Sand or snow, special-edition Tiger 1200s are a Triumph for luxury and value

Triumph have released two new special edition Tiger 1200s that come with some new paint and some fancy trinkets. Called the Desert Edition and the Alpine Edition, they’re basically slightly posh versions of their mid-range XCx and XRx models.

The Desert Edition is inspired by the world’s more arid climates and gets a sand coloured paint job to match, while the Alpine Edition is more hairpin Italian bends and comes in a lovely white colour. Ok with that nonsense out of the way, what do you actually get?

Both bikes pack the same 1215cc triple, which pumps out 139bhp and just shy of 90ftlb of torque – both of which are more than enough to be getting on with. 

They also come with full colour TFT screens, semi active suspension, lean sensitive traction control, cornering ABS, cruise control, keyless ignition, heated grips and even an electric windscreen.

The XCx based Desert Edition also has off-road riding modes, a sump guard, off-road footpegs and spoked wheels. Other than the fancy paintjobs, bagging yourself a special edition model also gets you bits normally saved for the XCa and XRt including a quickshifter, autoblipper and Arrow titanium exhaust.

The Desert Edition will set you back £15,500, while the Alpine Edition costs slightly less at £14,700. Both bikes command a £400 premium over the existing XCx and XRx, however the extra parts would cost a lot more than that if you specced them, so the new models are actually a bit of a bargain.

As always, MCN will bring you an in-depth review once a bike becomes available. Keep an eye on the website for more.

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