It’s a gloomy morning. The road is empty and still damp from the previous night’s downpour. The village folk are still indoors. Only cattle and stray dogs are in sight. A deep rumble alerts them. They twitch their ears and look around for the threat. The sound gets louder; the predator is approaching them fast. The cows get up haphazardly; too afraid to look back while the mutts take shelter and prepare to ambush whatever is darting their way. A pair of shiny blue eyes appear, latched onto its prey. The dogs don’t dare come in its way. With their heads lowered, they just wait for the beast to pass and hoping to leave them unharmed. The beast’s is fixated on its target. Its well-defined, muscular body shows that it has immense power and isn’t afraid to use it. In a swift move, the beast leaps onto its prey — the sweeping corner down the road.

Panthera tigris, commonly known as the tiger, is the largest among the living cat species. Years of evolution has made it a lot different from its earliest known ancestor — the Pseudaelurus. And even after all these years, the spirit of this beast has remained unchanged much like the Tiger from Hinckley.

This particular subspecies is the Tiger 900 GT — the one that is supposedly the most accessible and friendlier of the lot. A glance isn’t sufficient to see the small changes it has had over its predecessor, but it doesn’t long to notice that this avatar of the 900 GT is the most ferocious it has ever been.

No, it’s not just the deep rumble that keeps the four and the two legged animals away, but now with the 888cc inline-triple putting out 106.5 bhp and 9.17 kgm — that’s 12.8 bhp 0.3 kgm more than its predecessor, it has become a truly feral beast. On a straight road, the relentless acceleration takes it to over 207 kph. And in the city, it can take on the traffic without any protest, however, it doesn’t take long for it to heat up and the shrouds target all the hot air to my knees. How to get around that? Just go fast at the first sight of a clear road, and no matter what gear it is in, it will comply. In fact, even at around 5000 rpm in the sixth gear at 135 kph, there’s a proper shove everytime it (or rather I) wants to take on its prey — winding roads and highways. Winding roads and a Tiger? This big cat’s agility is a sheer surprise, especially considering that this one tips the scales at 219 kg.

This Tiger is almost like a cheetah on the tarmac, changing directions quickly, while its eyes are fixated on eating up the next turn. In fact, the 19-inch Metzeler Tourance Next tyre sticks to the tarmac, and under no circumstance hesitates to hunt down any curve. With every move, it reminds that its tall stance and heft are not to be associated with the typical top-heavy nature that the other beasts of this family have been affiliated with.

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It’s not just the tyres, but also everything else about the Tiger’s anatomy that makes it feel like an apex predator. For starters, the suspension provides ample feedback in almost all kinds of terrain, allowing better control. And the brakes? Well, they have immense stopping power, but without the brute force of a tiger’s bite. No matter how hard I go on the brakes, even at triple-digit speeds, the Tiger sheds speed without any drama. And no, I am not discounting the electronics that work overtime to keep this beast right-side up. On bad roads, the traction control wants me to know that I am getting overzealous with the big kitty, and that maybe I should tone things down a bit.

It is a Tiger, so it’s natural that one yearns for some playtime in the wilderness, and the GT will not disappoint, although better tyres suited for the terrain are a must. But, switch to the off-road mode and the Tiger calms down, and just like a tiger, can take calculated moves through the tricky surfaces. The immaculate fuelling with the well-balanced chassis allows for feline-like moves, which is key for riding through technical trails. That said, another subspecies of this family — the 900 Rally Pro is better equipped for off-roading.

The GT is meant for long hauls, and while it can easily do the maximum legal speeds on any Indian road, post 140 kph, there are slight vibrations at the handlebar, but I couldn’t care less about those. The Tiger has an adjustable windshield, but it takes a lot more than just force to do it while riding. For a bike this fast and that handles almost like a naked, the console is terribly slow. A boot-up takes over ten seconds, and going through the menu sometimes feels like operating an old version of Android. Nonetheless, there’s nothing that hampers the riding experience.

Just like the stripes of each tiger, Triumph wants all of its cats to be as unique as possible, and hence there are over 50 accessories to choose from. But these are quite pricey, too. The bash plate on this particular GT is an accessory that costs over ` 35,000. Add that to the ` 18.05 lakh on-road price of the 900 GT and then suddenly the bike doesn’t feel accessible, right? But the unabating spirit of the motorcycle, the respect it commands on the road and the versatility make it all the more tempting. And that’s the reason that even after all these years of evolution, the Tiger has remained at the top of the food chain.