I had any doubt on Triumph motorcycles.
First long ride before the first service was Bengaluru – Mangaluru and return covering almost 750kms. I think that was the 10th day after I bought the bike. RPM has a running -in feature in it and starts blinking at 4.5k as I remember for the first few hundreds and then shifts to 6k for the next few and then shifts to default after 900-1000kms. I went in for 1st service at 998kms on 27th day after the purchase. Costed me 5.9k for oil, oil filter change & other basic checks. Ultimately, the first impression was the best impression. No doubt it was really sporty.
The Review
Overall, I seriously love this bike but yes there are certain limitations too! After all, nothing is perfect! But could’ve been better for the price set.
Loved:
- Handling (CG position good, can manoeuvre easily & confidently)
- Looks (beautiful, can’t question much about it)
- The roar (that smooth roar is a symphony)
- Braking (Nissin calipers & brake pads are very good)
- Tyres/grip (Michelin Road 5- soft compound)
- Decent headlight (decent as I checked without aux light for a few hundred kms)
- Seat height (though it’s 835mm, short rider can easily manage as the seat goes down at least by 15-20mm when the rider sits plus the front portion of the seat is narrow allowing legs of the rider to reach the ground easily).
- Optional Bluetooth module.
- Optional quickshifter.
- Optional heat grips.
- Optional many other accessories (Around 40).
- Visor is movable up & down as per requirement.
- Aerodynamics.
Didn’t like:
- Pricing is a bit on the higher side for a bike without a single default accessory (at least a radiator guard or handguard or a top rack)
- Plastic quality is poor for a “premium” bike. (Rattling noise on rough/bad roads)
- Visor quality is poor. Visor goes down at high speeds due to vibrations.
- No optional cruise control.
- Foot pegs are small, could’ve been better.
- Display could’ve been better.
- Switches on the handlebar work pathetically during rain or after a water wash. A proper anti-moisture spray is required.
- Fuel gauge sometimes stops working after a water wash. Starts working again after a small ride. (My group mates don’t have this issue on their bikes).
- Availability of parts! Too much waiting. Minimum waiting period is 30-40 days for everything. Not sure if it’s only with the Bangalore service centre or everywhere.
- Ground clearance is too low that the engine oil sump hits speed breakers in Bangalore itself. It’s even more riskier while with a pillion. Oil sump is the bottommost part after the tyres, I would say.
- No proper provisions for aftermarket aux lights or even the horns.
- Horn holder attached to the radiator is very poor. The holder gets loosened every now & then.
- The mudguard length is too low. You can see the radiator getting dirty quickly.
Did I just balance the positives & negatives?
But there are certain points in the list of negatives which can be compromised and lived along with. Because on the other hand, positives make more sense.
Conclusion
Do I regret buying this?
Nope, not at all. I have a habit of finding solutions for problems and succeeded in handling most of the negative points mentioned above. Overall, I’m satisfied with this beautiful baby Tiger.
I will post different accessories I fitted/installed on my bike which might help people when deciding.
Keyword: Bought a Triumph Tiger Sport 660 without a test ride: 10,000 km review