Triumph Tiger 800

Can the color of the bike be determined by the VIN? Triumph emailed me my replacement bike VIN but failed to tell me the color and I haven't heard back from them yet.
The bike it's replacing was Crystal White but I told them I'd take that or Venom Yellow. I do know it's a 2012 model. VIN SMTE05BFXCJ50xxxx

A very lovely ride, wonderful suspension.

Things that concern me:

Passenger pegs are welded to the frame. I am pondering cutting these off before I bend the subframe in a drop.

Passenger peg bars are not capped. Rust. Wonder what other frame parts are not capped.

The radiator! The only thing protecting the radiator is, the radiator. Its the lowest big piece of plastic on with a screw in it, right in front of the head of the motor. The screw mounting the plastic screws right into the radiator. It sticks out further to the sides than anything on the bike [except the blinker]. First fall seems like I am going to have a reconfigured radiator, or a cracked/punctured/not going home radiator? Dag. Guards on order.

Someone has already done this and needed a new frame according to dealer. Do you think bolted pegs will be any better tho.

The end of the frame near the tail light is one that I know of, not sure of any other yet.

You'll also be disappointed with the length of the chain guard (I know I am) and heat that spills onto your right leg/foot when the fan kicks in

Apart from that there are the normal things such as mileage to a tank and wind buffeting from the screen, everything else is pretty good I recon

Radiator is held on with 1 bolt and 1 pin onto 2 lugs at the top and one arm at the bottom to stop it swinging forwards. I know because I have already bent te lugs when stacked it in some sand dunes. Better the lugs bending than the radiator distorting. Some protection up there is in order but crash bars done do much in soft sand. There's too little surface area.

:huh how could they do us like that with the radiator?

for all you hipsters out there with an iPhone, i just bought the iBracket from Touratech... so far it's "ok." I can feel the vibration el Tigre is putting into the phone, which will probably fatigue something in the phone in short order.

I guess I'll let you know how it goes...

Check out these water crossings


<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3oxSI9Y_MVY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Do what exactly ? In a tip over, do you want the bracket to break or the radiator ? I know what I want....

FYI... The Kenda Big Block is available in 150/70-17. It looks like a good alternative to the TKC-80, though reports so far are that it wears faster.

The Pirelli Scorpion Rally is not an 80/20 street tire -- you may be thinking of the Scorpion Trail. The Rally is an aggressive knobby that looks like it would do well in the dirt, though I'm sure it wears down very quickly on pavement.

There's also the Metzeler MCE Karoo (also very aggressive and fast-wearing) and the Karoo T (similar to the TKC-80 or Big Block). Both come in a 150/70-17 rear.

With more of these bikes on the market, I expect more dirt-oriented tires will become available in the 150/70-17 size. I personally am hoping for a Dunlop D908...

--mark

Good find. That's the best Tiger video out there. Thanks for sharing.

i just mean it sticks really far out to the sides, and the top two mounts are so strong, for the bottom bracket to bend, your gonna have to bend the radiator

Someone smart needs to figure out a way to accurately cut the peg supports off near the frame (with the help of some sort of template) and then be able to re-attach them when/if they are needed. Perhaps some sort of pin and sleave arrangement.

They don't have to be smart.

The smart person might look at the passenger brackets and notice the tubing that holds the passenger pegs on is thin walled compared to the main subframe, so the chances of actually bending the frame are small.

Passenger pegs :-
Being welded on is not unique. Most BMWs are also welded on and I don't think bolted on ones would be any better at protecting the frame apart from the fact that you could take them off. But, then something else is going to touch down first in a spill.
If you want to stop rust just spray some ACF50 up the tubes.
I like the fact that the tubes are uncapped because SWmotech have used those tube to anchor the pannier frames.

The radiator does (well mine does anyway) have a guard on it already. It's plastic and probably flimsy but it's there and has a honey comb pattern. Take a closer look at yours before you start criticizing.

Tiger1050 hand guards. You do need the 1050 bar ends for this but these are going to offer so much more protection from wind, rain and cold.


Scottoiler fitted....

I'm only posting this because everybody keeps harping about passenger mounts.
http://www.tiger800.co.uk/index.php/topic,2313.0.html

Thanks for the clarifications Mark. You're correct on the Karoo's ... I've been on rides where BMW guys got into serious trouble with those tires ... they wore down to nothing after some high speed pavement sections.

I must have looked up the wrong tire on the Pirelli. Maybe this is it:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/29/393/28465/ITEM/Pirelli-Scorpion-Rally-Rear-Tire.aspx

Could Pirelli make this any more confusing? Way too many overlapping model names / designations. Very poor management. Nothing translates well from Italian me thinks.

Good to know Kenda are making the bigger tire. I agree, more companies will jump in. The Dunlop 908 would be awesome, also something like a Michelin Desert would be cool in a 150 /17, as well as more sizes for the T-63 which is a tough tire but biggest is now a 130/17.

I noticed in that video of the aussie's doing quite a bit of off road that they were running the Karoo T, which I believe is supposed to hold up a little better on pavement. I'll probably try the TKC80 or the Karoo T for now, whichever I can get the better deal on.

Just with the Kenda Big Block tires you need to make sure there is decent enough room between the tire and front fender.

not criticizing, just brainstorm/discourse on how to protect, improve, enjoy my machine, beat the hell out of it without destroying it. I am talking about the part of the radiator seen from the side view as in this pic: