Triumph Tiger 800 leakathon continues

Triumph's leaklaunch of the new Tiger 800 adventure bikes continued today with a misguided "preview" for the brand's hardcore fans visiting Triumph Live at England's Mallory Park.

"Not only will we be previewing the 2011 range of bikes and clothing..." was the message to ticket buyers on the Triumph Live website. As it turned out, the preview consisted of the two Tiger 800 models hidden inside shipping crates and viewable through holes drilled in the crates' walls.

Now, manipulating media in an attempt to get as much coverage as possible is sort of ok, even if it could backfire by reducing interest in the run up to the product actually going on sale. Actually misleading your most loyal fans who travel from all over the UK and Europe and pay good money for the tickets to the event? Just plain stupid.

The strict "no photo" policy meant that even the pictures of people lining up to stare into freight crate peepholes were deleted by Triumph security, so this sneakily taken cell phone shot of the Triumph Tiger 800 XC tank is all we can provide.

Triumph didn't reveal any more information about the Tiger 800 /  Tiger 800 XC than we already have, but, as expected, they've prepared a shitload of aftermarket "adventure" equipment. No other 2011 models were "previewed," meaning Triumph either have no other new 2011 models or they mislead their fans on that account as well.

The top photo comes courtesy of a friend who attended the event (and was very disappointed) and the rest of the photos come from ADV Rider and Triumph Torque, where attendees are also a bit peeved. Note the peep holes drilled in the crate's side.