Head to head, the GS has more refinement and features, while the Tiger counters with a more enjoyable engine and a lower entry fee.
Once the roads straightened out, we appreciated the Tiger's soft suspension that flattens bumps as clean as anything else we've sampled. It's cushy, all right, but sometimes it feels unrefined and clunky. Both bikes have a hydraulic preload adjuster on their rear shocks, but unlike the GS's knurled knob that allows simple adjustment even while riding, the Triumph's adjuster disappointingly needs a wrench to turn.
Straight-line cruising brings out the subtleties of a bike. The GS engine has more pronounced vibration, but its low-frequency vibes are less obtrusive than the higher-pitched tune of the Tiger that will result in hands feeling a bit like Rip Van Winkle after a long day. GS vibes intrude above 4200 rpm, but a super-tall, overdrive sixth gear keeps revs below that level up to 85 mph.
On the Tiger, an indicated 75 mph in sixth equals to about 5000 rpm, nearly at its power surge around 6000 rpm. As such, the Triumph stomps the GS in sixth-gear roll-on contests. But in fifth gear, it's the GS (now out of overdrive) that jumps to an early lead and holds the small margin through 100 mph. And in a drag race from 20 mph (so that the variable of start-line techniques is eliminated), the Tiger pulls a small gap, but doesn't increase its advantage through "the ton." An unexpected result considering the snappier impression from the Tiger's engine.
Bikes that are competent during freeway running, backroad strafing, racetrack blasting or even playing on the beach - all while hauling a bunch of cargo for a few thousand miles - are rare beasts.
Our fears of being disappointed were laid to rest, as the last detour of the trip proved there is no other class of bikes we could have the same array of adventures on, and certainly not with the same level of comfort, speed and grace.
Pismo Beach is a sandy playground along the coastal waters of California, a place where ATVs and paddle-tired dirtbikes roost. While the street-oriented Tourances weren't suited to the deep sand, the 500-plus pound bikes are deceptively competent in the damp stuff at the ocean's edge. Try that on your R1 or ST1300!
So, what have we learned during this 2000-mile adventure?
Well, BMW's GS is a finely engineered machine that offers features the Tiger can't match. But these attributes come at a price, $14,500 to be exact ($12,990 without ABS).
The Triumph can't compete in its level of refinement, but you'll have a big wad of cash left over in your pocket to comfort you. The Tiger lists for $10,999 (plus $1250 for the luggage), but a local dealer told me I could take one home for just $8999.
Ken uses the wide powerband of the Tiger to carve up Pismo.
So if shaft drive, anti-lock brakes and standard heated handgrips are on your must-have list, you won't be disappointed by choosing the R1150GS.
If you consider the above items nice to have but not absolutely necessary, Triumph's Tiger 955i offers better value for the money.
One last thing: If manufacturers are going to market these kinds of globe-trotting bikes, how about fitting more than one tripmeter to the instruments, please?
