Having completed my trip up to the Arctic on my Suzuki and with the GS sold – I needed a new bike. The brief was for a cheap big trailee with less need for off-road capability but with good touring ability – and hence – reliability. No more being stranded by the side of M6 with a broken gearbox for me. ‘Fun’ was fairly low on the wishlist – what I really needed was a workhorse.

On the list were the Honda Varadero, a Suzuki VStrom and the Aprilia Caponord ( which I very nearly bought ). BMW’s were out – too expensive and I don’t trust the reliablility.  Then, the day after I sold the Suzuki, a post came up on UKGSER advertising this ’07, 1860 mile old Triumph Tiger at a really good price. For some reason I hadn’t considered the Tiger, but it made perfect sense so I bought it.

The previous owner had seen Long Way Down, ordered the tiger and taken his test. He rode the bike on and off for a year and basically decided that motorcycling wasn’t for him – and decided to sell it. It has just about every factory extra on it ( panniers, topbox, centre-stand, heated grips, alarm/immob, etc ) and is pretty much immaculate. It was also set on it’s highest preload setting on the rear and had the seat in the highest position, so it’s no real surprise that the previous owner hadn’t got on with it – I’m 6.1 and it was set too tall for me!

Anyway, we agreed a great price and I even got a virtually brand new Arai Chaser thrown in as well ( which I would have had to buy anyway as my old Arai is completely knackered ) and I rode it away that night. The bike fits the brief perfectly with the added bonus that it is great fun with that triple motor, and I love the way it looks too.