Triumphrat

HeavyDuty · 01-23-2008

Hi folks-

Have to admit, the Tiger has really grown on me, or me on it. Feels pretty decent to ride, even though its just an around town bike that I use like a scooter. I can see why all of you are in love with them...

Couple things bugging me-

My pipes are all a goldish color. In the Harley world, we have that when the bike is to lean and getting the pipes to burn up. Is it the same and how do I cure it?

I have these little blue/green markings, like the parts were marked for something, but so many are marked, that it would have had to be a wreck and totally rebuilt if thats the case. Anyone else have these, or am I exclusively lucky?

A previous owner stuck some neat little tags on the gas tank- they say "Triumph 2004" and one for 2005- I assume they're rally tags. I wasn't at the rally- normally those things should be stuck as a pin on your leathers. Are they probably glued, or is there some apparatus on the backside of these little niceties that I want to be rid of...? I'm pretty good with adhesives, and the removal of them- a heat gun will work, but its a precarious position next to the tank opening. If someone lets me know if they're just flat on the rear, I'll know what to do with the rest.

Thanks- and I can see myself making my own highway bars- or what you guys are calling engine guards- they sure have to come in handy at some point, but I'm more interested in having somewhere to put my legs!

HospiceRN · 01-23-2008

I've seen the color-coded bolts on my Triumph, as well. Not sure why they do it, but I'm not a Brit engine tuner.

As for the emblems, RAT used to send out annual patches, pins and stickers. All are triangular, with the RAT rat on it, the Triumph logo and the year. The stickers are simply an adhesive (I could not get mine to stick to my helmet).

As for the change in color, welcome to Brit bikes. My Bonnie had gorgeous blue pipes, and my Tiger has gold. I personally like it. I believe there are mods to prevent the pipes from turning, but to restore that 'chromed' look, you'll need to buy all new pipes. I say why fight it? Embrace your English nature...

miker · 01-23-2008

Welcome HeavyDuty,

The pipes, as Hospice said, are a "feature", and you can either keep polishing them (having a Harley you're used to that

) or get them powder coated -expensive and after a while they look dirty anyway. Or, you can just live with it.

The paint marks are from the final stages of manufacture, where the person checking the bike over makes their mark to say "it's checked" the paint will come off after a while.

There are engine bars galore available, most are covered in this thread http://www.triumphrat.net/tiger-mods...h-bars-2.html?
I've started to build my own, but got stopped by lack of time and Christmas.

Mick

HeavyDuty · 01-24-2008

The pipes' color doesn't bother me, although gold is not my color of choice...

If they're stainless, I can polish it all the way out, and I stopped it from happening before by painting the inside of the pipes with Hi-Temp paint. That always worked well. I collect vintage Airstream trailers, so polishing for me is like second nature.

Manufacture marks? Its a 2002- how long does it take? They're not offensive, so they'll be a reminder of how fresh it is.

I'm able to make these bars, have a chopper builder friend, Eddie Trotta, aka Thunder Cycles, and he's got a mandrel bender, so making the bends should easy, just need to get a look at how to mount them, and definitely have to put some foot pegs, turned out, way out- for extra leg space.

Thanks for the info! I paid $2500USD for it, with 18000 miles, seemed like a decent price and I'm stoked with how its acted so far.

blacktiger · 01-25-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyDuty

The pipes' color doesn't bother me, although gold is not my color of choice...

If they're stainless, I can polish it all the way out,

They are stainless. And, if you want the hassle of taking them off every month then go ahead and pollish them but the colour will return after one good ride. It's a characteristic of stainless steel getting hot.
I expect you've seen those flashy Titanium pipes with loads of different colours on them. That's exactly the same thing. It's just that stainless steel only goes one colour.

The little paint marks are put on during final inspection to show the bolt has been checked at the correct torque. It can also show if a bolt is coming lose, if the bit of paint on the bolt doesn't line up with the bit on the case.