Hello all. New here and new to Triumph. I am currently looking at purchasing a 2018 1200 Tiger XCA. I haven't had a chance to test ride yet (going in next month for that), but have read a good amount of reviews and feedback from both professional and non professional reviewers. Most of what I've read has been really great. On review however, from a magazine rider, brought up a point I have never seen and that is clutch engagement. They stated that it takes a more than usual amount of release of the lever to engage the clutch, resulting in a somewhat undesirable small amount of friction zone. On street this may not matter, but in dirt could be an issue Has anyone here , specifically those with newer models that have hydraulic clutches, experienced this or have any feedback on it? The reviewer did state that a small amount of this issue could be mitigated by the clutch lever adjustment itself, but still does address the whole issue Thoughts?
Hi Kingsly, i was looking at the 1200 XCA as well and experienced the long clutch release which TBH has put me off a bit. It feels like the clutch has seen better days as it only starts to disengage once its almost fully released. Clearly its absolutely fine but just feels odd! I subsequently test rode a GSA and that has a perfectly normal clutch feel so not sure Triumph will be keeping my business... Give it a try and see what you think other than that its a great bike!
I have an XCa a couple of years old, only owned it a few weeks. The clutch definitely bites out near its resting position. I actually like it there, very little pull required to change gear, but i think (only my thought and could be totally wrong?) they feel like we used to have moto cross clutches set up, with very little pull you could hang on to the bars and just flick the clutch on a finger or two..... it enabled the rider to hang as bike was bouncing all over the place. I will say i have covered a couple thousend miles and the bike is a dream so far, so good at everything generally. Only real issues i think are well documented for this bike, its high, its heavy to manually pull around and personally coming from a normal street bike, its big/wide. So will not go through some of the gaps the last bike would go through. I test rode the GS aswell, its better balanced at slow speed and maybe feels or looks slightly better built, its well proven as well. However against the Triumph it lacks looks and street cred,,,, but the main thing which swayed me was the engine. The triple is smooth and powerful all the way through and hums a decent tune aswell. In comparison, the gs engine feels like something from a tractor or some agricultural working engine
When I first bought my 2018 Xca the clutch did have an extremely late biting point, but I have adjusted the lever and put some miles on it and it’s fine now.
My 2018 XCa is like this too. I wouldn't mind a little more engagement travel but you do get used to it, I don't give it a thought now. The quickshifter on the XCa works very nicely at low revs so clutch use should be at a minimum too.
Well...I picked up the 1200 XCA, test rode it before (along with two other bikes), and honestly...I dont see the issue the reviewer I read pointed out. Clutch engagement is great. I love the bike, clutch, and power delivery. Thanks for everyone's input!
