Motorcycle Demo Rides - Overlander Expo 2022
Intro
I went to the Overland Expo Mountain West in Loveland, CO this weekend with my father-in-law and brother-in-law and we test rode a bunch of motorcycles. Triumph, Yamaha and Ducati had demo bikes available, but sadly Ducati was all booked up so we couldn’t ride any of them. Interestingly, I never saw anyone riding the Ducatis so I don’t know what the deal with them was. Oh well, we still had a ton of fun and test rode a bunch of different Triumphs as well as doing a Yamaha guided ride.
The author getting excited to test ride some bikes!
I’m going to list the bikes in order of my favorite to least favorite:
Triumph Tiger 1200
The Triumph Tiger 1200 was a really, really nice bike! The engine was super smooth and cruised along so nicely at highway speeds. It also felt really confident in the gravel parking lot at the expo. This is definitely a bike that you could take cross-country easily and comfortably. My only complaint would be that at highway speeds if you’re in a lower gear it can be a bit twitchy, but shifting up took care of that problem.
Yamaha Tenere 700
The Yamaha Tenere 700 is another really nice bike. I test rode one last year and loved it and this year was no different. I really love the engine on it. The best way I can describe it is brash. It is rowdy and ready to tear it up. If I was going to buy a ‘bigger’ off-road bike this would definitely be it. It’s definitely more suited off-road riding as it’s pretty tall–I had to stand on my tip toes at stops while on it. And can be pretty buzzy and vibrates a lot on the road. I accelerated up to about 40 mph and looked in my rearview mirror and it was vibrating so much I couldn’t even see in it. The demo ride was guided and they took us on a dirt road which it handled no problem. Then they took us on a rocky path that I was not expecting and it felt a little squirrely. Granted, I have no experience with off road riding so it was a new experience!
Triumph Trident
The Triumph Trident was really fun. It feels really small to me which made it really easy to handle and flick through corners. Because it’s so light it accelerated really fast! I had a lot of fun putting the pedal to the metal with this one and flying down the road. I think this would be a really fun bike around town and and in the twisties. The lack of wind protection and its smaller size would keep me away from the highways while on it.
Triumph Speed Twin 900
I have a 2010 Bonneville and this Speed Twin is night and day different from it. It felt so much more put together and solid than my Bonneville does. It was a real pleasure to ride and has a lot more technology and creature comforts than mine. I hate to say it but it really makes me want to sell my Bonneville and get a newer one!
Triumph Scrambler 1200 xc
The Scrambler really didn’t do much for me. I was expecting to really like it but on the roads it was just ok and I really can’t imagine ever taking it off-road so I don’t think it’s a bike for me. Also, the shotgun exhaust gave off so much heat that I couldn’t use the foot brake because it caused me to push my leg against the exhaust which was way too hot.It did feel really solid in the gravel though.
Triumph Tiger 900
The Tiger 900 was a bike I really expected to like but it also didn’t do much for me. I liked the riding position and it was alright on the roads but otherwise it just didn’t feel that special to me. It felt sort of utilitarian and uninteresting.
Conclusion
This was our second year attending the Overlander Expo in Loveland and both times have been really fun. I’m not into the overlanding part very much but the motorcycle demo rides are awesome. The people working at the Triumph booth were really cool and nice. They were realy encouraging of us taking a lot of rides on whatever bikes we wanted. The Yamaha booth was a little more ‘by the book’ but our guide for our guided ride was pretty cool. I’d definitely reccomend attending the expo and taking some bikes on a ride next year to anyone who is in the area!