Triumph Tiger Tramontana Rally Build

One of Triumph's most exciting projects yet designed for the deserts of Africa.

Published on 09.22.2017

It’s one of Triumph’s most exciting bike projects to date. Developed from a Tiger XCX base and designed by two brothers, David or Felipe Lopez, from Triumph’s chassis development team.

The Tramontana bike gets its name from the north winds that blow across the Pyrenees into Spain where the brothers are from. The heavily-modified Tiger 800 project bike has been six months in the making and is purpose built for competition in the blistering heat and treacherous terrain of the African Desert.

The Triumph Tiger Tramontana is a pure competition bike that will be raced in the Panafrica Rally starting this weekend. The two competitive brothers have been training hard in the run up to the 2,000km Panafrica Rally, to see who is best fit to take the rider’s slot. The Panafrica runs in a loop out of Erfoud, Morocco, over five challenging stages through the Saharan dunes, and will give the test rider engineers a chance to gauge the full potential of their creation.

“This is a racing bike and it’s going to be raced in the most extreme terrain and conditions over distance, so the primary focus has always been function over form,” says David.

Triumph Tiger Tramontana Key Mods

• Rally instrumentation
• Lighter headlights
• Adapted subframe designed to support all the new components
• Custom windscreen to cover and protect everything
• Modified body panels, sump guard, seat and rear mudguard
• Shorter rear end to improve mass centralization
• Longer suspension travel and revised rear shock linkage

“The modifications we’ve made to the Tiger Tramontana take the all-round capability of the Tiger 800 to a much more focused level required for this type of extreme off-road riding, so the off-road capability has been enhanced significantly to be comparable to all of the rally enduro racing bikes in the field. The things that have changed have changed for a reason, either to improve performance, to reduce weight or for more appropriate functionality in racing conditions,” reveals David.

Could we see a special edition production version of the Triumph Tiger Tramontana some day? Lordy we hope so! For more information on Triumph’s build, go to Triumph’s For the Ride website.

Author: Rob Dabney

Rob Dabney started a lifelong obsession with motorcycles at the age of 15 when he purchased his first bike – a 1982 Honda MB5. Through his 20’s and 30’s he competed in off-road desert races, including the Baja 250, 500 and 1000. Eventually, his proclivity for exploration led him to dual sport and adventure riding. Rob’s never-ending quest to discover what’s around the next bend has taken him on Adventures in Mexico, Africa, Europe, and throughout the American West. As a moto journalist, he enjoys inspiring others to seek adventure across horizons both near and far.

 10 Comments Tags: PanAfricaRally, RallyBike, Tiger800, TigerTramontana, Triumph

Author: Rob Dabney

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10 thoughts on “Triumph Tiger Tramontana Rally Build”

Bob on September 22, 2017 at 11:34 am said:

This is a very exciting development, and buildout, to me. I was sitting on a 2017 800 XCX just yesterday. Beautiful cycle, and in the weight range and riding style that I would use it for.

I’ll bet these two brothers are Basque. Handsome, and tough, those folks. Thinking of my brother, I can imagine how that competition is going between them. I hope their value of family (very high in Basque folks) survives it.

I would love to see some of these race cycles idea incorporated into the 2018 model lines, tho I suspect it will be some time (another model year?) before they make it to a production bike.

The competition in this cc range is really heating up: KTM, and Yamaha will likely have new offerings in this midrange category.

I have a couple niggles with the Triumph models. First, and major, is the subframe. Who the heck figured that welding it on, was a good idea?? If you bend it in a drop, you total the cycle. Sure you can bend it back, and break the paint (allow for rust). That’s just not a good idea. Just about everyone else knows this, and fastens it in place with bolts.

The other niggle is pretty minor: The XCA model offers a 650W alternator. Triump should make that standard across the model lines. I would buy an XCX for a few more bucks if I could get the upspec alternator installed by the factory.

Really, that’s it. Brilliant cycle otherwise. Nice race buildout too!

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- Rob Dabney on September 23, 2017 at 8:50 am said:
  
  You’re right, nothing like competition between two siblings. It’s good to see Triumph testing and developing a more hardcore off-road model. They will need something to compete against BMW, KTM and Yamaha in the midrange, once those new models are released. Good point about the subframe on the Tigers. That does not make a lot of sense to have it welded on. The midrange should get very interesting in the next few years. Thanks for your comments!
  
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Gritboy on September 22, 2017 at 7:36 pm said:

Love my Tiger800 xc. It’s great to see it built out fully for rally racing.

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RobG on September 25, 2017 at 10:05 am said:

I have a 2017 Tiger 800XCA… love the bike but it’s already at the absolute limit of seat height for me (29″ inseam), so these guys must be a lot taller. 🙂

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John on September 28, 2017 at 10:25 pm said:

What’s total weight after mods?

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- ADV Pulse on September 29, 2017 at 12:18 pm said:
  
  Unfortunately Triumph hasn’t released that info.
  
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- mark on October 3, 2017 at 12:06 pm said:
  
  still too top heavy. needs weight low for better CG! I know. I have a 15xcx.
  
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Jud on September 10, 2020 at 4:51 am said:

So, Rob, I have a 2018 Tiger Xcx… This is one of the few builds i can find pics of with a fender eliminator. What did you use for that? Did you make it yourself? and Did you have to replace the entire back deck because it is one piece and contains the seat key hole in it? Thanks man! Tiger Pilot J!

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