Triumph is good at plugging niche areas and its latest newcomer is a beauty, and bound to be popular, the Tiger Sport 660. Think of this as a shrunken version of the second-generation Tiger Sport 1050, which was optimised for road work rather than dual purpose riding. Here in New Zealand TS 660 is available as a LAMS legal offering only, like Trident, its close relative.
This is an all-new machine, an adventure sport offering. Overseas, it comes with either a 60kW/64Nm engine or the A2 offering, but for the Australasian market it gets a LAMS legal 40kW/59Nm power plant only.
Triumph’s new Tiger Sport junior is aimed at riders looking for maximum versatility in their machine, equally useful for commuting, everyday riding, and longer trips. Most in this middleweight category are LAMS legal twins, so the triple, which is Euro5 compliant, offers a power, torque and performance advantage, just like the LAMS-legal Street Triple S then.
Triumph engineers have gone for low-down torque combined with strong midrange and top end performance, a triple treat. There’s said to be sufficient power and torque for two-up riding or touring.
Featuring a ride-by-wire throttle for precision and responsiveness, the TS 660 also has Rain and Road modes which affect throttle and TC settings. The gearbox is a six-speeder, with bidirectional quickshifter a cost option.
The development team aimed to set new handling standards for the sector. Suspension, optimised for a mix of ride and handling, one or two up, consists of 41mm USD Showa forks with 150mm of wheel travel and a matching Showa monoshock with remote preload adjustment on the rear. Dual rate springs are said to optimise performance for solo or pillion riding.
The twin seat is set at a height of 835mm and pillion grab handles are fitted as standard. A slim standover width helps with manoeuvrability at slow speeds.
Wheels are lightweight five-spoke 17-inch items shod with Michelin Road 5 tyres. Braking duties are handled by Nissin two-piston sliding calipers with twin 310mm front discs, and both levers are hand-span adjustable.
For long distance riding there’s a 17-litre tank while an aerodynamic screen is height adjustable by hand while on the move. Discreet mounts allow for the easy addition of accessory panniers. A 47-litre top box is also available and can evidently hold two full face helmets. The panniers hold 57L of gear in total, and can take a full face helmet each.
Other items include a TFT display which, via the My Triumph app, enables turn-by-turn navigation, GoPro control, and phone and music integration. There’s also a slip and assist clutch, full LED lighting, and self-cancelling indicators.
Special styling features include twin headlights, teardrop mirrors, sculpted radiator cowls and fork protectors. There are three colour options, blue and black, red and grey or black and grey.
Triumph claims the Tiger Sport 660 has the lowest cost of ownership in the category, with 16,000km or 12-month service intervals. There’s a two-year unlimited mileage warranty.
As with other Triumphs, there are over 40 different accessories available for the Tiger Sport 660, including heated grips, under-seat USB charger, scrolling indicators, and a tyre pressure monitoring system, along with luggage options.
The new addition arrives early in Q1 of 2022, and while no price is available as yet, we’d imagine it would be in the $15k region.
