Norden 901 vs Africa Twin vs Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro

3112 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by jindisek, 4 mo ago

DarkWhiteChocolate

Discussion Starter · 4 mo ago

I just got back from a trip down Baja with my buddy, I rented a Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro and he rented an Africa Twin (2020 model) in San Diego for a little over a week. We switched bikes a couple times but I really got to know the Tiger 900 well by the end of it. We rode to Mexicali, Mike's Sky Ranch, Coyote Cal's, Cava de Pirita in Camalu, Ensenada and ended up crossing back in Tecate. We spent a little over 10 hours off road and over 1100 miles on road. It gave me a good taste of the alternate universe if I had bought a Tiger over a Norden.

Here's what I loved about the Tiger:

Nice big screen (night mode looked really good, but day mode not so much)
Good top end power (over 5k rpms)
FACTORY HEATED GRIPS!!! with a dedicated button on the grip
Windscreen that was adjustable while riding with 1 hand
Really nice seat foam, thick, soft and wide
Decent suspension, maybe a little better than the Norden as it never bottomed out with my 260lb, 6'4 frame and 50+lbs of gear.
The quick shifter was AWESOME!!!! After this trip I have a bone to pick with my dealer, my Norden is shit compared to the Triumph's quick shifter!

Here's what I did not enjoy so much:

Really small ergonomics, even with the seat lifted to the high position I was smashing my knees into the crash bars constantly. I still have bruises.
Terrible low end torque, the triple made me miss my Norden's tractor mode
Horrendous user interface, Took me 15 minutes to figure out the odometer and every time the bike turns off, it goes back to on-road mode (this caused me to lay it down once on some slick rocks after the traction control turned itself back on)
Low clearance (it may have just been perceived but I bounced it off of several rocks I thought I would clear)
Glossy tank paint that scratched easily and on the black model it looked like shit
Crappy fuel economy especially if you are cruising over 85-95mph
Starting the bike from the off position took up to 10 seconds sometimes, even in N, with the kickstand up and fully pulling in the clutch lever. This sucked off-road.

I only rode the AT a couple of times and liked the Tiger a little better of the 2 but it seemed really small and weak compared to the AT once you were on the bike. The other only crappy part was the guy who we rented the bikes from had street tires on the Tiger, this made the off-road parts suck, a lot! but it still worked out. The AT had major clutch slipping issues and it only had about 6k miles on it, I adjusted it 2x on the trip so there was almost no friction zone left and it still was bad.

At the end of the trip, both the Tiger and the AT were good, capable bikes. However, my buddy and I both came home missing our Norden's. I won't be selling mine anytime soon.

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Billsy

· #2 · 4 mo ago

Friend has a Tiger 900 rally pro. I’m hoping to do a little swop to compare next week when we go away.
The dash is massive maybe too big? The bike comes with a lot of things for the money and the build quality is great.
He’s used his alot off road and it’s stood up well with only a front suspension preload adjuster being renewed under warranty.

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hANNAbONE

· #3 · 4 mo ago

DarkWhite - thanks for taking one for the team, brutha. I had wondered if the Trumpet would be a contender - you proved it isn't for me.

I've owned many many Triumphs.

The Norden is still at the top of my list - followed by the Tuareg, which I haven't looked at for weeks --- but it is still on the short list.

I believe the Norden will hold its value better than the Aprilia. Just my thoughts. Plus all the extras you get with the Nord.

Thanks again for taking us along.....

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BetterByCab

· #4 · 4 mo ago

hANNAbONE said:
DarkWhite - thanks for taking one for the team, brutha. I had wondered if the Trumpet would be a contender - you proved it isn't for me.

I've owned many many Triumphs.

The Norden is still at the top of my list - followed by the Tuareg, which I haven't looked at for weeks --- but it is still on the short list.

I believe the Norden will hold its value better than the Aprilia. Just my thoughts. Plus all the extras you get with the Nord.

Thanks again for taking us along.....

Hi @hANNAbONE
I think if you were considering the Tuareg, vs the Tenere, that’s an easy one - The Tuareg all day for the features you get by spending another ~$2k. The only thing that would cause me to pause would be dealer support for Aprilia vs. Yamaha.

The Norden v. Africa Twin is a little tougher - for me it was a matter of the weight of the fuel being higher up in the Africa Twin, but everything else about that Honda was pretty awesome. I think the dealer support piece for KTM/Husqvarna/GasGas vs. Honda is probably pretty similar, maybe the edge goes to Honda for amount of dealers for service support.

I really enjoyed the Africa Twin, I have had the pleasure of having 3 pass through my garage. The most recent was a 2020, with a manual transmission, and the clutch / transmission was money - very smooth, very slick, very positive engagements. (My clutch hadn’t been cooked from previous riders on a bike that was for rent though!) I also hope that more manufacturers will be able to add (license?) CarPlay and Android Auto instead of what they end up installing as an alternative - Honda is ahead everyone else in this regard, despite only having it on the Africa Twin and the Gold Wing (maybe there are others).

The Norden might be the Cinderella at the ball though, I’m still looking forward to owning one. Soon enough!

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hANNAbONE

· #5 · 4 mo ago

Yeah, I've scratched the Tenere 700 off the list - too dirt oriented and not enough wind management.

The Tuareg is almost off the list too. The Nord has more HP and Trq and more comforts.

It seems to be just a better bike.

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Philipe

· #6 · 4 mo ago

DarkWhiteChocolate said:
I just got back from a trip down Baja with my buddy, I rented a Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro and he rented an Africa Twin (2020 model) in San Diego for a little over a week. We switched bikes a couple times but I really got to know the Tiger 900 well by the end of it. We rode to Mexicali, Mike's Sky Ranch, Coyote Cal's, Cava de Pirita in Camalu, Ensenada and ended up crossing back in Tecate. We spent a little over 10 hours off road and over 1100 miles on road. It gave me a good taste of the alternate universe if I had bought a Tiger over a Norden.

Here's what I loved about the Tiger:

Nice big screen (night mode looked really good, but day mode not so much)

Good top end power (over 5k rpms)

FACTORY HEATED GRIPS!!! with a dedicated button on the grip

Windscreen that was adjustable while riding with 1 hand

Really nice seat foam, thick, soft and wide

Decent suspension, maybe a little better than the Norden as it never bottomed out with my 260lb, 6'4 frame and 50+lbs of gear.

The quick shifter was AWESOME!!!! After this trip I have a bone to pick with my dealer, my Norden is shit compared to the Triumph's quick shifter!

Here's what I did not enjoy so much:

Really small ergonomics, even with the seat lifted to the high position I was smashing my knees into the crash bars constantly. I still have bruises.

Terrible low end torque, the triple made me miss my Norden's tractor mode

Horrendous user interface, Took me 15 minutes to figure out the odometer and every time the bike turns off, it goes back to on-road mode (this caused me to lay it down once on some slick rocks after the traction control turned itself back on)

Low clearance (it may have just been perceived but I bounced it off of several rocks I thought I would clear)

Glossy tank paint that scratched easily and on the black model it looked like shit

Crappy fuel economy especially if you are cruising over 85-95mph

Starting the bike from the off position took up to 10 seconds sometimes, even in N, with the kickstand up and fully pulling in the clutch lever. This sucked off-road.

I only rode the AT a couple of times and liked the Tiger a little better of the 2 but it seemed really small and weak compared to the AT once you were on the bike. The other only crappy part was the guy who we rented the bikes from had street tires on the Tiger, this made the off-road parts suck, a lot! but it still worked out. The AT had major clutch slipping issues and it only had about 6k miles on it, I adjusted it 2x on the trip so there was almost no friction zone left and it still was bad.

At the end of the trip, both the Tiger and the AT were good, capable bikes. However, my buddy and I both came home missing our Norden's. I won't be selling mine anytime soon.

Thanks for posting your comments on this. The Triumph is right up there on my shortlist so it’s great to hear about your experience. Which bike would you say has the advantage for on-road comfort and performance? I probably do 70% of my riding on twisty paved roads and a lot of it with a passenger.

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Donk

· #7 · 4 mo ago

hANNAbONE I am not suggesting you go with the Tenere 700 over the Norden but you may want to look up LongHaulPaul before you write it off the list. In spite of what Paul has done with a Tenere I would take the Norden hands down every time.

I'm pretty smitten with the Africa Twin. Fortunately I'm more smitten with the 890 Adventure and the Norden.

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DarkWhiteChocolate

Discussion Starter · #8 · 4 mo ago

Just to be clear, I think the AT and Tiger are great bikes, I was just so happy when I got home to feel that low end pull on the Norden. I was popping wheelies constantly yesterday and I could not have done that on the Tiger without trying much harder.

There is no perfect bike, and they are have there up and downsides. That being said, the Norden still is my happy medium if I had to pick one middle weight ADV bike...

Here's a video I made on the Tiger from the first part of the trip if anyone has 20 minutes to watch me try my hand at making a YouTube video:

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KrillOill

· #9 · 4 mo ago

I had a 2014 Tiger 800XC...that was enough Triumph for me...no more. After I rode my buddies 790, I realized how insignificant my Tiger was.

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Billsy

· #10 · 4 mo ago

When testing before buying I found the Tuareg a little under powered for road riding and felt like I had to thrash it everywhere.

Didn't take it off road so can't comment.

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