Tiger Tales - Dialling in the 800XC for the dirt

I will do, a lot of the guys that I ride with have the same tyre on the rear, they haven't had this problem they use this tyre and recommended it to me for the long wearing good in the bush and to still have good grip on the tar. But I'll see how they go.

Can you elaborate what you/they mean by slippery conditions?
I've used K60 rear for over 9000 miles now and IMO that centre strip is a Godsend. You have more rubber on the road meaning more grip and less wear. Off road, of course, they're not going to be the best but if it's really soggy the tyre will sink in and the big paddles either side of the solid strip will drive you forward. That's what I've found anyway.

I have the scout rear (& front), and I do not have any issues with it. Up to now I never did any aqua planing.
I'm generally impressed with the overall grip, and the centre strip keeps the wear on the highway under control.

I had read some complaints on wet tarmac, or hard packed dirt with some clay like composition.

I will know soon enough, put down some money on a 150/70-17 today.

What pressure you running in yours?

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I started running 35 in the rear. So far so good.

For tar I run 30F/36R. Drop both by 10 for dirt. Don't forget here that these are a 50/50 tyre so there's less rubber on the road than Tourances or similar so you do have to treat wet roads with more respect. And, when hard packed clay gets wet there ain't a tyre out there that'll grip.

Oh yea i guess i should have defined better 35 on the street. I plan on 20 ish for dirt, gravel.

Some photo's from the last ride. We set off from Coffs Harbour and followed forestry tracks and dirt roads all the way to the Queensland border on Day 1 (roughly 400km away).

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Day 2 started well but got a bit interesting on the Condamine Gorge Track.

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We were about half way through the 14 Crossings of the Condamine River when I found a deep hole and the Tiger took a little sip. We stripped the tank, pulled the plugs and got it running again without too many drama's though.

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From there we headed to Phil's farm on the Sunshine Coast. Awesome spot.

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A couple fo Video's. My mate Phil makes a series of Adventure Riding DVD's in Australia under the Motorbikin' banner. The plan this year is to do a multi-leg lap around Australia (on a pair of 800XC's) making a couple of DVD's along the way. He has put together a couple of You Tube clips from the last couple of legs and I thought I would attach them here if anyone is interested.

Leg 1 - Melbourne to Jindabyne

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Leg 2 - Jindabyne to Coffs Harbour

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Leg 3 - Coffs Harbour to the Sunshine Coast

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G'Day,

The bike is fine. We dried out the pre-filter, pulled the plugs out and it has been running perfectly ever since. Surprisingly painless process considering the rigmoral of removing the tank. We were fortunate to have an ex-Cape York tour operator and a boat mechanic on hand so I guess the odds were stacked in my favour. Next time I will let one of the other fella's go across first .

I have seen pictures of the Safari tank mould and it looks really good on the bike. Should be out in the next month or two with a bit of luck. Capacity is forescast to be 34 Litres.

It's a tricky one though. Raise the guard and a big hit will damage it without a bit of modification. Leave the guard low and it catches rocks and fills up with mud.

There is only 8mm clearance with it in the standard position so even raising it 15mm could be flirting with danger? My experience has been to increase the oil height if you are going to hit things hard (like washed out gullies or jumps, not just fast stuff). If that isn't within the plans, I still recommend taking to the guard with a file or a dremel to give it a bit more clearance under the Triple Clamp bolts. Cheap insurance

The thing with a damper is that it dampens on a different plane to your forks (ie side to side, not up and down).

I am not looking to reduce weave on the highway or any of the things that are associated with poor suspension or geometry. For me, a stabiliser is about the unexpected hits that want to flick the bars sideways. Tree roots, rocks, sandy ruts etc. Each of them can flick you off and while a damper is not fool proof it does reduce the impact, which can save your butt on occasion. The other advantage of a damper on big bikes is that they tend to keep the rear end in tow a little bit under serious acceleration or rear braking. It is not pronounced but you can feel it keeping things tidy every now and then.

My experience with k60 has been great, but I will say it was ultra slick on the ice and snow.(ya I know most tires will be) It was almost impossible to get started after having to stop on a hill. i guess if you never have snow and ice that might not be a concern for you. There was also a guy at the bike dealership in Edmonton who was just down in the baja. Apparently one of his buds ate dirt when the rear time slid out on wet grass. I understand the solid center is going to make it last alot longer, but It does have a down side. I'm thinking of going down to the 140 for a litle more lug in the centre. Not sure how much less wear i'd get with one of those. I love the idea tkc in the front! great idea. I bet gives a hell of a lot more control offroad. Too bad, I'm just leaving the Baja in a couple days and won't be able to try that out here!

cheers,
Clay

I reckon the dip is your new stepper motor washing technique.

Nice photo. I wouldn't be surprised if Triumph gets in touch to use that in publicity.

If you push on the guard it does flex so I'm hoping it'll flex that 7mm. And, I/we generally don't ride at those speeds. Time will tell.
However, in the UK mud is the more serious threat so raising the guard is a no brainer.

Howdy Danny

That's good news, 34L sounds like a good number, I wonder if more could have worked. Where did you see the photo's.... Didn't see it on their site & canoeguy was only interested in his KLR tanks to take photo's of the XC...

Great vids and thanks for sharing. Two questions. Are you running stock gearing on your tiger, and what tires have you had the best luck with?