Triumph Tiger 800

Uh, yeah, cylinders don't 'glaze'. A cross-hatch hone puts fine scratches into the barrel that the rings wear down until the surface is smooth. This is required for the rings to get a good seal. If those scratches aren't worn down sufficiently during breakin then the rings don't seal as well as they could thus allowing some blow-by. Through extended running the rings begin to wear and the gap in the ends will enlarge also allowing oil by.

So the solution is to run them with a conventional oil for a few hundred miles, varied speeds with low load, hard decelleration as well as accelleration, and then switch to a full synthetic once the barrels have been ground down smooth by the rings. Since you can't see inside the motor to verify this, you have to do this 'break in period' based on the manufacturers recommendation.

I swear by a very early oil change to get rid of initial wear material that is dispursed in the oil, and any assembly dirt or debris. Like at around 200-250 miles. Then run-in to about 1200-1500 miles and switch to full syn. I've done this with the last four new bikes I've bought and they all ran super clean, no oil usage. My Tiger is not different, 3K miles and it isn't down any.

I would not go 6K between changes with any oil. Especially not with a mixed gearbox and crankcase configuration. Three to four thousand is plenty, oil changes are cheap, and you don't have to worry about oil degradation in that interval (OCI). If you really want to extend the OCI send a sample in for testing/analysis (blackstone) so you know your additive package isn't being completely depleted and your viscosity index isn't changing drastically. Synthetic is a lot more shear stable than conventional, but still, running oil in a wet clutch and gears put different stresses on the oil than in a car engine. Hell, I don't even go that long on the cars - 10K OCI gets changed at about half of that. I don't bother with an analysis, just change it out.

BTW, I have a GM 8.1L in a RV chassis that are notorious for using a lot of oil - up to a quart in 1200 miles. I used this same breakin process as I always do and mine uses about a half quart in 3K miles. The only caveat for this motor is fuel consumption....it gets about 7.5mpg. At $5 a gallon it's $350 to fill the tank. OUCH!!

Heres my new baby picked her up on friday

Very nice!

Speaking of oil changes. Did my first one at 6k miles (bought bike used). Probably easiest bike ever for an oil change! Just make sure you have 8mm (if I recall correctly) hex bit.

I did find two aluminum washers doubled up from previous change though. Not sure if it was the dealer or previous owner... Dealer wouldn't surprise me one bit.

I have 17,000 miles on my 2012 tiger 800 xc and it does not burn oil

Just thought I'd share some recent maintenance results:

In general, I do all my own maintenance, but about 6 weeks ago I took my 2011 800XC in to get the latest map since I was two behind and still on the original Arrow-ABS map. The new map might run a little crisper than the one I was on and I think I've picked up a couple mpg running it. Although I also think I now have to let the bike warm up for just a few seconds more on cold (less than 50F) mornings than I used to. Doesn't die or anything, just not as "happy". Not a big deal.

I had planned to do my own valve check but once I got the cam cover off, I discovered I really didn't have a set of feeler guages that would get down in there and the exhaust spec is pretty small. Seems like it falls between sizes in most feeler guage sets. What feeler guages are you guys using to check your valves?

I went ahead and put new plugs in since I had them. The old plugs looked good (very clean) but I could visually see some minor wear on the electrodes so glad I replaced them.

Went ahead and had the local dealer do the valve check and the TB sync. They found all the valves just barely tight. That surprised me. I've read of some guys finding a few tight at the first check, but haven't noticed anyone else finding them "all" tight. They set them at the loose side of the spec. I didn't hear if they actually had to adjust the sync on the throttle bodies or not. $220 for the valve adjustment and TB sync. Cheaper than I thought it would be. Of course, I had to take off the skidplate when I got home and clean up oil that must have ran down the front of the motor (I think they pulled the cam cover with the bike on the sidestand for some reason). It has just the tiniest bit more valve noise than before which would be expected. Runs as good or better than it ever has.

They want me to bring it in to do the shifter return spring recall that affects my VIN... might drag my feet a bit on getting that done. Haven't heard anything about that being a high priority to get done.

Keep posting up your results as you do your valve checks... interested in what others are finding.

I don't know what the specs are off hand, but I had to order a decent set of feeler gauges a while back as most stuff locally was way too big. I think my smallest one is .05mm

Something like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Horex-Germa...733&pid=100011&prg=1005&rk=1&sd=370648484668&

Were you able to do yours with straight blade guages? Seems like it would have almost taken a guage with a 45-90 degree bend to get down to the valve tappet. Like with the set you sent, it goes from .30mm to .35mm to .40mm... off the top of my head, I was thinking the exhaust spec was like .325mm to .375mm. I'm probably being too cautious with the whole thing.

I actually haven't checked the Tiger yet. I was just speaking from other bikes. My CRF is pretty tight, but I'm able to get it in there. I think I read from others that a 45 or 90 degree bend in the gauge would help out though.

If the specs do get into the thousandths and my gauges didn't, I'd just measure to the nearest hundredth on the looser side of the spec. Besides, most shims are in .05mm increments aren't they?

Just read this on: http://www.tiger800.co.uk/index.php?topic=3072.0

You will be kicking yourself if that spring breaks. Why risk ruining a ride? Just let them change it out. They will NOT dump the oil or anything else that should discourage you from getting the new spring. It would suck to try & ride home with the shifter stuck.

Good point. Although, in general, when letting a shop work on my stuff, a little dumped oil is the least of my worries.

haha, Amen. I'm the same way. I'm actually waiting for a call back from my local shop to get this done as well. I wasn't sure if they had to dump oil or not, but they also confirmed they didn't.

I see that as of last week, there are some new ECU maps on TuneECU.com.

I'm currently running 20635 on my XC ABS (standard silencer) and am wondering if anyone knows what the difference is in the new 20653 tune.

If you have it, have you loaded it on your Tiger yet?

On the recommendation of an inmate here, I have ordered a VRM163 so I'll give that a shot with the Mefo Explorer on the front. I was all set to get a Mefo for the rear until I realized they don't do a 17"

I've loaded the non abs on mine - 20654. In comparison I could see no difference with the previous tune - 20636. However that doesn't mean much as most of the tune is locked down so that we the users can not see it.
Only difference I noticed so far is the fuel gauge registering full within 300m of filling up.

What you mean they do not do 17"???? I ran rear 17" Mefo Explorer on my DR800 for about 2000 km.

Here it is

My bad, I wasn't clear. They don't do a Super Explorer in 17" and the biggest Explorer rear is (IIRC) 130 ?

Ah! I see.

I did not like those tyres to be honest. They were OK for very dry and no sand and dry tarmac...but in wet they were horrible. This is why I sold them...

Hey everyone, looking for guys to go on sunday rides with in the bay area. Anyone out there around here?!

so what are some good, year round, all terrain tires?? i ride year round so need that year round!