My leathers are soaked, my skin underneath, is wet. The little windshield and the huge, wide fuel tank of the Tiger did their very best to cover my body, but in the end, they failed. It's too warm today for additional rain gear. If you wear it on a day like this, you wouldn't be able to determine if you're wet from the rain or the sweat. My companions made the same choice.

Then it happens! All of a sudden I see a white flash of lightning to my left followed by sharp, loud thunder. It seemed like my skin was electrified and my hair was standing on end, just as if I had stuck my finger in a light socket. Wowww!!! Let's get off the road as soon as possible. Only 20 seconds later Christian pulls into a lonely gas station. What a break!

Happy to have a roof over our heads, we sit in the gas station, drink a cup of coffee and watch the rain pouring on the test bikes and covering the engines with sizzling steam; an almost mystical scene. The three big dinosaurs fight the power of Mother Nature. Tough guys, all three of them. The BMW R 1150 GS is successful all over the world; in Germany it's even the best selling bike right now. The Quota is Moto Guzzi's second effort to run their big pushrod V-2 in a dual-purpose version after it's predecessor disappeared again in the first half of the nineties. And Triumph finally donated their 955-engine (actually 956 cc) to their off-road ambassador, the Tiger.

A successful mixture
When you look over to our European colleagues you see that big dual-purpose bikes, in general, made their way up to compete with tourers, standards and sport bikes. Of course, dual-purpose isn't the fitting term any more. Just try to take your big enduro out on a moto cross track or on a trail ride. You'll turn around after the first few mud holes. Your bike will be too heavy and will demonstrate poor steering and handling abilities. The wheel travel will be too short and the tire tread won't be knobby enough to gain any forward momentum.