While I don't really question the decision of the magazine rating the Triumph first (as I really enjoyed my test ride on it); I am always skeptical of anything written in a magazine, paper or newsletter. My first question always follows my first rule of skepticism "follow the money". My second question is always "what is the bias or slant of author or publication" and my last question, "what is the long term result of the stated opinion on income".
In this case:
1. You have a British magazine that is most likely receiving far more revenue from Triumph and European motorcycle manufacturers than from Suzuki. And definitely more targeted advertisements specifically on the Tiger 800 and BMW F800 than on the Suzuki DL650.
2. You have a British rider an author with (most probably) a built in bias towards British Bikes in particular and European Bikes in general, and
3. You have a magazine that is much less likely to lose a significant future income stream by rating a 10 year old, largely unchanged Japanese motorcycle that is recognized "jack of all trades and master of none" against 2 "market focused" motorcycle from large advertisers.
Additionally, although it be my imagination, but it seems whenever a new bike comes out to a lot of fanfare it generally receives good reviews against older bikes which are not heavily advertised. Which causes further skepticism of any ratings.
As stated, I actually loved my test ride on the Tiger 800, and if budget was no issue and the Tiger had been out a couple of years (I don't buy version 1a of anything. be it car, motorcycle, software, or dive equipment etc,) giving it time to "work out the kinks" I would probably buy one. I really do like it.
But, until questions 1 - 3 have been answered to my satisfaction I am always skeptical.
Having said all that, I really do like the feel, power and suspension of the Tiger 800. Once some time has passed and the inevitable weaknesses in the Triumph make themselves known , so I can make an informed judgement as to it's L-T quality, I may very well buy one. Until then however, my "Jack of All Trades and Master of None" WeeStrom will remain with me.