Comments on: MD First Look: Triumph Explorer XC (Bike Reports) (News)

By: RBen

RBen — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 23:54:42 +0000

I hope its working.

By: Joe Bogusheimer

Joe Bogusheimer — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:36:56 +0000

Styling exercise, as far as I’m concerned. Can you ride one of these (or a Yamaha Super Tenere, or BMW GS) off road? Sure, but you can ride just about anything off road if you’re highly skilled and/or some sort of masochist. You’re unlikely to enjoy it, and likely to break parts of either the bike our yourself if you attempt anything very challenging. Good touring bikes, though, especially for us lanky types.

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By: Les

Les — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:29:51 +0000

File this in the same place as the honda crosstourer and a bunch of other all dress up with no place to go bikes trying to take a bite of BMW’s pie.

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By: Les

Les — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:27:37 +0000

Possibly because this is how they advertise them. “Adventure” bikes. If your idea of adventure is riding to the coffee shop and drinking coffee while watching people walk by and look at your bike.

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By: paul

paul — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:03:49 +0000

@Mickey… don’t forget to reburnish your hub splines with moly paste once in awhile or they will be buggered.. lots of people with shaft drive systems think all they have to do is change or top-up the fluid periodically. I know that from my Valkyrie days.

@tim… don’t adjust your chain more than necessary or you will be going through chains all the time. I found that after the first 2 or 3 adjustments of a new chain to then let it run at full slack and just leave it alone. The chain will then last a long, long time after that, same with the sprockets. I just use a smear of 70% molypaste on the inside of the rollers for lube, leave the chain dry. Everything still runs and looks like new at over 20,000km.

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By: kjazz

kjazz — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:22:34 +0000

2nd paragraph….edit…”These things are NOT perfect for off road……”

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By: kjazz

kjazz — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:20:35 +0000

Maybe the folks that would post about the advantages are all out riding….instead of bitching about a bike they probably wouldn’t actually buy anyway no matter what was changed. I’m glad Triumph is buildng this machine, because somewhere, somebody is very exciting about it and will buy it and ride it and enjoy it. And that makes the motorcycle world go around! If I weren’t a GS owner already, I’d probably give it some serious consideration.

No there things are perfect for off road, but some guys (with a LOT of talent) can ride them in very tough conditions. Where I think this Triumph and my GS excel….is on the very real crappy roads we have. IOW, you dont have to go OFF road to enjoy an OFF road oriented bike. Race tracks are pretty near perfect, so clip ons and hard saddles and tight seating positions aren’t that bad for short amount of time. But on the REAL roads of the world, something like this really is a much more comfortable and nimble mount. And there are riders out there that appreciate that.

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By: John Tuttle

John Tuttle — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 13:20:24 +0000

As before, there is a great deal of criticism piled on, because this bike, like other similar bikes, is not as capable off-road as compared to smaller, lighter, purposeful off-road bikes. Okay, but I have to make two comments. First, you aren’t saying anything that isn’t obvious to anyone who isn’t brain dead. Second, the question you are answering is the wrong question. The only question that makes any sense to consider is whether a bike of this type offers greater flexibility and practicality than a typical sport-tourer with wheels that are wider but smaller in diameter, and with ergonomics where you have more bend in your knees and probably greater reach to the handlebars. Why do so many people look to find a way to criticize rather than look to find advantages that are manifest. And why does this happen far more with this very practical type of bike than it does with cruiser-style bikes, which are mostly about style and little about function? I just don’t get it.

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By: iliketoeat

iliketoeat — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:42:17 +0000

Under 150kg dry is good if ALL you do is dirt. But if you’re sometimes riding on a paved road for a long time, a light off-road bike is a huge pain in the ass. Quite literally. These bikes look like a good compromise – they do well on the highway and well on dirt roads.

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By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 23:32:46 +0000

Just the usual, cleaning, adjusting, maintaining and replacing. The usual stuff. I just ride quite a bit and have 3 bikes, all with chains. I also hate the expense. I replace them myself, and even then it isn’t that cheap. I’d write a check, but I pretty much refuse to pay someone to do maintenance that I’m capable of doing. The Versys, in particular, has been pretty hard on them (I’ve seen other Versys owners make the same complaint.)

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