As a doctor with a rural practice I use one of these everyday doing my home visits. It has proved to be the best all round bike that I have ever owned and perfect for riding down rough farm lanes on my rounds. The side bag is big enough to hold all my medical equipment and medications. I thought about the XE but decided with it's gold forks etc it looked a bit too flash for a professional use. My matt green XC however just blends in everywhere. I have fitted a 'Farmer Torque' shorty version of the V&H pipe but that is for "Health and Safety" reasons (naturally, errm) as it is important to be heard coming in narrow country lanes! I do also ride a KTM 350 EXC for green lane use and so I have a little off road experience and frankly I find that the 200mm of suspension on the XC is all this type of bike needs, and is still a lot of suspension travel and on par with most adventure bikes. I have never felt more 'smitten' with any bike before. Love it !
After weeks of going back and forth on the same question, I have to agree with you on 200mm of travel vs 250mm suspension. how extreme do I really think I will need this bike to be? After all, it will be on the paved roads 90% of the time. I think my dilemma is my ego wanting the best capable suspension just in case I want to take huge jumps and take on hardcore terrain and regretting my decision.
Good comnent Doc I picked up the xe1200 last week and can honestly say its the best bike I've owned in 30 years biking. I'm 6 feet tall ,I think anybody shorter in height would be on their tiptoes, but the height can be adjusted. Regards Dave from Scotland
@@davidmuir6849 im intrigued by the bike as im not sure what category it belongs in my mind. I love the style and character of it. It is similar to an adventure bike and yet cannot imagine it being as good. Do you take yours offroad? How does it compare to an adv bike such as the africa twin which fits a similar price point?
As an owner of an XE , last week I got a feed back email about the triumph scrambler 1200 asking about pros and cons,ownership experience and rating new colour schemes etc ....one of the questions did surprise me tho ...it asked would I of bought the XC if the XE was not available ! ...I’m sure if you had the XC they might of asked the reverse ...my cynical self is wondering if they are going to just do the 1 model in future ?
Interesting. I hope they keep both. Seems like preference is split right down the middle with these. A lot has to do with rider height and typical riding conditions. I'm 6'2" and do a lot of light off-roading. I have the XE. But I have also ridden the XC and found that to be a great bike as well, I just liked the XE a fair bit more. I was happy to trade my Street Scrambler for the XE. I probably wouldn't have done the same for the XC.
Just a thought on the cost comparison: you could consider using some well-known bikes as benchmarks for the cost comparisons (e.g. how much would an SV650 cost under the same circumstances). Then you'd have a yardstick that would help the comparison translate across others' circumstances a bit better. Love your content BTW!
Hey Flyer! I've only recently run into your channel after looking for videos about the 650 twins, and I've ended up binging your whole playlist of videos. Big fan! Cheers.
Tip on cleaning the spoked tires from owning an XE and a Street Scrambler - use one of those muppet-fur looking car wash gloves and just run your fingers through the spokes while you rotate the tire on a stand. Complete breeze. However - cleaning the accumulated oil and gunk from around the front sprocket area is a royal headache as it is a very tight space with some electronics and requires a bit of disassembly to access. I only do that every couple thousand miles with Simple Green and a small bottle brush. Need to be careful to put it all back together exactly right afterward or the rear brake light sensor wont activate properly. It's a bit fiddly as you folks across the pond say.
Just put down a deposit on a new one of these (a 2020 model in Green). A couple of observations... There's only £800 difference between the XC and XE (not £1800, your maths is a bit off!) and the model you are riding has the "escape pack" fitted, which consists of the optional centre stand, heated grips, hand guards, rear rack, auxillary lights, the side pannier (and mounting) and fitting for a fly screen (but strangely not the screen itself). This pack, but the time you've added the actual fly screen costs around £1500. This takes the price of the bike you were riding to about £13k. The XE is less than this and comes with the heated grips and hand guards as standard. I still believe the XC is the better choice for a road bike but the price comparison is worth thinking about.
Did you forget to remove the bug magnet from your camera? The bike looked huge when you were standing by it but not so much when you were seated on it. On third thoughts those mirrors would touch your chin standing next to it? Good looking bike though.
Here on this side of the pond I saw 2 2019 new Scramblers that have not been been sold at Euro Cycles in Daytona Florida. They have them discounted making them tempting, it's such a cool machine. Not sure why Triumphs don't sell as well here in the US? They are beautiful well made bikes.
Hi TMF. Great review. I love my XE. Just one tiny point with regards COE you halve the cost of 10000 mile service however the service is 10000 or annual so the cost would be full amount. As I say tiny in the grand scheme!
Another great review and thanks for that. I wouldn’t have one though, spoked wheels I am not a fan of. I’ve suffered these in the past. I’m sure it’ll have a service light come on and it’ll have to be taken off at a dealership. I have a bike not just to ride, I like to do all my servicing myself, it all part of owning a bike for me. The fuel cap opens the wrong way, surely it should open up towards the bars which would be better IMO.like you said a lot of nooks and crannies on the bike. I look forward to your next review and thanks again ✌️👍🏼 PS: it would be nice to see a manufacturer produce a bike especially for the DIY enthusiast. Everything kept as simple as possible to own and service yourself. It’ll not happen but one can but dream lol 😂
“Most thirsty mode”, a nice honest description that made me chuckle! Handbooks are on the parts & accessories page of Triumph’s website, a useful resource for anyone taking a demo bike out for a test ride.
Fuel cap looks just like a Speed Twin (hey you know that). Someone couldn't have locked it or it's broken. I wonder how pessimistic the "miles remaining" is ? On my Speed Twin I've working it out to about 26 miles pessimistic. i.e. if it says say 26 miles remaining , there's still a gallon in the tank, that would do about 52 miles. I had a sit on one at the Triumph dealers, I'm 5 foot 11 inches about 31 inch inside leg. I found I could flat foot. Otherwise nice bike, but not my style, I'll stick with the Speed Twin and Street Triple S. Although I'd like the larger tank of the Scrambler 1200s on my Speed Twin.
Really appreciate the 'real world' approach when reviewing the bike. The little things like how are the lights at night, refueling, valve stem location, etc. Nice to see more whats its like to live with than seeing a pro rider take it off some sweet jumps in the middle of nowhere.
Great Review of an awesome bike. Please allow me one comment. I find it inexcusable is that Triumph does not offer the lean sensitive ABS and TC on the XC, leaving this only for the XE. Triumph, this is about the safety of your customers, forGod's sake ! I can see no reason whatsoever why th XC should not have this. I hope that if influencal testers like you mention this, maybe Triumph will change their mind in the not to distant future.. Thank you again for your great work . Greetings from Germany .
@@TheMissendenFlyer You are an influencal tester. Let me give you an example: Your longterm review of the KTM 1290 Super Adventure convinced me to buy the bike, which I ride happily ever since. :-)
@@jayrunner62 I agree. TMF is one of maybe 5 MC content creators I religiously follow and has been very influential in my Triumph purchases. Triumph... if you're reading this...
The joystick/indicator confusion does become second nature after a while but I suppose if you ride many different bikes it might not and also bigger hands and thicker gloves may also cause problems. It’s the same layout on my Street Triple and I stopped looking after about the first 10-15 rides. I do like the XC version of the scrambler though.
Good review .. As always you never take the bikes off road .. I do understand why but for me being a 70/30 rider it is often a little bit frustrating .. Luckily I found other vids showing how fabulous these bikes are off road.I heard there is a lower seat option on the XE ? Also you didn't really mention the fact that the bike has hardly any plastic on it .. Which is great I think. I enjoyed your review. Thanks for the info. Blessings.
Great review. I have an xe and being 6ft5' it is a perfect fit. Agree that cleaning is a bit of a pain and just bought a bike dryer. I have the larger screen fitted and find 75/80mph on the motorway no problems re wind blast.
Hey man, I love your videos and this bike. I'm very tempted. However I need your advice whether or not this bike is for me. This is a large displacement bike, and I know that displacement isn’t ‘entirely’ equal between bikes - it’s more about torque/HP curves and tuning. Therefore, I’m not convinced that this wouldn’t be a decent choice for what I’m looking for. I’m also looking at the speed twin in 1200. I know it’s the same engine. I'm not exactly a beginner. I rode mopeds for about 5 yrs when I was in my late teens. Always driven a manual car and recently got my US bike license. I haven’t owned a bike for years. I need a ‘one and done’ bike. I don’t have the luxury of trading up over time, so I'm asking you the following question. Could this be a 'one and done' bike? ie something I could use to gently get re-acquainted with riding, grow/learn at the same time, and never need anything else? I’ve sat on one in the dealership. I’m 5’9” 32-33 in leg. I can 90% flat foot it but I still may go for the low seat option. Please let me know what you think. Thanks again.
Very impressive bike and a very informative review. A lot to like. I'd prefer the 900 for a mixture of road, off road. Not as heavy or bulky. Pluses with this bike are wire wheels, centre stand. Did the pipe push your, foot/knee into an uncomfortable position? Vibration tolerable. Heated grips?
I looked at one of those at my dealer's showroom Friday. It's a very good looking bike in person. That single side bag has a surprising number of features and the capacity is more than it appears. Add a Kriega waterproof tail bag and it would make a handy little cruiser. Could use a windscreen though.
Is that easy to remove spark plugs I see there. Good for home maintenance as most bikes these days you have to remove the fuel tank to change the plugs.Motion lotion lol.
great video Andy.. love your presentation skills. I have a suggestion for you.. if you'd show the headlight beam spread from an external camera, it would be easier for us to get a better idea about the headlights at night. use a same road for this test, it would be easier for us and you also to compare different headlights. you can setup the camera at the side of the road, pointed to the direction the bike is moving, then we can see its full potential, rather than the gopro. anyways.. love from India
It's a beautiful bike. Thre only issue I have with it is the exhaust. Here in the state's it would have to be a spring and fall bike. Where the right leg testicle roaster might be a welcome addition. It gets way to hot to ride that in the summer months. Great video though. You do great work my friend.
I traded a R1200GSA for a green XC and couldn't be happier. The engine is a peach and the suspension is great. Keep up the great comprehensive reviews, Mr Flyer!
Was almost a great review, but you didn't bother to go off road at all and at the end said you would never take a bike like this off road. If you never go off road, then getting a bike like this doesn't really make much sense to begin with.
Hallo sir World you be so kind to anwer me a question.?is There a higher windscreen avaliable in the uk and how much it cost?Have a day and stay healthy in These crazy times
Hey, I really enjoyed this video. One suggestion I have is maybe when doing the cost breakdown, and you get to the total cost, you can put a few other bikes in the same category also on the screen so we can have a good idea of how expensive it is to run compared to other bikes of its class. Sort of like how Doug Demuro does his doug scores at the end :D
Thanks for the detailed review. I have spoked wheels on my bike (also tubeless) and I confirm they are a total pain to clean. So I don't. Problem solved.
I'm reluctant to buy a Triumph because several dealers in the Midwest (US) have dropped the brand for lack of support and unreasonable demands on the dealers.
I live just down the road from the number one triumph dealer in the US. They have been doing a lot of grumbling about Triumph corporate lately. Apparently the year before last the Triumph demo bikes truck never showed up for the big annual demo day event and left the dealer completely in the lurch. Dealer had to use some of their own bikes to run the demo and they were NOT happy. Triumph, if you are listening, get it together in the US.
Big fan of the channel, and Triumph, but.....that is the worst looking bike I've seen in a long time. Stevie Wonder must have been the chief designer........
When we visited Hinkley earlier in the year we saw one of these being tested on the roads with a taller windscreen and hard luggage, so maybe something coming in the future
Fantastic review as always, love mine and yes the wheels are a right pain to clean, but hey- ho i love cleaning my bikes so not too hard a task. Keep up the great work you do 👍🏼
I still think you should buy an allroad bike. It can do everything a scrambler does better. Much better weather protection, much better luggage capacity. Bigger fuel tank. No hot exhaust against your or the passenger’s leg.
Great review as always, thanks for the show 👍 Just a tip: you can download owner manuals of every Triumph bike here: www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk/services/manuals
So, I have watched your reviews on the 2015, 2017, and now the 2019 Triumph Street Scrambler and have enjoyed them all. My question is, out of all of them, which would you recommend for an average person (without a big budget) wanting to commute to work occasionally but would enjoy mainly for a weekend cruise? I'd appreciate your forthright advice and opinion. Thank you and I love your channel!
@@TheMissendenFlyer Thank you Sir for the reply! I'm kind of curious though, I subscribed to your channel a few years ago and just realized that somehow I was 'unsubscribed', not sure how that happened but I definitely subscribed again! Thank you for your wonderful channel! -Steve-
Having now had my Scrambler 1200xc for about a month, since buying it new, I thought I'd add a few observations. Absolutely love the bike and nothing major I don't like about it but a couple of minor niggles. Firstly, I like the style of the TFT and it's very functional, but... The first sign of a bit of sunshine and it's pretty unreadable, it just reflects blue sky/clouds back at you. No amount of of fiddling with the settings or angle seem to substantially change this. The second is the ill-thought out box for a mobile phone with the USB socket therein. I have an average sized modern phone, which fits in the box, but the space provided does not allow to attached to a charger cable, as there's no room left to plug it in at the bottom of the phone. Utterly useless and I can only assume it was designed when phones were smaller (mines a Sony Xperia 5 for what it's worth). My main complaint, however about my purchase of this bike is Triumph's appalling lack of ability to supply accessories ordered with the bikes. I ordered mine with the "escape pack", consisting of nine items. The bike arrived with only four fitted and I have since obtained one more, but the remaining accessories (which I paid for up front) are remaining elusive, with some promised in July and one, the centre stand (which is an accessory by the way, not standard), having no ETA at this time. Really poor show by Triumph, who were very dismissive when I emailed about the issue.
Thanks for this extreme good report, you have help me to take the right decision between XC and XE. Excellent your cost budget, so I live in Spain and I have inclusively a little cheaper!!! Start follow you mate!!
Great review, I was just at my local dealers to organise a back to back between the 900 and a desert sled, the xc demo was available I might be buying that instead….
I found out that owning more than one bike is expensive, double the maintenance, double the insurance, double the registration, no wonder really rich people have lots of toys, they can afford to take care of them all.
Great review.!..Have looked through many of your reviews, and even your how to wash a bike vid, even after 30 yrs biking theres always more to learn :-) . Have been considering one of these xc's..but the new slightly higher hp 900 scrambler is also tempting. Would be interesting to see your comparison to the lower hp 900cc some time!! Subscribed.!
This is a 'showcase' model so comes fitted with a whole host of extras fitted. The centre stand, heated grips, fog lamps, flyscreen, hand guards, rear rack, pannier frame & bag are all extras to the OE spec. Probably the best standard feature that you didn't mention is the cruise control. I'm assuming you didn't reset the fuel trip when you picked up the bike to average 51mpg ? I'm averaging 64mpg on my XC 👍 Good review though ! PS the XC is £800 cheaper than the XE. Not £1800 cheaper 👍
@@1990-t1j Good point. Now have a look at just how much a Yamaha T-Max is? Yes you get a centre stand as standard but I'd rather not have a centre stand and instead have decent suspension, Brembo brakes, 10000 mile service schedules and good residual value 👍 Still … Each to their own !
I got woken up at 5am with a carbon monoxide alarm going off. National Grid engineer on his way. I'm watching this while I'm waiting. Lucky to be alive.
I also have a K1600B - BMW do it differently, no manual key but the cap stays unlocked for a couple of mins after switch off do you can open it to refuel...
With the exhaust in hot climates, I’m in Australia with an XE and the cat gets pretty warm on a 32+ degree day. A hair uncomfortably so in traffic in motorcycle jeans. A decat would fix it. A bit of heat wrap under the guard might well also in a slightly more environmentally / neighbourly friendly manner.
I wonder if a ceramic coating on the headers wouldn't improve the heat situation. It's been used in motorsports for that very reason if I'm not mistaken. I'm very intrigued by this bike, but for environmental reasons I'd prefer not to decat it.
Excellent review ...I had a short test ride here in Brazil in a hot day about 33°C I felt a heat from the exhaust, I don't know if the H-pipe would resolve it or not.
Just watching this again in 2021 and probably the most impressive thing was what you pay for bike insurance! I wish I had your policies. The last bike I had (Buell XB12-R) was nearly 800 quid for a 43 year old in Edinburgh! (I had unfortunately allowed the NCB to lapse by 6 months,...GRRR!) Beautiful bike that Scrambler!
Hey TMF, I’d like your perspective…I have a scrambler 1200xc on my way and can’t wait for it. I was thinking of trading my INT650 for a speed twin…based on your experience, would it be worth it to own both the speed twin and scrambler? Or not that different and I should look for another bike with different riding experience? Thanks. I know opinions are subjective but would like yours
OH I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS! Question - Benelli TRK 502 X - No one has really done a proper video on this bike - I really like your style - would love to hear your thoughts on what I think is potentially an amazing first BIG and Affordable (£5500) ADV bike for beginners
How easy does it clean up is a useful question, but the better question for an “adventure” bike may be: How good does it look dirty? My hunch is, the more aesthetically pleasing a bike looks clean, the more unappealing it looks dirty. The BMW GS, in my opinion, looks great dirty, as does a KTM and even a Tiger. A V-Strom? Well, I toss mud on mine just to hide the ugly; works great. PS: Speaking about aesthetics, ya gotta love the “seamless” tank. Why Triumph doesn’t dump the pinch-weld on all their classic models is a mystery.
Great review Andy! Thank you! I really like the sound of this bike and I would be keen to get one, but they only sell the XE version in South Africa... Cheers, Jase
I just realised that you are pulling into a fuel station that I often used when I lived in the UK, I am with the company up the road opposite the fuel station in Fowlmere. I thought the road looked familiar 🤣👍🏻👍🏻🇦🇺
New subscriber here. I have watched few reviews on other channels but there is always something missing. Glad I found your channel, a fantastic review, you have covered every point and more. Looking forward to getting my bike. Thank you
This is the 2nd motorcycle I’ve got after watching your reviews….what a bike😁 super happy with it Thanks a tonne for d wonderful review.. keep em coming!!😎
Nit-picking, I don’t think much to the feed wires for the auxiliary lights. Surely they could have been integrated through the mounts? Not very good detailing work there, Triumph. Also, it would be nice to know how much the rack and side bag cost with frame. It always seems a little bit of a scam when press bikes are issued with “extras”.
Yes that annoys me a bit too - especially when the guys that physically hand you the bike from the press pool can't tell you what extras the bike has had fitted and what is standard....
An annoyance probably affecting you too, if you’re syncing your Navigator time to your GS. Turns out Garmin was hit by a Y2K bug, 20 years late. The date defaulted back to the year 2,000 and there is no way of correcting it and no update currently available. To get the bike’s computer back in line you’ll probably also need to delink the auto time update.
Long awaited, much appreciated. Enjoying my XC Scrambler. Very useful insights of yours, thank you. As to the switch-gear, I found that the high beam switch got in the way, so perhaps it may be the way my fingers are designed. I agree with hefting it about - quite difficult and I'm 5'10. Perhaps it's the way the weight is carried. I found however, it's was nice to ride on slow speed maneuvers. It feels as though it should be easier to heft about. As to all the other good points, this bike is my magic carpet and a silver lining to any clouds that darken my horizon. Who would think a machine could do that? Thanks again and scramble on.
One of the things about this bike and other Triumphs too, is that only half the seat is pleated. I don't understand why this is so. It would look much better pleated entirely. Do you have any good reason for this Sir. Thanks again for another good review........Sal : )
