New face, screen and huge skid pan on the belly. Gold Ohlins springers, too…

So this bike IS going to continue in the Triumph range for 2021 then – as our exclusive spy shots prove. This is the new Triumph Tiger 1200 undergoing final tests today on a secret road route.

And whilst our brilliant spy snapper managed to bag a few prime shots of the bike in action, what the photos tell us is that the British firm is really upping the ante on the big Adventure bike.

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Bodywork is all new, new shaft drive unit, new slim wheels…

Keen to let the new Tiger 900 sell to its own marketplace, Triumph clearly thinks that there’s room for a bigger Adventure staying in the range – and there’s a lot of changes coming from the British factory.

This is the current Tiger 1200 XCA - very different to the new 1200 Tiger. — This is the current Tiger 1200 XCA – very different to the new 1200 Tiger.

The big keeps the 1200 triple motor but it looks seriously slimmed-down in width when compared to the current bike. The shaft drive has been completely redesigned and the single-sided swingarm has gone, replaced with a double-sider complete with a new torque compensator.

On this model, the bike has wire spoked wheels (the 2021 motorcycle, when it comes out, might split its model variants with wire and cast spoke wheels like the Tiger 1200 currently does – five Tiger 12s have cast wheels, three have wire spoked wheehls) which look more narrow than on the current bike, the front wheel in particular looks like it is a 21 inch wheel which is better for any rough stuff.

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Exhaust has been given a trim, petrol tank is flatter and front of the whole motorcycle sits a little higher…

Under the motor is a large skid pan, so this is pretty much a big Adventure that’s at least meant to be able to get semi-serious off-road.

The suspension has switched from WP to Ohlins, there’s still Brembo radial brakes fitted and the new bike’s beak, screen and bodywork has been sharpened up too. Just in front of the rider’s knees are flip-out, see-through wings to aid weather protection / cooling as needed.

Cosmetic touches continue with the indicators now sitting at the very end of the seat unit and tucked into the cut-out bodywork alongside the re-designed headlight.

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Aside from the large petrol tank and bodywork ‘shoulders’, you’d think this was a much smaller bike than the 1200.

We weren’t expecting this motorcycle to appear in a much-finished form for a while yet, but by the standard of finish on the bike caught in our spy shots, the 1200 looks like it’s much further along the road-ready plan than was understood.

Even the flatter, wider petrol tank and heated rear seat look ready to go. All this means that we could end up seeing the new 1200 this summer.

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Tony Carter

Tony has been riding motorcycles for over 35 years and he's been a motorcycle writer for over 25 of those. He's ridden almost every motorcycle you can think of at most places around the world and he's partial to some racing, too. A Taurus, Tony doesn't believe in horoscopes (but then that's exactly what a Taurus would say!) but he does believe in Mandalorians and their right to earn a living.