Brothers David and Felipe Lopez from Spain have collaborated with Triumph Motorcycles to create the new Tiger Tramontana, a customised Triumph Tiger 800 XC which is competing in the PanAfrica Rally this year. The brothers are Triumph's engineer test riders and both of them have been locked in competitive training in the run up to the 2,000 km Saharan adventure to decide who takes the rider's slot. The Triumph Tiger Tramontana has been six months in the making, and is a pure competition bike built for one of the world's most demanding desert races.
Tiger Tramontana is built as a competition rally bike based on the Tiger 800 XCx
The Tiger Tramontana has been developed from a Tiger XCx base with the support of a team from Triumph headquarters in Hinckley, who put in efforts outside of work hours to build the bike. The Tramontana is named after the north wind that blows across the Pyrenees into Spain where the brothers are from. The Lopez brothers also built a custom scrambler build two years ago, which had the same Tramontana name.
"We've kept the original Tramontana spirit and philosophy of creating the most focused and pure bike we could deliver, giving it everything we've learned over the years of development at Triumph. But on this occasion everything is on a bigger scale," said David Lopez.
"Both projects were extremely successful in different ways and with the Tiger Tramontana, we are combining the best of both... the purity and performance focus of the original Tramontana project with the innovation, freshness and beauty of the factory Bobber and Scrambler projects and the incredible character and capability of the Tiger's triple engine," Lopez added.
One of the Lopez brothers will ride the Tiger Tramontana at the Pan-Africa Rally
The Tiger Tramontana is an off-road build which takes the capabilities of the stock Tiger 800 XCx and makes it even more focussed for extreme off-road riding. David says the off-road capability of the stock Tiger has been enhanced significantly to be comparable to all of the rally enduro racing bikes in the field. There are several modifications which have been carried out on the bike, including a completely re-worked front end to accommodate new instrumentation (roadbook, GPS, etc.), lighter headlights, an adapted subframe to support new components, a bespoke screen and modified body panels, sump guard, seat and rear mudguard. Other changes to the bike include a shorter rear end to improve mass centralisation along with longer suspension and revised linkage to improve the ride in off-road conditions.
The Lopez brothers are training together for the rider's spot in the rally
The PanAfrica Rally is being held in a loop starting and finishing each day over five different and challenging stages through the Saharan dunes from Erfoud in eastern Morocco from September 23-30. The Lopez brothers are experienced in road and endurance racing and the lure of a big rally like the PanAfrica, which promises to be the "ultimate bike experience combining riding and adventure" is something which is sort of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The brothers have entered competitive events to experience the danger and loss of orientation of riding through the dust of the bike in front and to learn to resist the temptation of blindly following the rider up ahead. The preparation for the rally's Maxi Trail category included a run out at a Spanish Rally Championship round, a one day 450Km rally which saw the Tigers finish sixth overall with a class win against fully prepped rally and enduro bikes.
