If you have been giving the Triumph Tiger 1200 a solid look and thinking that maybe this could be your next new bike, a couple of special editions might just push you over the edge. Both of the bikes, built from the Tiger 1200 model, are “inspired by epic adventures.” Makes sense, because they’re adventure bikes. One is a “Desert” Edition and the other an “Alpine” edition. Sure, mountains and deserts can be adventures on motorcycles, but other than unique paint schemes and bold new graphics, what sets these bikes apart from an everyday Tiger 1200?

The Alpine bike, based on the Tiger 1200 XR, comes in “Snowdonia White” and the Desert, based on the XC trim level, comes in, of course, “Sandstorm.” Each has “dedicated graphics” specific to the edition as well as “metallized radiator badges.” The two bikes are shipped with Triumph Shift Assist “for clutchless up and downshifts.” This is probably the same thing as the Triumph Easy Shift, offered on the Triumph website as an add-on accessory for the base models, to the tune of US$ 495. The special editions also come outfitted, standard, with an Arrow exhaust, which is also available to the non-special bikes as an accessory, for US$ 895.


All editions of the Tiger 1200 are powered by a liquid-cooled 1213cc in-like three-cylinder engine that puts out 141 hp and 90 ft/lb of torque. They’re fuel-injected, ride on a single-sided swingarm with shaft drive, and deliver power to the rear wheel through a 6-speed transmission and a wet multi-plate clutch. They have adjustable suspension and switchable ABS. All of them ship with a multifunction TFT screen that tells you just about everything except what to make for dinner, and that’s where you can choose from among the six pre-programmed riding modes, too.

Each of these two special editions is priced at US$ 400 more than their base counterparts. What Triumph does not stress, and, in my humble opinion, very much should, is the suspension setup the special editions receive over their XC and XR counterparts. The XR and XC base models both ship with cast wheels, and only the XR with an electronically adjustable, semi-active suspension. According to the Triumph website, the special edition of the same bikes, for only US$ 400 over base, ship with the aforementioned quick-shift and silencer add-ons, as well as electronically-adjustable suspension for both. The Desert edition gets spoked rims that run tubeless tires on top of all that. These might seem like tiny differences to folks that don’t do too much off-roading, but electronic suspension and spoked wheels are a big deal in the realm of adventure bikes.

Triumph is making a great showing among the rest of the adventure-bike field, and with these upgrades and a price tag of US$ 20,100 the Desert Edition is a fantastic value for the price tag. If you don’t care too much about tubeless spoked wheels, the Alpine Edition, at US$ 19,300, is nothing to sneeze at either.