Triumph Tiger 800

[KildareMan]

The reflectors on the front forks of US bikes look hideous. Can they be easily removed? Not fitted on my 800 thank god.

[GearHd6]

Originally Posted by KildareMan

The reflectors on the front forks of US bikes look hideous. Can they be easily removed? Not fitted on my 800 thank god.

Yes, you'd just need a shorter bolt. I'm so used to them from my 98 T595 that they don't bother me.

[av_mech]

Originally Posted by KildareMan

The reflectors on the front forks of US bikes look hideous. Can they be easily removed? Not fitted on my 800 thank god.

They were removed 5 minutes after I got home. One bolt and done. Looks waaay better!!

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by Jim Williams

glad you got to see just how good the Uly is, but it's not a Harley, it's a Buell. I'll be keeping mine alongside the XC!

Thanks for pointing that out Jim.
I attended an intro event for the Uly some years ago and got to hear Erik himself explain just how different his Uly was from a Harley. Would take a page to run it all down .... but one quick blast on one is really all you need for an I.Q. update. No real connection IMHO to your typical HD.

Once you get used to all the Buell quirks ... it's a great bike. Such a shame HD big wigs pulled the plug. The Buell has a very different character from the Tiger ... 180 degrees ... but ALL GOOD in it's own way.
And it's that diversity that everyone should be thankful for.

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by GearHd6

Here you go.

Thanks for posting a rear view of the bags. First time I've really seen that rear angle. Me likes. Looks like the Tiger will pack up beautifully. Lots of room for a big duffle up top. I've heard they open/close better than previous generation Triumph bags. My 1050 Tiger ones are OK .... once you get used to them.

[Adv Grifter]

Originally Posted by wanderlost

Looking at the tail end photo of the Triumph bags, my thought is "what a waste of space because of the high pipe. I wonder if one could put a 45 degree bend in the exhaust and have the can come straight back below the level of the pannier boxes?
Paul

There is a solution on the 1050 Tiger ... which has same problem:
A guy in the UK made a custom mounting rack that allows you to use the Left side pannier on the Right exhaust side. You need to go with a low pipe ... which are available for the 1050 Tiger. This puts the pipe Under the pannier and doubles your space in that bag. The fit of this set up looks OEM good ... and the bags fit perfectly and are balanced.

I'm quite sure someone will do similar for the 800 Tiger's.

[andoulli]

Originally Posted by GearHd6

Yeah it does seem like a waste but I liked the idea that they're symmetrical as far as sticking out the same distance from the bike. I didn't like the idea of 2 different width bags just to make things look symmetrical. Just my preference.

It may not be just looks. It could effect stability if the luggage is not balanced from side to side. If one bag sticks out farther than the other, there would be more drag on that side, especially at speed. When I had my F650 with Vario bags I rode with the luggage telescoped in to the smallest width whenever possible. That reduced drag enough to improve fuel efficiency by 4 mpg.

[GearHd6]

Originally Posted by andoulli

It may not be just looks. It could effect stability if the luggage is not balanced from side to side. If one bag sticks out farther than the other, there would be more drag on that side, especially at speed. When I had my F650 with Vario bags I rode with the luggage telescoped in to the smallest width whenever possible. That reduced drag enough to improve fuel efficiency by 4 mpg.

I rode it home 170 miles from the dealer in all different types of road conditions and you'd never even know they were there. You just need to remember they're there when pulling up to fuel islands and what not.

And you could be right about the wind drag on the panniers. Never really thought of that. And I'm sure they can't help gas mileage much, but hey, fuel is cheap right?! LOL

[LoriKTM]

Originally Posted by The Jerk

Anybody know the size of the Allen key/socket needed for the front wheel? It's smaller than the 1050 and smaller than all 3 sizes on my nifty combo tool.

Looks like a 17mm hex on the front axle, if you hadn't already discovered it.

But as my husband and I were looking over the Tiger this afternoon, it occurred to us that we didn't have a 17mm hex for the front axle, either. Since we are planning a 4-day trip at the end of the month, we thought it would be a good idea to kind of go around the bike and see what other specific tools might be needed for the Tiger, in addition to our general tire repair kit and miscellaneous tools.

We found out that the stock Tiger tool kit is a bit, uh, incomplete:
27mm rear axle wrench, & extension bar
5mm Allen key
philips/straight slot combo screwdriver & handle
10mm/12mm box end combo wrench
13mm box end wrench

So, you might have enough to get some of the plastic bits off, and maybe the rear wheel. If you need to remove the front wheel, it's not happening with the stock kit. I'd also recommend getting a real tool roll. The bottom seam of my stock plastic tool bag split open at some point over the last few hundred miles.

So, we are planning on adding the following to our on-bike tool kit:

17mm Allen key (Front axle)
8mm Allen (handlebar pinch bolts)
6mm Allen (fork pinch bolts and handlebar pinch bolts)
7,8,10,12,13,14mm sockets and ratchet. (A cursory check showed that some of the bolts can't be accessed with the stock combo wrench)
T-30 Torx bit (Fork guard covers)
T-40 Torx bit (Front brake rotor)

This is for the XC model. Not sure if the 800 road model has different hardware. Plus I'm sure we missed a few things, but this should cover general maintenance items. If you guys think of anything else, please add it to the list!

I also noticed that there are 4 fuse sizes: 5A, 10A, 15A, 20A. There are a couple empty slots in the fuse blocks, but no spares. I'll pick up a few spares, but I just haven't figured out what style of fuse it is.


Oh, and over 1200 miles and still going strong on my bike! Feels like she has loosened up very nicely. I did have a "low" of 49mpg on one tank, but I've really stopped tracking it for the most part.

[thumperpilot]

Originally Posted by mbabc

Going through your country (Danville to Breaks Interstate park) in a couple weeks. What road would that be?

PM sent.

.

[Redne Dab]

Originally Posted by AK Oldman

Jack did his first stoppie on a motorcycle!

Thanks for the great review. This part will be making me laugh for days.

[siddle]

I like better the looks to the F800GS, I just can't get into the lop-sided headlights. As for the 'Stroms, surplus plastic for a bike for dodgy surfaces, plus ugly in person. It's bizarre, the Stroms look really good in photos to me, blech in person.

[siddle]

I rode the Tiger 800 street version today. Too good and too smooth! No doubt! It definitely makes the BMW feel like a tractor.

[RollinOnShabbos]

Well, I just got an email from the dealer where I put down a deposit back in February for a T800 ABS in Black. He's claiming that no black 800s were made in the 2011 model (I guess he means the silver frame) and that that Black 800 ABS with the graphite frame won't make it into the country until mid to late july which would be too late for me to take the trip I was planning.

I thought I saw a few pictures of a black 800 somewhere on here. Anyone know which page it was on?

In addition, with this news, and the general feeling that the dealer in Cali isn't doing his job properly, I think I'm going to search around for another dealer who can hook it up. I'd be interested to hear of any good, hard working dealers in Northern California (giving up on the so-cal leg of my trip), or somewhere near North Carolina (an alternative starting point). Any other suggestions for trying to get a black 800 ABS for pickup (and honestly I'd think about flying anywhere in the US for pickup) for the beginning of July?

[wolftrax]

Originally Posted by RollinOnShabbos

Well, I just got an email from the dealer where I put down a deposit back in February for a T800 ABS in Black. He's claiming that no black 800s were made in the 2011 model (I guess he means the silver frame) and that that Black 800 ABS with the graphite frame won't make it into the country until mid to late july which would be too late for me to take the trip I was planning.

I thought I saw a few pictures of a black 800 somewhere on here. Anyone know which page it was on?

In addition, with this news, and the general feeling that the dealer in Cali isn't doing his job properly, I think I'm going to search around for another dealer who can hook it up. I'd be interested to hear of any good, hard working dealers in Northern California (giving up on the so-cal leg of my trip), or somewhere near North Carolina (an alternative starting point). Any other suggestions for trying to get a black 800 ABS for pickup (and honestly I'd think about flying anywhere in the US for pickup) for the beginning of July?

Hmmm, spoke to a dealer in Kennesaw Ga Saturday and he said he had 14 800's arriving mid June. BTW, I asked him if one of them was a black ABS, he said yes and it wasn't spoken for. If I wanted it let him know, he would put my name on it for a $1000 deposit. I asked him if it was an '11 or a'12, he didn't know.