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Gone Riding: Triumph Tiger 800 XCa

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Riding bikes is what we do, and the dude abides, so I am out here in Moab, Utah swinging a leg over the new Triumph Tiger 800 XCa – the British brand’s fully loaded middleweight off-road focused adventure-touring bike.

Kitted with extra goodness, the XCa is the more premium counterpart to Triumph’s other off-road 800cc model, the Tiger 800 XRx…and if you are confused by Hinckley’s alphabet soup, don’t worry, you are not alone.

To be clear, the Tiger 800 XCa is the fully-loaded off-road model, complete with a 21″ front wheel and 17″ rear wheel. It includes also things like a heated seat and grips, an aluminum radiator guard, and LED lighting, 

New for the 2018 model year is a bevy of updates, namely a revised dash and smoother three-cylinder engine. Triumph says that there are over 200 changes to the Tiger 800, though you would have a hard time seeing them. This truly a model refresh, not a new machine.

Still, these are welcomed updates to the class-leader, and I have high hopes for riding the XCa on Moab’s dusty and dirty trails – the previous edition was a very capable off-roader, after all.

Per our new review format, we will be giving you a live assessment of the new Triumph Tiger 800 XCa right here in this article (down in the comments section), and there we will try to answer any questions you might have.

So, here is your chance to learn what it’s like to ride the Triumph Tiger 800 XCa, before even my own proper reviews are posted. As always, if I don’t know an answer, I will try to get a response from the Triumph personnel. So, pepper away.

You can follow our thoughts on the bike live via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Ducati Desert Sled ADV Alaska Prototype by Earle Motors

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Just the other day, I was lamenting to a Ducati person about how the Desert Sled should have been the first model from the motorcycle makers Scrambler sub-brand…since, you know, it goes off-road quite well.

Built for the hard hits and jumps that come with taking a production street bike scrambling through the woods, the Desert Sled pretty much lives up to its name. But, if you really want to do the business, some changes need to be made.

This is where Alex Earle comes in the picture, with his Ducati Desert Sled “ADV Alaska” Prototype. A designer for Audi by day, Earle is known better in motorcycling circles for his street-tracker inspired custom Ducatis. You’ve probably seen them before.

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Dirt

Is a Baby Africa Twin Coming from Honda?

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The Brits over at MCN have an interesting story right now, whereby Honda is considering making a middleweight version of its Africa Twin adventure-tourer.

Really, that thought isn’t so shocking, and if this year’s EICMA show was any indication of things, it’s that the middleweight ADV segment is of particular interest to motorcycle manufacturers right now.

One look at Honda’s lineup, and it is obvious that Big Red is missing something that can go head-to-head with bikes like the BMW F850GS and Triumph Tiger 800 (I’m willfully excluding the Japanese brands here), and the soon-to-come KTM 790 Adventure and Yamaha Ténéré 700.

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Bikes

The KTM 790 Adventure R Prototype in Action

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I am always kind of amazed that when KTM shows its hot new bikes at a trade show like EICMA, the Austrian brand does such a bad job sharing the media it creates. Such is the case with the KTM 790 Adventure R prototype.

As such, only a handful of studio shots were released to the public upon the bike’s debut in Milan, Italy. But yet, KTM has clearly gone through the trouble of doing photo shoots with the middleweight ADV machine, and still the “Ready to Race” brand isn’t spreading the love.

Fortunately, we do have a couple photos of the KTM 790 Adventure R prototype, lifted from KTM’s Facebook page, and they do entice.

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BMW Debuts Revised F750GS & F850GS Models

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The middleweight ADV segment is hot in Milan right now, with a bevy of models in this category debuting at this year’s EICMA show. For BMW Motorrad, its a two-pronged effort, showing the updated BMW F750GS and BMW 850GS models.

This space has always been a big crowded in the BMW motorcycle lineup, with the F700GS and F800GS having considerable overlaps. For 2018, the Germans explain how they see the F750GS and F850GS as differing.

Accordingly, the BMW F750GS is designed for riders who prefer a travel enduro that has a low seat height, good power, and plenty of bang for the buck.

Conversely, the new BMW F850GS boasts more power and torque, is more feature-heavy, and is designed with extensive off-roading in mind.

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Bikes

Officially Official: KTM 790 Adventure R Prototype

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We were the first outlet to bring you photos of the KTM 790 Adventure R prototype, but now this 799cc trail-shredding machine is out in the wild, and we can share with you more specs, details, and higher resolution photos.

The first point is the obvious, the KTM 790 Adventure R will not be a 2018 model, but instead will debut for the 2019 model year.

It shares a parallel-twin engine with the KTM 790 Duke, which also debuted today at the EICMA show in Milan. The 105hp engine is a fully stressed part of the steel-tube chassis, which means there should be excellent weight savings for the 790 Adventure R.

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Moto Guzzi V85 – A New Platform, A New Enduro

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A quirky bike in its own right, the Moto Guzzi Stelvio had a strange cult following behind its bulky adventure-touring frame. As such, it was missed when it disappeared from Moto Guzzi’s lineup.

Well, now it’s back…sort of.

The following is what’s being called the Moto Guzzi V85 concept. It’s a loud enduro model that picks up where the Stelvio left off, and it also boasts a new 850cc engine platform from the Italian brand, which with its 80hp, will sit between the V7/V9 family of bikes, and the big 1400 cruisers.

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Bikes

Triumph Tiger 1200 Gets Much-Needed Overhaul for 2018

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The name of the game for Triumph’s 2018 ADV bikes is subtlety, but effective updates for the upcoming model year. As such, we have already seen at the EICMA show in Milan that the Triumph Tiger 800 gets modest updates for the 2018 model year.

The 2018 Triumph Tiger 1200 too gets a much needed overhaul, though like the Tiger 800, the changes are hard to spot on the full-size adventure-tourer in the British brand’s ADV lineup.

Triumph is quoting a 22 lbs weight reduction for the new Tiger 1200 though (note the name change too, by the way), along with over 100 other improvements found on the adventure bike.

The biggest improvement comes to the 1,215cc three-cylinder engine, which makes just shy of 140hp in its shaft-drive format – just as it did in 2017.

Hoping to make a splash with adventure riders with its 2018 edition however, Triumph has been sure to pack the Tiger 1200 with a bevy of premium features, starting with WP Suspension’s semi-active suspension pieces.

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2018 Triumph Tiger 800 Breaks Cover with Changes

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The Triumph Tiger 800 gets a refresh for the 2018 model year – 200 of them, if you believe the British brand, though they are hard to spot with the naked eye.

While not a completely new ADV bike, the 2018 Triumph Tiger 800 does get meaningful upgrades to a variety of its core systems, helping it maintain its status as the benchmark in the middleweight ADV category.

Triumph tells us that the 800cc three-cylinder engine has been made more responsive, while peak power remains at 95hp. The Brits have also shortened 1st gear, for better low-speed character. The exhaust has been worked over, as has the new five-position windscreen.

Of course, the feature you will be really happy to hear about is the new “Off Road Pro” mode (XC models only), which lets one turn off the various rider aids, which is ideal for off-road riding, especially if you are a pro. So…that name makes a bit of sense.

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Yamaha Ténéré 700 Is Still A Prototype ADV Model

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Last year, we were teased with the Yamaha T7 concept, a bike we expected to become a 700cc Yamaha Ténéré adventure machine. A year has passed now, and finally we can see the new Yamaha Ténéré 700 at this year’s EICMA show…or so we thought.

Based on the parallel-twin engine found in the Yamaha FZ-07, the Yamaha Ténéré 700 World Raid promises to bring a potent middleweight adventure bike to Yamaha’s dual-sport lineup. But instead, it is yet another prototype teaser from Yamaha.

We are Jack’s utter disappointment.

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The New Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports Brings More Off-Road Goodness to the ADV Trail

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The Honda Africa Twin gets a sibling for the 2018 model year, as the Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports debuted today at Honda’s pre-EICMA launch event.

As expected the Africa Twin Adventure Sports is a more off-road focused version of the Honda Africa Twin, and comes with a robust set of features that make it easier to go globetrotting on the plucky adventure-tourer from Honda.

Like on the now revised 2018 Honda Africa Twin, the Adventure Sports version comes with improvements over the original Africa Twin design.

This includes new foot rests, a new instrument panel, ride-by-wire throttle control with three throttle maps, seven levels of Honda’s traction control system, a new exhaust design, and a lithium-ion battery.

Internally there are some changes as well, like a modified airbox, which improves the mid-range response, as does a lighter balancer shaft. 

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