Featured 2026 Triumph Tiger 800 Sport Tour

I picked up my new Triumph Tiger Sport 800 Tour last Friday.










Then I road it 50 or 60 miles and was smiling the whole time. The bike is very nimble and responsive. I haven't had time to adjust the suspension yet but experienced no issues. I just have to make sure the sag is set and dial in the damping. The riding position is very good and I get enough wind protection, not FJR wind protection but I was looking for less anyway because it is warm and dry in Spokane and the vented gear will work well with this bike on hot days.

I am coming off an FJR and I am looking forward to having something lighter and more nimble. I also have a 2021 Triumph Tiger GT Pro and I enjoy that but the Tiger Sport 800 with it's 17" hoop and sport bike chassis is something I will appreciate.

After Friday's 50-60 mile ride I rode it 195 miles today. Here are some first impressions.

I have a Cardo TalkPack Edge. I usually connect the phone and the headset through my Garmin 590 GPS but haven't mounted it yet. Today before the ride I paired the Sport 800 with my Galaxy S25 phone. Turned the key off. Next I repaired the phone to the Cardo then started playing music that is local on the phone. When I started Triumph the music quit. So I unpaired the bike from the phone and the music returned. Soon I will get the GPS installed and be back what I know. I don't see this as a big deal it is just interesting the bike wants to be the center of the bluetooth experience, otherwise the headset won't work. This in fact was in the owners manual.

Many YouTube reviews pan the display. I was out in sunny blue skies today and had no trouble seeing it. It is easy to read, operate and understand. I have a Tiger GT Pro with the TFT display, it is nice but the joystick is used for scrolling through screens and selecting OK/Reset and the turn signal is in the way of the joystick making it easy to press in instead of down. When scrolling by the Trip display it is very easy to reset the trip. This is annoying when you use Trip 1 for fuel and Trip 2 for overall trip mileage. The Tiger 800's Ok button is independent of the scroll button and I am thrilled about that.

Speaking of the display it reset the time, the date and the odometer mileage. It may have reset other things too but I don't know what the defaults are. I didn't disconnect the battery or complete any electrical mods. Very strange. It is on my watch list and I will discuss this with the dealer. One last comment on the display. When the heated grips are turned on the display indicates the level with a lamp and then lamp goes out until the button is pressed again to change the heat level, thus the lamp is not not constantly displayed after selection. Odd and normal operation says my friend who owns a Sport 800.

For the first 150 miles or so (see the prior paragraph) the tach flashes when the 3850 rpm is exceeded. This increased to 5000 rpm after 150 miles. So that is the break in rpm guide for the first 200 miles. Try finding that in the Owner's Manual! The engine is the heart of this bike. It is fun, the quick shifter is very good and the engine is very smooth. My buddy says the bike makes lot of power after 6000 rpm. I won't see that for another few hundred miles.

The Owner's Manual as we know it from back in the day is a PDF file I had to ask the dealer for, it was not included even as a QR Code in the strange 3 booklets I got one of which was how to ride a motorcycle safely. Humbug. I did receive a fancy Triumph branded foldable zippered document holder I will likely never use, it is 9x12 inches - it looks suitable for a well healed attorney.

The Tour seat is likely going to be redone by Legendary Best Motorcycle Saddle the same company fixed the seat on my Tiger GT Pro. I don't think it is that comfortable. I am a seat snob and recommend Legendary after using Russell Day Longs since 1986.

The windscreen in the top position allows the wind to hit my helmet just above the visor and the wind noise is a excessive even with foam earplugs. It is not buffeting. So I am looking a Puig or Givi windscreen. The screen as nearly upright - I think noise could be reduced if the screen was in a less upright position, unfortunately this is not adjustable.

I don't have the suspension dialed in yet. Today I increased the rear shock preload (it was all the way out) to get it close. I am 230lbs. So far the suspension is less supple than the GT Pro which has two more inches of travel front and back or so, no suprise there. The Sport 800 handles well, is nimble easy to ride and is ergonomically comfortable, less the seat Over all I prefer the suspension on the Sport 800 to the GT Pro as it inspires confidence where as the GT Pro has significant fork dive and I have a bad habbit of using the front brake when I come into a turn a bit hot. Not a good combination. I learned the habit on my 09 FJR which had after market suspension, read track capable components so I could get away with it.

Those are my first impressions. I can't wait to run up the engine through the gearbox after running in.

Sunday I dialed in the suspension. My on the road adjustment was off one click on the rear preload, not bad for a back yard mechanic! I set the rear damping to 1.75 from full soft. I set the front forks 1.75 from full hard, Triumph's recommendation.

After this I measure the seat to windscreen height in the full up position. It measured 22 inches. On my FJR and Tiger GT Pro it measure 26" inches. How about that. So a Givi D6421ST is on order and I got a 10% Easter discount, nice!

Today I installed the Fenda Extenda Extra on the front fender and the Extender on the rear fender.

Here are some images of the install.



A functional front fender.




The dealer says they can fix the AM/PM issue with the clock. It displays 2:41 AM when it was 12:41 after noon.