Tiger Explorer Explorer - What To Look Out For

@FeralSquirrel Really depends on service and previous work, Owners and condition. Those Sprints seem to just go and go and are capable of very high miles if looked after. The explorer i have no knowledge of so hopefully someone will pop along to advice you. And as bikes are having a slow start this year haggle like mad.

 

I had (and loved) a launch model Explorer 1200 bought in 2012.
The main disadvantages:
Very tall (makes U turns difficult!). Also very heavy (250Kg) but only noticeable when making U turns…!
After 50K, 6th gear kept jumping back to 5th. Eventually the whole gearbox seized. It is a cassette type box, and so easy to pull out and work on. Found the fork selectors twisted, and so rebuilt the box replacing all the parts that needed to be. £500 roughly. Took the opportunity of repacing the final bevel gear drive to the rear wheel with a good 2nd hand unit as they were prone to issues after the 50k mark.
Launch models had cheap exhaust manifolds, and quality of paint and brake fittings quite cheap and nasty.
I am sure a lot of these ‘failures’ were ironed out in successive years, and a 2015 model should be fine

Advantages:
Should have been a race bike! The torque and power were/are awesome! Handled superbly - you only had to think of cornering and the bike just did it! Great riding position and comfortable for long days.
Really looks the part. Pisses all over the GSR 1250….

 

I've got a gen1 from 2012 with about 30k miles on it, had a couple of years. I bought it after having owned a GS, a Versys and having test ridden the 1050 Tiger and I absolutely love it. Plenty of power, comfort, turns well for a big lump and is pretty smooth.

The only problems I have noticed are a noisy clutch basket (I think - it goes away when I pull the clutch level in) and it sounds a bit tappety when warmed up. It rides lovely though, even at high speeds whereas the Versys vibrated my hands numb and I couldn't make shapes out when glancing in to the mirrors at anything over 60mph.

Fundamentally the engine runs and sounds fine and if I was brave enough to want to mess with it, it'd be close to perfect. If you know how to resolve such "extra noises" issues then it's pretty hard to fault it as a tourer.

I've just noticed that this thread is 3-weeks old already, did you make a decision yet?

 

I've been eyeing up an explorer for so long now, 100% my dream bike, I'd love an XCA I think it is, has the fancy wind screen / quick shift, etc

there used to be a bit of art that compared all the different models, but I can't find it anymore >.<