This is the first in what will be a series of videos because something has been bugging me recently and so I have decided to look into the amount of manufacturer recalls in the motorcycle industry as a long term project.
Then I saw that Triumph had opened the year with a bang and already announced 2 manufacturer recalls in 2025.
One is on the Tiger 1200’s and the other on their all new, all conquering competition dirt bike the TF 250-X
You know reliability comes high on my list when I look at bikes, so this subject is something that fits into that idea pretty well.
Over time the videos will show who is making the most mistakes, but also, who is prepared to admit and fix their mistakes. So it isn’t as simple as avoid these bikes. The manufacturers who do a timely recall and a proper fix, should be applauded I think.
Admitting you are wrong is something that seems to be getting rarer these days, and we know from the KTM saga I’ve been covering that not all faults are recognised by the manufacturers or officially recalled, so I do give Triumph credit for that at least.
I have to thank FEMA, the Federation of European Motorcyclist’s Association for the source of much of this information because it is not widely publicised in the traditional motorcycle press much of the time, because they are so tied to the manufacturers who would rather you not know.
Even in this case if you look on the Triumph website or follow the link from FEMA, it takes you to a page where you can enter your VIN number to see if a particular bike is affected by any recalls, but any announcement of the recalls themselves are sadly a bit like trying to find a Yeti in a snowstorm.
Yes there has been some minor press coverage, but it is mostly just a couple of sentences hidden away in the place you are least likely to find it.
Finding out is a bit like playing where’s Wally on a global scale.
If you do a search you will see the only places it is being discussed is on Reddit, until Elon buys that, and on the Triumph Explorer forums in the case of the first recall.
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But anyway, back to the subject in hand.
The first of the Triumph recalls affects the Triumph Tiger 1200 GT, Tiger 1200 GT Pro, and Tiger 1200 GT Explorer. It affects bikes built between the 17 August 2021 and the 12 October 2024.
So that is a long time.
The announcement was that
“Tyre can wear unevenly, compromising the zero-degree reinforcement. This can lead the tread to become partially detached and/or suffer a sudden loss of air pressure, which can cause the loss of control of the vehicle and increase the risk of accident and injuries”
Ya don’t say !!!
Click here for the original listing.
Beyond the problem itself, that means it took over 3 years of production for Triumph to recognise an inherent problem with exploding tyres.
How many accidents, broken limbs, time off work, and repair costs has that caused in the 3 years it took them to acknowledge the problem?
Now I know the big Tiger isn’t a massive seller, but this must have affected a good amount of riders for the recall to be recognised, and I can imagine wrestling with a 250kg, 150HP bike trying to slow down from speed with a tyre delaminating would leave a brown stain in most peoples pants, but for them to not realise and or not acknowledge it for over 4 years is ridiculous at best.
In my honest opinion, this is a manufacturer putting rider safety at the very bottom of their important list and I can’t see it any other way.
What it means in reality, is since 2021, riders have been having this problem, and fighting to get it recognised, before Triumph were forced into a position where they had no choice when the EU categorised it as a safety issue.
What it did remind me of is the same thing happening with the new Suzuki DE800 Pstrom last year. That was an issue with a Dunlop Trailmax, this one is with the Metzeler Tourance Next. So have tyre manufacturers forgotten how to make tyres that don’t delaminate?
For heavens sake, There were recalls from Avon and Dunlop recently too!
Anyway, Triumph have now officially recalled the bikes affected, although I imagine most won’t have the tyres concerned on anymore, so i assume the recall cost them very little and i guess that means the bean counters got it right from Triumphs point of view.
They didn’t loose sales by announcing a recall when it first became apparent, and by delaying longer than the expected lifespan of the tyres, there is little to nothing to pay now on any bikes affected.
I suppose for the buyers who only ever bimble down to the local coffee shop once a month to talk about their incredible motorcycle adventures on their obese triples, it might still be relevent. So I guess there still could be a few bikes running around on their original rubber.
By putting it off until now it wont cost Triumph anything. Most riders will have changed the tyres many moons ago now.
Also, by minimising any publicity their polished reputation for producing quality motorcycles won’t be affected too much.
And if you thought that was bad, just wait for it. Because the next one is as far as I am concerned both unbelievable and inexcusable.
The all singing all dancing Triumph TF250-X has we are told by the very well paid Ricky Carmichael, been years in development, and not by Bajaj honest guv.
It was finally launched to gasps of “HOW MUCH?” across the whole industry when it was released last year, and i talked about it in the video below.
Built, at least in theory, as a bike to beat KTM and everyone else in the dirt bike market, in Triumphs words they have spared nothing in developing their new entry into the dirt bike market. I just wish they’d concentrated more on reality than listening to their own marketing drivvel.
You see, the new TF250-X has rather an unusual flaw, caused by a switch block they call the switch cube. This switch cube controls everything basically. Power up, start, stop etc. and the fault was on bikes produced between the 20th of July 2023 and the 16th of August 2024, so just over a year of production, thats all.
Despite the fact it is a competition dirt bike that will get washed with a high pressure washer on a daily basis and more when in true competition use, they forgot to make the main switch waterproof.
Yes, you heard that right, The switch that acts as a power up, starter and kill switch is not watertight.
Now honestly, can you believe that? Even cheap Ali Express dirt bikes can get that right, so why not Triumph?
The real killer is that in Triumphs own words, “the switch cube is not stable in specific conditions and could potentially self start.”
Those specific conditions are exposure to brake fluid, which when placed next to the brake reservoir is not ideal, but far more ridiculous, when it is exposed to high pressure water.
Now come on, have you ever known a dirt bike that hasn’t been routinely cleaned with a pressure washer to within an inch of its life?
Is making the switches on a dirt bike waterproof not the most basic requirement?
Clever old Triumph obviously never specified that in the build spec they sent to the Bajaj group.
And don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming Bajaj here. Anyone who has worked with subcontractors knows they will do everything possible to extend their margins as long as the job stays within spec.
So I dont blame Bajaj. The blame for this lays squarely on shoulders of Triumph.
They, as they so eloquently told us in all the marketing material, did every last bit of R&D on this bike themselves, with no help from Bajaj at all.
Bajaj just built it.
And if you believe that, can i have 15 bitcoin sent to the adress in the description so i can release my fortune from the bank that has been left to me by my uncle who was king of Burkino Faso and i will pay you back, honest guv, please.
But I digress.
Can you imagine, you have been out in race 1 on a muddy day, you come back to the paddock, get the pressure washer out and clean off yourself and the bike, leave it in first, sit down for a minute to make a cup of coffee, and the bike decides to start itself and careers off down the track to compete on its own without a rider?
Maybe they could get Chat GPT as a sponsor?
Have any of you ever heard of a self starting bike before?
This is the joy of electronics on motorbikes. Fine when it works, but not when it doesn’t.
The biggest enemies of any electronics are water ingress, vibration and dirt. 3 things that are intrinsically linked to any use on motorbikes, but particularly relevent on an MX bike.
Yet the manufacturers still persist on shoving more and more of it on all the bikes they sell.
I wonder why?
Here are just a few.
These weren’t the only recalls of january 2025, but I will cover the others in a seperate video. Suffice to say that last year there were no recalls until halfway through february yet already just in January this year we have 4 seperate major safety recalls, which does not bode well for the year ahead.
They can’t blame it on any worldwide epidemic this time either, unless the symptoms of that epidemic are ineptitude.
Anyway, thats it for today
I am interested in your thoughts on making this an ongoing series on the channel.
Would it be useful for you to know about what bikes are being recalled and what the problems are?
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