It's a long post, but I hope one that you'll find interesting/enlightening.
Anyway, after a long while 'away' owning other bikes, I've (literally) just bought a TDM 900; via Carpe TDM too - so thanks for that
The reason for posting is that also have a new Triumph Tiger 1050 and I thought that some might find it interesting to hear my experiences of the two by way of comparison.
I bought the Tiger new, back in April earlier this year. Since then, I've covered 4500 miles, using it as my commuter bike to get from home to the West End of London every day. It's about a 100 mile round trip and covers A/B roads, motorways and a LOT of traffic.
So, first the Tiger.
The Tiger 1050 is quite different from earlier iterations of the model, as Triumph finally (wisely IMHO) realised that no-one, well - perhaps save for a few die-hards, uses the Tiger off-road. So they made a bike with trailie styling, but with the road manners of a sports bike - well, tourer at least.
Handling wise, the Tiger is VERY flickable. I had an R1 before it and I swear that the 1050 turns quicker. It carries its weight quite high (this isn't always good - read on) and has a fair degree of rake - so it's very direct in the twisties.
The engine is a peach. The 1050 have a shed load of torque meaning you can pretty much leave it in 5th/6th and just wind on and off the throttle - very good. That said, the EFI can be snatchy at low revs, meaning low speed riding / filtering etc. can be less smooth than you'd like, especially as when the power comes in, it's pretty meaty. The triple sounds fantastic too. I stuck with the stock pipe/can, but even then it has a lovely off-beat burble (that is a signature of the triple) and even pops a bit on the overrun
Good for waking up car drivers as they're on the phone 
The high C of G also means that it's not always as stable as you'd like - especially in those v.tight filtering spots. But on the whole, it's a decent bike for pretty much all manner of riding.
Cruising / motorway use is pretty good. The biggest issue most owners have had (including me) is the inordinate amount of wind buffetting you get. I swapped my screen for a lower one (I tried the Triumph touring screen on the dealer demo bike and that was even worse than the stock jobbie) which means you take the wind on the chest, but it was infinitely better than the original.
Tank range is about 200 (probably about 210) miles depending on how you ride. That was with a mixture of allsorts, as per my commute. I know recent press has reported excessive oil use, but in my time with the bike it's not used a drop!
The seat is comfy, but the angle of the seat / tail (as evident by any pic you see of it) tends to slide you forward to the tank. This makes it feel more sporty, but can (literally) be a bit of a pain in the knackers) 'Bum' time - for me at least - is about an hour and a half before it goes numb and becomes really uncomfortable.
The instruments are close to the headstock, easy to read and well lit. The angle (for me) is a pain as it tended to reflect the sun straight into my face, but that depends more on the rider height than anything. The LCD display can show a number of different screens of info including average mpg, Vmax, tank range etc.etc. Only gripe is that you have to cycle between them (so you can't have clock and tank range at the same time etc.)
Build quality is very good. Only gripe was that a belly pan fastener worked itself loose and fell off.
So all in all, a great bike. More sports than touring I'd say - but it really is a great all rounder.
So, for the TDM.
I won't bother with looks/build quality etc. as you all know about those.
Comparing the ride though and the TDM is really quite a different proposition.
The first thing that struck me is how long the bike seems? This is actually an illusion caused by the instrument cluster/screen being set so far forward of the headstock. That said, the TDM steers alot slower than the Tiger. I imagine (though I may be wrong) that the headstock angle is a bit more sedate. It definitely steers slower - but that actually makes it far more comfortable as a tourer as you don't feel that you're correcting it all the time.
The other benefit of the 'long nose' is the reduction in wind noise / buffetting and therefore the protection afforded by the fairing and screen. I imagine that the bods at Yamaha have spent more time in the wind tunnel than the boys from Hinckley - and it shows. My bike has the touring screen and, whilst I haven't tried the stocker, it works very well. Normal riding is very comfortable and dipping your head into the 'bubble' behind the screen gives an almost silent ride - even at errr... higher motorway speeds. Spooky!
The bike seems narrower too - a benefit of the parallel twin. The Triumph Triple splays the frame a fair bit and you do end up feeling like you're in birthing stirrups riding it (don't ask me how I know this
). The bars also seem narrower, making filtering in town an easier prospect than on the Tiger.The parallel twin was a trip down memory lane for me
but a good one. The EFI in the TDM is far smoother than the Tiger. Some may say sedate by comparison. I'm not sure offhand what the power figures are, but the TDM feels far less potent by comnparison. However, this is deceptive, as a check of the speedo shows that you're actually doing a respectable speed.The power delivery makes it easier to ride in town and having done a while variety of roads already (about 250 miles since i picked it up
) it's a great all rounder. It's definitely more comfortable for longer journeys than the Triumph. I did 190 miles after collecting it in one run - no stops. My bum even still felt as if it was attached to me afterwards 
The twin 'vibes' gave me a bit of a tingle in the feet (but very little), but my hands were fine - that's very impressive as I remember my TDM850 giving me hand tingle after about 50 miles!The exhausts are amazing..... amazingly QUIET that is! I can't believe how well silenced they are. I had a pair of Laser race cans on my old TDM850 and they were like a pair of Howitzers! Whilst I'm a bit older and wiser and perhaps a bit more considerate of my neighbours, the bike does seem to be crying out for some louder cans. For me, it's a safety issue. I pass about - I dunno, say 500 cars on the way to work and most of them (as you all know) are almost oblivious to bikes until you're right by them. Loud cans might not literally save lives, but they do wake dozy muppets up! It's money I don't want to spend though at the mo. so I'll stick with the stockers for now. They do make the bike very wide at the rear though, so maybe a single pipe conversion is in order? We'll see
Anyway, onto economy. Tank range is similarly impressive. I filled up and then did 190 miles and still had two bars showing when I got home! This morning, this had dropped to one bar (predictably), so I filled up again to check how it fares in my 'normal' usage. A very encouraging start though as I can't stand stopping for fuel!
So in summary, I'd say that the Tiger was a better sports/weekend bike, or for those that have shorter journeys or enjoy a good hoon. I'd say that the TDM would struggle against it on track (but let's face it - we don't really buy them as track bikes!) but not by much. Ground clearance would work against it, whereas lower CofG would work in its favour.
The TDM is a more tourer than sports - and a great bike for it. It can hold its own in the twisties and for a long trip I'd be taking the TDM keys every time.
It's a moot point anyway as the Tiger is up for sale!
Very pleased to be back in the TDM posse
