Triumphrat

johnyC · 02-25-2006, 04:49 AM

After trading my TBS and dropping my Tiger on it's side in the same week, I thought I'd made a big mistake. I hadn't realised how top heavy the Tiger is, should have taken a test ride! (I bought it partly on testimonials read on here)

I fitted a 17" front wheel, dropped the yokes down the fork legs by 25mm and turned the eccentrics 180' to lower the rear. The only other things I had to do was shorten the side stand, plus install spacers to raise the hugger.

Incase any of you shorter blokes who don't have arms like Popeye the sailor man, are tip-toeing about with munched in cases and petrol tanks, the bike is so much easier to handle.

Before you throw me on the fire, I'm glad I have my Tiger, but I was ready to trade it for a Scrambler until I made these wee changes. It's like an ordinary motorbike now, but with plush long travel suspension, a big tank and comfy riding position. Can't wait to go touring on it.

Here's a link showing it beside my son's Honda 125 Varadero.

[ This message was edited by: johnyC on 2006-02-25 09:10 ]

KuzzinKenny · 02-25-2006, 08:56 AM

That 125 makes the Tiger look like its been shrunk in the wash :razz: :razz: :razz: :razz: its a pity Triumph don`t make 2 sets of suspention for the Tiger so us shorty`s don`t have to modify it ourselves. looks OK !! does it handle the same as standard ?? or better !!

KK

Toadman · 02-25-2006, 09:56 AM

The height thing is a small concern for me also. At 5'9" I'm not really small but straddling my future Tiger has me up on my toes. Maybe adjusting an inch out of it will work for me as I really don't want to lose that bottom end clearance. My community is packed with old logging roads and back woods travel that I look forward to in earnest.

johnyC · 02-25-2006, 11:07 AM

Kenny,

The handling is totally different, the biggest difference was after putting the 17" front on. You just think where the bike has to go and it goes there with hardly any input to the bars. The suspension lowering takes it a step further because the centre of gravity is lower. The top heavy feel is largely gone. I can do things like move the bike around without fear of it falling over, push it backwards whilst sat on it with the clutch pulled in, sit at traffic lights with my feet flat on the ground. The stability at higher speeds is also considerably improved, especially like today in strong winds.

The only thing that it's worse at is going 'trailing' but that was never a requirement for me anyway. I just wanted a Triumph that would tour two-up with the kitchen sink, better than my old TBS. Mission accomplished.

These are only my observations and opinions, I don't want to offend anyone with a standard Tiger. But put it this way, I've sold the original wheels as I'd never want to go back to the way it was, having ridden it as it is now.

KuzzinKenny · 02-25-2006, 11:31 AM

sounds good, there`s always a fix to any problem no point changing a bike that you like when it can be modified, eh !!

good job !!

KK

tyrebyter · 02-25-2006, 12:46 PM

What tire are you using up front now? Are you going to replace the rear rim with a 5.5" or leave the 4.25"?

johnyC · 02-25-2006, 03:41 PM

I'm using the same tyres that Winger left on when I bought the wheels from him: front is Bridgestone 014, rear is 020 180/55/17 on 5.5" rim.

Link to picture

Maybe the good straight line stability is due to the square profile of the rear now, due to be replaced soon :-D

tyrebyter · 02-25-2006, 10:24 PM

Very nice. We seem to be of one mind since mine has similar Renthal bars and I'll pick up my 17" rim Tuesday. The rear will have to wait until more money falls from the tree but a 5.5" is what I'm after with a set of Pirelli Scorpion Syncs.

tango · 02-26-2006, 05:50 AM

Different approach, same result.
I went the opposite way I raised the height of my bike by putting a spacer between the rear shock and top mount and the forks are level with the top yoke.
The steering is totally neutral with no understeer and just drops into corners nice and easy without any dramas.
The only adjustment I've made to the Hagon damper is the rebound, preload is backed right off, I don't need any.
The way I've got it set up gives the bike a pretty firm ride but not uncomfortable, no jarring over pot holes etc. I know that if I go into a corner pretty hot I can just throw it over and the bike stays stable and predictable and I can drive it round on the throttle.

I go out regularly with a group of local riders on variuos types of bikes, including other big trailies and my bike is the only one that can stay within touch of the big litre sports bikes in the handling department. And that's all down to the way the bike is set up.