Tiger Tales - Dialling in the 800XC for the dirt

[TerraUnFirma]

Originally Posted by catzass

Burren, Thanks a lot man! I test rode an xc this weekend and have been trying to tell myself I don't need one. You are not helping with your rave reviews and you are giving me ideas of what I would want to add to one. I'm already sucked into the Triumph fold by my 955i Daytona. And I have a perfectly good dual-sport in my green drz(klx400). But I don't have a bike to ride cross-country and get off the road when I get there. So one of these may find its way into my garage.
Keep it up! I'll keep denying that I need one of these too and keep an eye on this thread for new ideas.

Don't NEED one??? Do we really NEED any of these bikes? Ok, so they are a form of therapy...at least in my book. I actually rode all 3 of my street legal bikes today, tho just for local errands. Hadn't ridden the RT in a few weeks and it really felt small (size and height wise) compared to the XC and the DRZ. They're all great, but if I had to cut back to just one bike, it would be the XC, for just the reasons you mention!

Go for it!

[Birdy68]

Originally Posted by Burren Rider

[/CENTER]

WOW.... FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC....

[Mercury264]

Originally Posted by av_mech

This is my one big gripe about the bike. It needs a much wider ratio tranny. A granny first gear and an over drive sixth gear. Can you imagine the gas mileage you could achieve if you were turning 4k rpms at 80mph vs 6k?!

I'll be doing the 15T too. Just ordered fork seal boots and the mud flap tonight. My Fuel exhaust should be here within the next two days!

Where did you order the boots and mud flap from (I assume you mean the Acerbis flap) ?

Thanks...

[KildareMan]

Originally Posted by Burren Rider

Nice job on the hand guard extensions, they look like they would work well?

Yup working a treat. Best bet though as a few others have done is get 1050 handguards. They are deeper. Although you also need the 1050 bar end weights or home made. My extensions give plenty of room at the knuckles so no problems with thick gloves or the like. Another mod to try is a 15 x 40mm strip to raise the inboard contact point of the handguards. Handguards start becoming useful at this point.

[RodT]

Originally Posted by Burren Rider

G'Day Rod,

I tried, but no go unfortunately. The Henry / Reed bend definately have more sweep than standard but don't have enough room on either side to fit the controls correctly (the perches are starting to sit on the tapered curve area). I reckon you would find some that do work well but I am going to wait and see what a damper kit entails (my guess is that it may mount below the bars and act as a riser anyway?).

Hi Danny, thanks for the info on the handlebars as it saves me a lot of hassle. I still need more sweep, so i guess I'll have to looks elsewhere. Rod

[av_mech]

Originally Posted by Mercury264

Where did you order the boots and mud flap from (I assume you mean the Acerbis flap) ?

Thanks...

LINK to the P/N post in the Tiger thread. I just searched in Ebay and found it.

[Mercury264]

Originally Posted by av_mech

LINK to the P/N post in the Tiger thread. I just searched in Ebay and found it.

Thanks

[markbvt]

Originally Posted by Burren Rider

How do you find the bars now when sitting? I find it a bit of reach sometimes and this puts weight on my wrists which I am not fussed on. Did the the risers bring them back much, or were you able to roll the bars back a little with the risers? Risers would be an easy fix and I was going to go that way but was concerned the bars were just too straight to be comfortable?

I think comfort is going to be a very personal thing.

Over long distances, the XC bars with the 20mm risers still put more pressure on my palms and wrists than, say, the stock bars on my former V-Strom 650. The reach is longer and the grips are at a straighter outward angle. The Strom's bars are a bit more comfortable when riding long distances. But the XC bars certainly aren't bad.

I may switch to Rox risers eventually, but for the time being, I'm satisfied with the current setup.

--mark

[Evomx971]

Originally Posted by Burren Rider

Engine

To be honest I don't think there is much that can be done to improve this element of the bike, it is a cracker.

I opted for an Arrow pipe (primarily for the sound) and it really gives the bike a growl. I chose the Arrow as it has a tailored map and I like the integrated heat shield. I am looking at soft luggage options at the moment and I think this shield would be handy if I went the Giant Loop path. Staintune are looking to develop a pipe but it won't be for a while, otherwise I would have opted for the locally made product.



With the baffle out it can get a little droney every now and then but the sound of this thing ripping through the forest is awesome It is interesting to note that my kids can't hear me coming like they can when I am on the 400 (fitted with a Staintune and road legal baffle) so it is obviously not that anti-social.

Did you make the map change at the same time as putting on the pipe? If so, what were your impressions of the change to the motor other than sound? I did the Arrow and map (but have not removed the baffle) and thought it made the throttle response down low much softer than stock, which put me off at first, but after having it off road, I really like it. With the baffle still in, the pipe really doesn't sound any louder than stock to me, but does have a little nicer tone to it. Plus it's a much lighter piece and looks great.

[Spots]

Originally Posted by Burren Rider

How did you find the 800 compared to the 1050 on the road? A mate had one and he loved it so it would be interesting to see the similarities.

At the risk of being far too obvious, there were some similarities and some differences. :) Afterall, one's a sports-touring bike for tall bastards and the other's a mid-size adventure bike.

To me the 800XC felt a lot lighter and narrower from the seat. Really easy to balance at slower-than-walking-pace. The 800 motor's got better usable power all the way down to, say, 1500rpm or 2000rpm or so. By comparison, below 3000rpm the 1050 Tiger is a grumpy-sounding cat which protests that its valve overlaps and runner lengths were meant for sporting, not stump-pulling. Edit: One other difference - The 1050 doesn't vibrate too much, but the 800's _insanely_ smooth and vibration free. Twist throttle, receive propulsion.

Wind management seemed better on the 800; less buffetting and noise. I found the 800's seat to be interesting/strange - it seems to lock the rider into just one position, whereas the 1050's got more room to scoot around.

In terms of handing they're quite different indeed - the 800 felt much slower to tip in no matter how forceful I was with countersteering (21" dual-purpose vs 17" sports-touring?), but once it was leaned over it felt sure-footed and confident. :) The 1050's handling felt a little more nimble overall but suffers in rapid side-to-side transitions through S-curves due to being a tall tubby tabby.


In summary I'd say the 800XC felt like it'd make a more comfortable/practical touring bike compared to the 1050 sports-cat; better wind-management, better tractability, more legroom. And with access to tyres that aren't sportsbike semislicks it'd be a hell of a lot better on unpaved roads, letalone getting into real offroad situations.

[ADVJake]

Hi Danny,
long time no see.

Im very keen for the 800XC, its been dangerous for the housing prospects reading this thread... to sacrifice the deposit or not..

[Burren Rider]

Originally Posted by catzass

Keep it up! I'll keep denying that I need one of these too and keep an eye on this thread for new ideas.

I tired denial. It lasted all of two months . Don't know what that says about my will power

[Burren Rider]

Originally Posted by markbvt

I think comfort is going to be a very personal thing.

Over long distances, the XC bars with the 20mm risers still put more pressure on my palms and wrists than, say, the stock bars on my former V-Strom 650. The reach is longer and the grips are at a straighter outward angle. The Strom's bars are a bit more comfortable when riding long distances. But the XC bars certainly aren't bad.

I may switch to Rox risers eventually, but for the time being, I'm satisfied with the current setup.

--mark

Thanks Mark, appreciate the feedback. I was thinking along the same lines so I may end up going for a bar with a little more angle.

Cheers,

Danny

[Burren Rider]

Originally Posted by Evomx971

Did you make the map change at the same time as putting on the pipe? If so, what were your impressions of the change to the motor other than sound? I did the Arrow and map (but have not removed the baffle) and thought it made the throttle response down low much softer than stock, which put me off at first, but after having it off road, I really like it. With the baffle still in, the pipe really doesn't sound any louder than stock to me, but does have a little nicer tone to it. Plus it's a much lighter piece and looks great.

Yeah, I mapped it at the same time and to be honest it didn't seem to make a lot of difference? The bike feels slightly freer revving but this may be more the audio difference than anything else? I tried running with the baffle and naturally curiosity got the better of me and I ripped it out. Sounds unreal through the forest now. Not overly loud still, just purposeful, almost like a WRC rally car .

[glitch_oz]

Originally Posted by Burren Rider

Getting rid of the sidestand switch (as they have been prone to failure on my dirt bikes in the past) would be good though? Surely the sidestand sensor wouldn't be wrapped up in the mapping

Hi Danny
Love the thread...great posts!!
Thanks for the effort taken
Re: sidestand switch...Rather than bypassing the switch, how about just re-locating it.... out of harms way, that is.

Like this perhaps (on a DL)


Didn't mess with any electronics to just make a little alum bracket, bolt the switch onto that, then re-route the cable to make the whole shebang sit unter a side-panel, away from sticks and mud.