In 1990, I splashed out £500 I didn’t have on a 28in Sony Trinitron TV.

Back then, it was the dog’s dangly bits and the biggest you could get, but the 46in HD plasma one I have now would have made it look like the 12in black-and-white Ferguson 988T on which my grandfather Edward watched the football results every Saturday in the hope he had won the pools and could stop being a butler.

With the same look of baffled optimism and disastrous results as I watch the lottery draw today. Must run in the family.

Which brings me, of course, to motorbike instrument panels. The one on my first bike consisted of a speedo and an ammeter.

The one on the new Tiger 1200, by contrast, is like the latest 4K TV, and is such a paragon of beauty that I predict a gold medal in the 2018 Uppsala Design Awards.

It’s also a perfect marriage of form and function, with everything you need to see at a glance and readable even in bright sunlight.

Dash is a thing of beauty

Even better, the display and the 4,736 rider modes covering power delivery, traction control, semi-active suspension, ABS and so on are controlled by a little joystick on the left bar so simple that even blokes can operate it.

And even better than better, it and the rest of the buttons are illuminated for nocturnal gentlemanly motorcycling, and the headlight beam joins in the fun by turning to show you the way around bends after dark, although by that stage I’m normally in the bar showing myself around a glass of something.

Intuitive controls on left bar

None of this would matter, of course, if the bike was a pile of donkey droppings, but the good news is that it’s the best Triumph machine to bear the name Tiger, from the 250-500cc offerings of the Thirties up to the 900-1200cc machines of modern times.

And, for once, I speak as an authority on the subject, having ridden a Tiger 955i from Chile to Alaska for my book The Road to Gobblers Knob and a Tiger 1050 all the way around Australia for the book Oz, as well as riding and loving Tiger 800s for several years.

Triumph has shaved up to 11kg off the outgoing model the Tiger Explorer, although at 262kg fully fuelled it’s still a hefty beast, but thanks to the usual Hinckley magic, that mass disappears instantly on the move, making handling even at walking pace a doddle.

Particularly with a featherlight clutch and low-speed fuelling which is deliciously smooth compared to the sensitive, snatchy feel at low revs of the Explorer.

Say thank you to the Hinckley boffins, everyone.

At speed, that segues beautifully into a seamless, linear power delivery from a gem of an engine all the way from the basement to the red line at just over 10,000rpm, accompanied by a gloriously visceral growl.

Geoff rides the Tiger 1200 at the launch

As I said earlier, I’ve had a couple of Tiger 800s, and much as I loved the comfort and clinical handling, the high-pitched whine of the engine always made it sound like a giant sewing machine late for an appointment. This is much more satisfying.

The six-speed quickshifter gearbox is as slick as a hot knife through a buttered cliché, and even when I rather stupidly tried to take an uphill hairpin in third, shrugged off a change down to second without even a hint of a wobble.

The front and rear Brembo brakes are linked to work in harmony, with the safety blanket of adjustable ABS, and while at first I found the rear a little lacking in bite and feel, once it had warmed up, it was perfect for trailing into downhill corners to keep the bike stable.

A bumpy section of road gave me the chance to slide the suspension setting from Normal towards Comfort, turning the bike into the fastest sofa on two wheels, then a spell of smooth, flowing bends had me sliding it back up on the screen all the way to Sport, at which point the bike hunkered down, shot its cuffs and went like not only a Bat out of Hell, but Mrs Bat and all the little Bats.

Add a more chunky, purposeful look than the Explorer, low-maintenance shaft drive, brilliant mirrors, adjustable screen, heated grips and plush heated seat on the top-spec models, and it’s a bike you could set off around the world on without a care in the world.

Red XR and white XC

A foray on to some loose gravel proved that it’s just as stable and forgiving while standing on the pegs as sitting down, but if you’re planning serious off-roading, go for the dual purpose XC version rather than the road-biased XR.

Any faults? Only a range of about 200 miles compared to almost 400 on the BMW GS Adventure, but that’s only going to be a problem crossing the Atacama Desert, an associated clothing range which is as dull as a wet Sunday in a coal mine, and a price tag of a grand more than the outgoing Explorer.

But then that’s why God invented PCP. Enjoy!

The Facts

Price: £12,200-£16,950

Engine: 1215cc liquid-cooled inline triple

Power: 141bhp @ 9,350rpm

Torque: 90 lb ft @ 7,600rpm

Colours: Black, white, red, blue, khaki

Amazing landscapes in Bolivia

Living on the Edge

Bristol-based Edge Expeditions is running a luxury 17-day tour of Bolivia this October.

The 2000-mile trip on Suzuki DR650s will take in the Amazon jungle, the Andes mountains, the famous Death Road, the world’s largest salt flats, where a scene from the latest Star Wars was filmed, deserts, remote Quechua villages and the cities of La Paz, Sucre and Potosi.

Not to mention gourmet lunches in the middle of the salt flats, five-star hotels, stargazing and private tours of silver mines and hat factories.

It’s £6,050 per person, including all food, accommodation, guides, mechanic, excursions and back-up vehicle, but excluding flights.

Riding the salt flats in Bolivia

Edge is run by travel writer and TV producer Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent and her partner Marley Burns.

In 2013, Antonia produced the Bolivian episode of BBC2’s World’s Most Dangerous Roads with comedians Phill Jupitus and Marcus Brigstocke, and has been smitten with the country ever since.

Other trips this year include Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Palestine, Israel, Georgia and Armenia.

More info at edge-expeditions.com

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