Triumph 800Xrx test ride (with pics)

Well I’ve now had 14 months back on in the saddle but, apart from an initial Pegaso test ride and a day on a Honda CRF250L, all I’ve ridden since then has been my trusty TDM900. So it’s time to see what I’m missing…
First up was the newish Triumph 800Xrx, chosen on the strength of some good reviews in the mags. Blade Cheltenham sorted me a test ride: first impressions good – we reduced the seat to its lowest setting (very simple task) and after the big Yam it felt compact (well, small) and I could get both feet flat on the ground – notwithstanding my 28 1/2″ inside leg.
Setting off into the Saturday traffic it immediately felt easy to ride: very smooth at low revs, light and well balanced. Getting out of town on the Evesham Road it proved very responsive, zipping past slower traffic and instilling confidence.
Turning right at the Teddington roundabout took me onto my old 1970s stomping ground, where I learnt to properly ride on another Triumph – a 3TA several years older than my 18 yr old self. Less traffic here so I started ticking off the pubs of my youth: The Hobnails, The Gardeners Arms (Alderton), The Bugatti, The Royal Oak (Gretton) and on into Winchcombe. On these country roads, mixing curving A roads with twisty Bs, the Xrx was 10 on the grinometer: quick to get up to speed when revved hard and really agile around the many bends. This was the first triple I’d ridden, so the extra revs and that high pitched, muffled snarl were new to me: I liked it.
I seemed to be going much quicker than when doing the same roads on the TDM, and it certainly corners so much more easily, but looking at the speedo I think that due to the smaller size it may just seem quicker – like getting into the Mazda MX5 after the Jag. But it’s definitely great fun on the Xrx – in 75 minutes of throwing it around I never had one ‘moment’: just a continuous grin-inducing blast. Feels so safe….
So took it up to Cleeve Hill quarry to do a photoshoot and then back via Southam, Stoke Prior and various little hamlets (OK, I got lost around Staverton!).

Triumph 800xrx

So, as a back road scratcher the Xrx is fantastic – smooth and really flickable: changing direction instantaneously. On bigger A roads it overtakes quickly, with just the occasional squirm on tramlines; a little turbulence is noticeable between 80 – 110mph, but the small screen does a great job. Although apparently the same dry weight as the TDM (190kg) the Triumph feels much smaller and lighter: that ride by wire response and extra few horses (94 compared with about 85 for the Yam) makes the Xrx feels much quicker out of the blocks and incredibly sure-footed around bends. The brakes are good enough, probably made less dramatic by the ABS, and the gear selection info on the clear instrument panel helps when the revs are low and the engine a bit quiet. As this bike already has engine bars and hand guards, the only mod I’d want would be aftermarket cans. It would be interesting to ride the Xrx with pillion and luggage but I’ll have to leave that for some one else to report.

The ride home (via Blakeney, Parkend and some good Forest twisties) reminded me that the TDM can still do the job – although it’s much lumpier at low revs than the Xrx, the parallel twin sounds gorgeous through the Beowulf cans and the lack of ABS meant that it was back to two-wheel slides as the R1 brakes help stop me carrying too much speed into yet another corner…
If the big Yam cornered like the Xrx it would be my perfect bike.