Based extensively on the extremely popular Triumph Trident 660, the Tiger Sport 660 was first announced and revealed in 2021 as the entry-level sports tourer for daily rides and weekend trips.

It’s a statement I’ve said many times before, and we have yet another motorcycle in the midst that adds to the seriously competitive mid-capacity motorcycle market. It’s designed as an accessible yet fun sports tourer for A2 riders and up to enjoy.

Working from the Trident framework, the Tiger Sport 660 introduces longer travel suspension, a comfortable road-going presence, and that superb Triumph 660cc triple-cylinder motor (as seen in the Trident 660) with all the other perks of a taller sports touring model – particularly for taller riders like myself!

We had 2 weeks to spend with the Tiger Sport 660 using it as a daily tool - commuting, running to the shops, and weekends in the local British countryside. Overall, it was fantastic fun, though it has a few minor flaws…

Good

• Torque heaven.
• Trident for taller riders.
• Just all-round fun.

Bad

• No cruise control.
• Good base price, pricier with touring additions.
• Gearing a tad short in first?

Instantly, as a base model, Triumph Tiger Sport 660 price attracts with prices starting at £8,975, but chuck on the ‘touring necessities’ (heated grips, luggage, aux power, phone connectivity etc) and you can work your way up to £11,469, bordering if not surpassing some of the more expensive options. As of writing, you have four colours to pick from – £8,945 for Lucerne Blue & Sapphire Black (as ridden) and Jet Black & Graphite, then £9,045 for Snowdonia White & Jet Black, and Korosi Red & Graphite.

As ridden, the Tiger Sport 660 came with integrated panniers (£570 for the pair), which fit neatly onto the bike with no additional mounting kit needed, the ‘twin helmet top box’ for £275 (+£63 mounting plate and £163 aluminium luggage rack) plus the £44 pillion backrest, and colour-coded infill panels for the top box (£55) and panniers (£88).

That’s a total of £1,231 to get the Tiger Sport 660 into tour-ready mode with official luggage and bonus colour-matching parts. Add more if you look for heated grips (£230), USB charger (£24.30), Triumph Shift Assist (£310), ‘my triumph’ phone connectivity (£235 +£4.55 for fitting kit), auxiliary power socket (£32), hand guards (£115), belly pan (£180), comfort seat (£163).

With all that added on you’re looking at £11,469 – and still no cruise control! In comparison, the Yamaha Tracer 7 and Kawasaki Versys 650 are good rivals. The Versys 650 GT is £10,529 with all bells and whistles, though not as torquey as this – the Tracer 7 GT is £9,710.

The swansong of the Tiger Sport 660 is undoubtedly the motor. Power delivery from the liquid-cooled 12 valve DOHC 660cc inline triple is linear and smooth, naturally giving a solid amount of power (80 bhp at the redline of 10,250 rpm, 64 Nm at 6250 rpm) all the way through the rev range.

Combined with the agile and lightweight feel of the Tiger Sport 660 (just 206 kg wet), the engine is just as happy carving up the b-roads as it is two-up on a fully laden tour. There’s a ride-by-wire throttle and slip and assist clutch, making it feel effortless to rev up the motor and make some good progress on the road – though I did find first gear fairly short.

It does sound revvy and spools up fast, the top end can be a tad vibration-heavy, and the underslung exhaust creates quite a high-pitched tune when working hard – all natural for a triple that revs up to 10250 rpm. You have a road & rain mode at your disposal, with switchable traction control if you enjoy the front wheel getting a bit lighter on a ride…

A2 licence restriction is available with a restrictor kit (£149), also. Surprisingly I spent quite a bit of time riding in rain mode, which seemed to work really well to smooth out the ride when cruising around – for that reason alone I’d imagine it would be just as good in an A2-restricted-guise!

A tubular steel perimeter frame with a twin-sided fabricated steel swingarm carries the total 206 kg wet weight, with the engine used as a stressed member. Though not at all a heavy number, it somehow feels exceptionally lighter on the road. Cornering on this is an absolute dream, and you can attack the road confidently with a nice dominant position on the bike with 835 mm saddle height.

A remote preload adjuster is present for the Showa monoshock RSU rear suspension, and up front are 41mm Showa forks, both provide 150mm of travel - the suspension feels great on the road, working well to smooth out the bumps, but there is no adjustability for the front forks.

Nissin provides the stopping power, with a twin 310mm disc setup up front paired to a single 255mm with single-piston Nissin at the rear. It’s a good setup, and the braking power never left anything to be desired. Brakes are mounted to 17-inch tyres that are trod with  Michelin Road 5 Sport hoops – a solid option.

The total package here is nice and straightforward, well balanced, and is happy cruising along eating the miles – with the option to twist on and attack the road ever-present.

Though first gear is quite short, the 0-60 time feels incredibly rapid. Outside of first, the gearing feels fairly long, and you can cruise at 20 mph and accelerate to 70+ in 3^rd gear alone. 5^th and 6^th are nice and tall, particularly 6^th where you can sit cruising along at 70 mph with revs kept nice and low – good for the fuel economy yet remaining deceptively quick when rolling on the power.

Speaking of, the fuel tank is 17.2 litres, and on paper it should be good for just over 200 miles before needing to fill up again, with some owners quoting MPG fuel consumption in the 60s. We found fill-ups were due closer to the 190 mile-mark.

At low speed in low gears, ramping on the power quickly can hunker down the rear and get the front wheel a tad light. Cornering is effortless, as the bike weighs in at just 206 kg (though feels exceptionally lighter than this on its feet), with successive corners an absolute breeze – feels like you can steer exclusively with your hips on the narrow waistline of the Tiger Sport.

The ride is sports-focused, with great power-to-weight ratio, and there is no need for excessive gear changes as there is torque to be found in every gear – it makes for a very adept ride flowing through corners. The more you put into riding this, the more you get out.

Let’s touch on a few of the other rider amenities on offer. Surprisingly there is no cruise control fitted to the Tiger Sport 660, and no option for one to be fitted by Triumph, odd considering the ride-by-wire throttle.

The dash is pretty simplistic, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Triumph looks to add a signature TFT display as seen on the more premium models in future iterations – though admittedly it isn’t crying out for one, as the display itself is clear and displays everything just fine. You can pay to have the MyTriumph to pair your smartphone if you fancy that.

You have wide bars, and lower pegs, and overall I found the riding position nice and comfortable for all-day riding (when ridden normally) in part thanks to the one-hand adjustable screen to manage some of the wind buffeting when fully extended – though my lanky frame did still need to tuck in to remove the rest.

Though the riding position is comfortable, I did feel my legs cramp a bit after longer rides - but standing up alleviates most of this when you can to stretch your legs. If you are touring, the pillions won’t hold a lid (but the top box is sold with capacity for two lids), and will otherwise certainly hold enough for a weekend away for two across all three.

So overall, some of the componentry is set to a basic spec and perhaps a tad lacking, but with the full acceptance that this is an entry level machine at a decent price (until you spec up with additional touring parts).

Some of the bodywork and plastic parts didn’t exude that premium quality that I’d typically associate with Triumph, but it feels well-made and put together well – with an initial service interval of 10,000 miles.

With full touring gear on and additional spec parts added at your own expense, the Tiger Sport 660 will suit very well as a long-distance tourer with the potential for some open-throttle stretching at the weekends – just as a good sports tourer should do!

Naturally, following such a huge success in the Trident 660 would be hard, but the Triumph Tiger Sport 660 doesn’t aim to beat its sibling in any way – rather build on the solid foundations and add some touring spec to a bike that is otherwise a huge success.

It has superb road-going guile and is extremely rewarding when pushed on. Compared to rivals it will certainly hold its head up high, though the question can also be asked of whether some of the more ‘vital’ spec parts are buried deep in the Triumph aftermarket catalogue, and when added to the configurator, does spec up to be a tad more expensive than initially expected.

But that is not to take the shine off the bike, it was an extremely fun 2 weeks, and for those in the A2/middleweight market for a sports tourer, I’m sure this Tiger Sport 660 will appeal to many. Particularly taller riders who have their eye on a Trident 660!

Thanks to Triumph for the loan, head over to the Triumph UK website to use the configurator and build your dream machine!