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48 | February 2011 www.ride.co.uk

Reliable, grunty, fine handling Great value, plenty of choiceGood spares and tuning back-up

Three reASONS YOU WANT A FALCO

Words Kev Raymond

Eclipsed by the flasher, brasher RSV, the Falco is Aprilia’s best kept secret

APRILIASL1000 FALCO

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Here come 2012’s bikes… maybe

There are concepts and then there are concepts. The two extremes are well represented by the four machines here, all

unveiled at the recent Milan show.At one extreme we have the Honda V4

Crosstourer Concept. The official line is that it is simply a concept, a showcase for some ideas that may or may not materialise on a production bike at some stage.

It’s an adventure bike with the VFR1200’s engine and its optional DCT gearbox – but that doesn’t mean, say Honda, that this is what the next version of the VFR will be like.

We don’t believe them – unless they mean that this will be the one after next, with a Pan European-style tourer coming in between. Whatever the truth about this bike’s status, it looks 100 per cent finished, down to the proper legal number plate and custom-built luggage, and we can’t think of a single reason why they wouldn’t go ahead right now.

At the opposite extreme is Honda’s other offering, the New Mid Concept. There were lots of heads being scratched in its vicinity when it went on to the stand at Milan, some of those heads belonging to Honda employees. This time we do believe them when they say they want feedback from the public about whether we’d want to see something like this our roads.

It’s big and expensive looking, a maxi-scooter from the front, a bit CBF1000 from the rear, with some DN-01 in there somewhere. But what’s it for?

BMW, meanwhile, aren’t trying very hard to pretend that the Concept C is anything other than a tarted-up pre-production version of their much-hinted-at maxi-scooter. It’s the sort of thing that gets shown as a concept to get the public used to the idea of such a radical departure – the first scooter in BMW’s long and varied history – so that by the time it actually goes on sale it appears quite normal.

And the oddball Husqvarna is the BMW-owned company’s way of warning us to expect some proper road bikes soon.

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Four concept bikes from the Milan show. We know which one we want

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NEW BIKES

February 2011 | 113www.ride.co.uk

Tiger 800TriumphTriumph’s new all-rounder is one of 2011’s most eagerly awaited bikes. So, how good is it on and off the road?Words Matt Hull

FIRST RIDE

Rumours of a 675cc-engined Tiger have been circulating for years and now it’s finally here. And it’s far better than we ever

dared hope. It’s far from being a parts bin hash-up and is instead an all-new bike designed to be the perfect all-rounder with an adventure twist.

In fact the Hinckley-based company have actually released two models – the road-biased Tiger 800 and the more off-road focused Tiger 800XC.

Triumph have aimed the Tiger 800 at the rider who spends most of his time on the road, but who likes the riding position and practicality of an off-road bike, whereas the XC has been designed for the rider who wants to add some serious off-roading into the mix and be able to head down any track, no matter how challenging or demanding.

Tiger 800A brand new tubular steel frame twists over the brand new engine and is visible, thanks to the minimal bodywork, all the way to the back end, which has useful bungee hooks and pannier fittings.

The brilliant engine produces 94bhp with an impressive 58lb.ft of torque and a silky delivery at any engine speed. It’s loosely based on the inline triple from the Daytona 675, though the only interchangeable parts are the conrods, clutch, gearshafts and cylinder heads, which have different porting. The same throttle bodies as the Daytona are fed by a new air box. This feeds from the rear to prevent dirt and stones entering and to give maximum space to the fuel tank, which holds an impressive 19 litres and gives the Tiger 800 a theoretical range of more than 250 miles. We’ll see how that works out in the real world when we get to

Main picture: RiDE’s Matt Hull checks out the XC version’s off-roading claims. Verdict: it’s heavy but very capable

Left: Stubby beak, 21in front wheel and hand guards show that this is an XC

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