[ghulst (OP)]

Ok guys, it is that time of year again... I have sold the Beemer and am looking for something fun again. So, I had a Steamer, then traded that in for an 1150GS, which I liked, but it was just too heavy to manoeuvre into the garage. However, I found the Steamer to be a bit old (yes, environmental regulations in many big cities don’t help with their age) and I was wondering how they compare to girlies in behavior and fun (mostly). I am not a big fan of the look of the Girly, so suggestions for a more rugged look are welcome as well. (I might have spotted one that could be nice to buy, but it is 400km away...)

[Tiger-G]

Hi  ,

I had two Steamer's.......and in their day, nothing could touch them as a Big Trailie !!  Big fuel tank, long range, two up comfort all day for a tall rider, great on the twisties, could carry lots of luggage, reliable, a bit too heavy for off-road fun, but it's more about the looks than off-road capability.

But.......they're showing their age now and look a bit dated. Things have moved on......

I've had three Girly's and still ride a 2006 995i. As a bike I just love it !! It's got a great engine, great acceleration, makes a great noise on the over-run, it's lighter and more chuckable than the Steamer, but still has all the attributes of the earlier Steamers. It's been super reliable apart from when it went through it's mid-life crisis and wouldn't start for a few months. It put itself right eventually.

It's going to be a sad day when I have to get rid of my Girly. In my opinion all the Tiger's that have come after the Girly just aren't "proper" Tiger's in the spirit of the bike.

So......back to the question in hand....... I would go for a Girly. All the good bits from the Steamer, with a few added extra's !! 

[ghulst (OP)]

I’ll try to locate a 955i version of the girly to go and try then. :)

[HockleyBoy]

I have had two Girly's and covered around 200k miles on them, I love them, great bikes, pretty reliable and easy to maintain. If you are buying the later cast wheel model (both of mine are) look out for clutch issues on the 2006 model when some bits changed over to 1050 parts.

[ghulst (OP)]

So maybe not try to land a ‘06 then. ;)

[Tiger-G]

So maybe not try to land a ‘06 then. ;)

I would say the 2006 is the perfect one to go for......in fastest colour silver   

[HockleyBoy]

So maybe not try to land a ‘06 then. ;)

Don't let me put you off the 06 model, most peoples are absolutely fine, just one or two of us have been unlucky!

[ghulst (OP)]

Quick update. While looking for a girly, I stumbled across an ‘11 800 for the price of a girly. Hopefully I’ll be picking that up soon.

[Tiger-G]

Oh dear.......not my cup of tea  ........but hey ho........good luck 

[London_Phil]

I'm very happy with my 2012 XC.
ABS and a centre stand are good, if fitted.
Screen protection seems to be a big issue to some people. I fitted a Givi to mine.

[ghulst (OP)]

Oh dear.......not my cup of tea  ........but hey ho........good luck 

I’m sure it is not everybody’s cup of tea. For me it was the bike that was my first experience of a Tiger. Triumph did a push to get people to ride their bikes at dealerships and I was the fool to answer to it. ;)  I did like it a lot. Great handling, great engine, but way above my budget. So I started looking for a Tiger I could afford and ended up with a Steamer. Great bike, really liked it. Especially when I upgraded the front suspension with Wilbers and a Hagon rear shock. But I wasn’t happy with the Wind protection and when a GS came along I just had to have it, so the Steamer had to go.

The 1150GS was a great bike. I thought it was a fantastic runner, but... There always is a but in this story. ;) Wind protection wasn’t much better, though the boxer does keep your feet nice and warm. The biggest problem for me was the weight of the bike. Not when riding, because the weight disappears when you ride it. However, when I needed to manoeuvre it into my garage, it was hard work. So I sold it and tried a single cilinder for a while, but I didn’t like it. So I started retracing the bikes I liked most and the Tigers came back into view. Based on budget, I could only do either a Steamer (but I knew I was not going to be happy with that) or get a Girly (hence this topic). But I have never been a big fan of the looks of the Girly, so now that an 800 has come up for a similar budget, I am trying to snap it up. It won’t be final until it hopefully sits in my garage on Wednesday. We’ll see.

I'm very happy with my 2012 XC.
ABS and a centre stand are good, if fitted.
Screen protection seems to be a big issue to some people. I fitted a Givi to mine.

It does have ABS, but I haven’t seen a centre stand in the pictures. I’ve seen a couple for sale for decent prices, so I might add one later.

What do you mean with screen protection? Is that that the wind protection is not that good on it? As far as I remember from my test ride, I was happy with it at that moment. I am really just looking for my torso to be out of the wind. Wind around my head is not a problem. I’ve ridden two great Transalp’s that had the same amount of protection and I liked that better than most other options.

[London_Phil]

I don't do too many miles these days, and most of my riding has been urban.
When I got the Steamer, I had a lot of buffeting around the head/helmet, so I fitted a taller screen, and had the same with the 800.
It may be a number of issues to do with helmet type, height, and expectations, so I would say that the 800XC is a good all rounder, Fuel Injection is the thing that made it for me.
I know everybody had different experiences with carbs, but mine was very poor, due to long periods of non use.
With the FI, it just stars and runs.

[ghulst (OP)]

Thanks Phil. I guess it’ll be back to fiddling with screens then. Then again, I haven’t had a bike where I didn’t want to do that on. With the exception maybe of the Transalp, but then that lacked power in every possible way. ;)

[Chris Canning]

Fuel Injection is the thing that made it for me.

Me too and that was 20 years ago 

[ghulst (OP)]

I had two reasons not to get a steamer. One was wind protection. The other? Carbs and the ridiculous way in which they are mounted in the Steamer....
So, it was going to be a 955i or a Tiger 800. (I’m not a fan of the 1050’s looks and wheel configuration.) Because of fuel injection. And the fact that I have got a Ducati in my shed that I’m really frustrated about getting running as the carbs setup is screwed. (I did do an ultrasonic bath for the carbs.)

So, FI for something to run everyday seems like a pretty good idea. ;)