SHould I buy a Tiger?

[Brock]

Yeah? he's lucky. Oh, I forgot to mention...The powder coating's decided to part company with the engine, starting at the bottom.

Listen...I wash this thing with clean water after almost every ride in winter. It's a great bike, probably the most fun I've ever had on a bike. The build quality is simply not up to other manufacturers standards ON MINE (or the three-month old Silver demo bike at the local dealers that's rusty and furry).

I still say it's better VALUE FOR MONEY than any of the other big trailies. And I'd recommend it to anyone. You've just got to watch the build quality and keep it meticulously clean. The corrosion's obviously my fault. I'll write to Triumph and apologise.

[52blackshadow]

Hi again All,

                   if I was chosing a bike to buy today, then It'd be a difficult choice!  True, the BMW reputation for reliability has been exagerated, and the extra cost (about £ 2,500 at current prices) takes a bit of justifying, but as a long term BMW owner, I find the Triumph finish (on my bike) looks worse after one winter of very little use than the finish on my BMW after 5 years of pure winter abuse.



I bought the Tiger for a number of reasons, I wanter something different, although BMWs have a similar exclusivity here to the Triumphs, I also wanted a light bike as a contrast to the big BMW tourer (The R1200GS now feels much like a Tiger weight wise).  As I stated earlier, I'd probably have gone for a 1200GS if the choice had been there, but the extra money isn't much of a disincentive, and there would have been advantages for me to keeping to all BMWs (one set of service kit, tools etc in the garage rather than 2 etc).



I'd support anyones choice, because I can't see a strong enough argument against either model. Just remember, the BMW has a centre stand as standard!



Cheers for now,

                          Keith.

[NortonCharlie]

This thread takes me back to when I bought my 73 Norton 850 Commando.  At that time if I'd had another $1200.00 I might have bought a R90S.  My Norton was $2300.00 and the R90S was about $3500.00.  All said and done I am glad I got the Norton, it still runs and after my 1st cross country trip I knew just exaclty what tools I needed to carry with me.

[RedMenace]

All said and done I am glad I got the Norton,I knew just exaclty what tools I needed to carry with me.

All of them? :P

[blacktiger]

"...I wish the Tiger was built by BMW."



Maybe built by Honda and I'd agree.



But then the bastards wouldn't  inport it to the States.



Do you guys with the rusty bolts live in damp/marine climates?



I'm in Houston and haven't seen anything like that in 1.5 years.



Had a 2 drop per ride oil leak.  Got the counter-shaft seal replaced under warrenty and now have a 1 drop per ride oil leak.  I'm wondering if I should care.



If  you want to feel good about the quality/ fit/ finish of  any modern Triumph,  go hang out with the Harley dudes. They paid more and got less!



BMSBIKE



02 Black

[Chris Canning]

E'rrrr no!!!! about 40 miles from were they build the bikes!!!!,my Tiger has never seen a winters day in it's life,but when i popped the plastic covers of the disc bolts they were all rusty,i'd say the quality of the nuts and bolts and ancillaries are about the same  as what you get in a Christmas cracker!!!,i'm on my third Tiger,and if i can get hold of one at the right price will buy another(04 model) i've already made my feelings known on the 05!!!,but the general finish is no were near as good as BM(i own an 1100s) and people moan about the quality of those!!.





I think the Tiger is a great bike,but that doesn't mean i can't see the wood from the trees,when it comes to finish!!!!





Chris

[Brock]

This was bound to open a can of worms and I hope we haven't put leebo off. These sites are so good when you're considering a bike. On the whole you get honesty and real-life experience. Not the same old bollocks from the Magazines or dealers. What we have here is (aall things considered) probably the best and most under-rated big traillie around. Best value for money BY FAR, but she does need an eye kept on her, particularly in the winter. And get any leaks sorted before the warranty runs out!

[leebo]

Winter riding? Not here in New Hampshire unless it is a 4 wheeler or a snowmobile.. May get a few nice days to ride the main roads but there is no way I could get down off the hill through the ice and snow to get there. LOL i would wreck 200 yards from the house.

 Thanks guys.

leebo

[RedMenace]

My steamer is ridden year round, sees quite a bit of snow, rain and mud and is seldom washed and never dried. I have had no corrosion at all. My 955i Speed Triple lived a short but camparetively sheltered life-it did see one winter. No corrosion there either. Sort of like the fuel tank corrosion problem, I would even know it exists if I hadn't heard about it from you guys. Must be a batch thing or a regional thing, cause I haven't seen it here.

I have had problems with some of the allen head bolts rounding off. I ended up wellding allen wrenches to the caliper pins on my rear brake and I seem to have problems witht he fairing bolts rounding out, but that is probaly my ham handed wrenching skilss biting me in the ass again. Anyone know of a good, non Triumph replacement source for the button head fairing screws?

[Brock]

Clearly the salt (and other crap) they put on UK roads in the winter is specifically designed to eat bikes.

[tigerowner_ut]

Anyone know of a good, non Triumph replacement source for the button head fairing screws?

I used Kawasaki part # 92009-1654 for the crappy plastic buttonhead screws on the windscreen.  They are black painted philips head screws off of a ZX-750 Turbo (one of my former bikes).  They look very nice.

[Chris Canning]

I think what alot of people are missing,me included!!!,the engine caseing bolts on the 955 have been changed,both Brock and i have early 955,the latter ones have a different kind.



Chris

[ChrisN]

Leebo,



Don't worry too much about the corroding screws and nuts - the ones in my 04 seem to be stainless steel and so I think Triumph have addressed this issue.



Your choice of motorcylce is simple, if you want a sports/tourer choose the VFR800, if you want a trailie/tourer choose the Tiger. Or, let the kids have bent teeth and buy a 1200GS.



There, that was easy - now its up to you.... keep us updated.