Previous generation Tigers were nice looking but doesn’t live up to its’ name. They were too big, too road oriented, and ungainly off road. It should be called Triumph Hippotamus 1050 as it is still as vicious as the said name. The newest Tiger 800 and it’s taller brother, XC (as in cross country), are the real Tigers: easy handling everywhere and anywhere from Timbuktu to Nowheresville in Nowheresania, lightweight , rugged and tough, skinny, practical, and beautiful plus lethal. The Tiger 800′s main diets are dirt, snow, mud, grass, water, hills, rocks, and so forth with occasional desserts of asphalt, preferred rough New York City streets and San Francisco’s pothole laden roads.

My buddy and I demo’ed the Tiger. He on the Tiger 800 and I on the Tiger 800 XC. Sitting on it, the XC felt very tall but not intimidating. Feels the same as sitting on an actual dirt bike but only couple hundred pounds more. Wide bars gives a feel of total control, adjustable levers on both sides, good location of the dashboard plus easily readable, small stock windscreen that is not much of a bother, and good thumb controls on both side of the handlebar. The saddle’s spot on but I only put in about 6 miles or so on it. Haven’t tried to put hundreds miles on it to get the feel of the saddle but am sure it is comfy. My buddy said that the shorter Tiger, u can easily put your foot on the ground and I second that after sitting on it. He sat on the XC and it is tall. That’s a good thing since it’s height perfect for serious off roading.

The motor, oo wow, the motor is amazing. Good traction, thanks to dirt oriented gearings. I wonder what it is like with some upgrades. Surely, it’ll be fast. Possibly much faster than BMW F800GS. Note to self: test ride the Beemer ASAP. Anyway, the engine is similar to the street triple but only bigger, 125cc more. Oo, it has three cylinder. Seems like Triumph loves three more than four. Is Three their lucky number? I think so.

We took to the street of San Francisco with a group of other riders. On every bumps, cracks, holes, and dips, the Tiger loves them a lot. On a very curvy and bumpy road on Twin Peaks, it gripped to the asphalt with much confidence including near full lean. Great stopping power on both brakes. Great tires! They’re Pirellis Scorpion Trail.

I highly recommend this Tiger 800 XC. It’s the bike to cross Siberia, the bike to commute to work and back home, the bike to tear up the backroads, the bike to take a mud bath with, the bike to do anything. Oo hey, I am sure your partner would love a ride with you on it because the rear seat looks good too. Great grab handle too but get a top box and she’ll be much more happier.

I got great photos too. Took’em with my iPhone. You know what, I would love to test ride every motorcycles and blog’em online. Motorcycles are good for your health, really. It does gives smiling wrinkles on your face a lot.

On a Saturday afternoon, I managed to demo-ride the new Multistrada 1200 S. The bike wasn’t what I expected as hyped up, heavy, or whichever opinions from my mouth that would negate the new motorcycle. This machine is the sweetest (not one of the sweetest, IT is the SWEETEST) ride of all rides. Quoting like Tolkien wrote on his famous books, this bike is the Motorcycle to Rule All Motorcycles! If you’re a good rider, it’s imperative that you must demo it or, heck, buy it.

Okay, I have list of the sweetest rides I have ridden: Honda Hawk GT650, KTM SuperDuke 990, Ducati Multistrada 1000s (which I have now), Ducati HyperMotard, BMW K1200R, Leo’s Harley Davidson FXDX and KTM SMC 640. I have ridden a lot more bikes but they never do much for me and “Yawn” factor setting were high and I am not going to list them at all. Well, if you ask me which is the worst, the list is short or which is mediocre, the list is long. The worst I’ve ridden was a Harley Davidson Classic Heritage. Possibly the worst of all worst, maybe worst than an Enfield. Okay, Ducati’s new Multistada 1200s is the sweetest of all because it does everything you want it to do for you. It’s a combo of all bikes. Like your favorite smoothie, it’s a mix of my favorite bikes, the craziest D. Hypermotard, the comfy HD FXDX, the 160hp of madness from BMW K1200R, the versatility of the old Multistrada, and the trustworthy of the fabled Honda Hawk GT. Set it to blend it and pour it in a cup, you’ll have the Multistrada 1200s. It’s that awesome!

This bike will be your Swiss Army Knife. Using your left thumb, click and hold the button five second, find a setting that matches the environment you’re at. You’re in NYC, press to Urban then the bike set itself to 100 hp, soften up the rear and front shocks. You’re on a fast sweeping Pacific Coast Highway, press to Sport, the bike growl itself to 150hp, stiffen it’s leg readying to tear the road apart leaving blistering marks. You got a hot woman wanting to go to Vegas on your hot bike as quickly as possible for a weekend of romping, set it to Touring plus two up rider with three hard luggage full of lingeries and sex toys, you two will get there in no time with no complaints. Need to escape a fat-doughnut-eating-highway cop, set it to Enduro and disappear to San Cabos Lucas. Enduro will power down to 100hp and grow long legs.

My experience with this bike is YEOW! Gas it, the rush’s a warp-zone. The seat’s a couch unlike previous Multistrada’s plank seats. The computer dashboard’s an easy read. Starting up the bike is way too easy, keyless, really! Keep your keys in your pocket, walk up to your bike after drinking a espresso and flirting with some hot gal, sit on your bike, push the button and GO! Windscreen’s adjustable, perfect! The bike center of gravity is pure perfection, easily flickable!

Okay okay, I’ll say it… the Ducati Multistrada 1200S is pure perfection!

Anyway, we left Burlingame back to San Francisco, met up with the guy at VW dealership. We get to test drive the new VW Jetta Sportswagen TDI.  This certain car has a nice panoramic sunroof. Leather upholstery. Few other neat additions to this silver sportswagon.  I have to say this that this car is miles better than the Subaru we test drove back then.  Amazing power, smooth ride. Excellent DSG transmission. Comfy cockpit and Orkid loves the passenger seat. Roomier. Step on the gas and boom, you’re on the other end of the block. Yeow.  This IS the CAR and Orkid said the same thing.  A note to residents of the bay area, you want this car, get it from Royal Motor Sales located on 280 South Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, CA 94103. Their website is http://www.royalmotorsalesvw.com. What’s cool about them is that they DO NOT DO MARK-UPS which several other dealership in the bay area have done so.  MARK-UPS are sign of robberies. I would buy any VW, Audi, or Mazda from Royal. Nice people though.

A nice silver VW Jetta Sportswagen TDI

Anyway, back to the VW car, the engine is a well-built motor. Heavier than gas-specific engines and that’s how diesel engines are because it’s design to tolerate high compression. Most funny thing is that the dealer told me some nut put his nose behind the exhaust pipes and he couldn’t smell or breath anything nasty from it. Of course, the engine is the latest diesel tech and have special filter in it unlike older diesel cars. The MPG of this zoomy car is, woof, 32 city and 40 freeway. People who owns them have reach 50 or more mpg. Now we’re working on getting it. We’re not in a rush really. If we miss it and have to wait next shipment then that’s okay.

What about Subaru Diesel? Nevermind them, they’re lagging behind as usual. We are not going to wait for them to bring the Boxer Diesel cars to come to the USA. It may arrive 2012 or 2019 or whenever. Too bad! Subaru, you’re missing  the opportunity, big time.

Hey, you’re about to have a child soon, a mini-van is a better buy? Shut the fuck up, peeps! There’s no way we’re getting such a lame vehicle to stock up on lots of useless things. Mini-Vans are the bane of road, a blight, and a dangerous one. Mind you, think having children running around in the mini-van considered fun and safe? I ride a motorcycle every-frickin’ time and I keep seeing mini-vans weaving all over the road. Hell, my close calls, in higher numbers, were always mini-vans! Few of them were SUVs and lame-duck drivers. By luck, I married a woman who hates mini-vans like they’re made of pork. The Sportswagen’s roomy, very roomy. So, shut up and hide under your mini-van’s back-row seats. There’s one thing I like about mini-vans, they’re great to take pictures of big brown bears breaking in for food while the Fat family picnicing somewhere else. Bears love to tear up mini-vans into pieces in search of food.  Hell, I can actually smell something putrid from these vans. I reckon it’ll be spilled milkshakes, crumbs of fast foods, cookies, forgotten diapers, and so on. Yak, what do bears see in them?

Wow, I ranted a lot about mini-vans, don’t I?  Ah, back to work, bye now!

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