Triumph Tiger 800xc & 800 Road. What did you do with your Tiger today

Raw video from the ride darkness fell on us before we made it back to the top of the mountain.

Here's the full segment of raw footage, don't know how I only uploaded part of it to Vimeo the first time.

https://vimeo.com/95818048

tshelfer said:

Progressive's website doesn't make that distinction. They just ask for make/model/year. If and when I get close to a decision, I'll probably have to call them and see what I get in person as opposed to via the website calculator.

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Tim, I know this is an old question but when I updated my bike from my 01 Tiger to the 800 XC, my insurance increased 4 times over what I was paying for 4 bikes. As soon as I got home I contacted All State and the insurance dropped back to $17.00 more than I was paying on the old bike plus I have better coverage this time. Progressive will NOT be getting any more off my business.

All I've done lately was removed the foot peg rubbers.

How is the vibration? I thought about removing them for off-road, but I haven't pushed the bike enough to need to do so.

I'll let you know tomorrow, haven't had the chance to give them a try yet.

I took them off before leaving the dealer when I picked it up 13K miles ago. These bikes don't have any noticeable vibration that I've detected.

charrito said:

How is the vibration? I thought about removing them for off-road, but I haven't pushed the bike enough to need to do so.

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~110 miles today and I noticed no vibration due to removing the rubbers. I did notice the pegs feel lower.

Engine guards were installed today. It took a while to find the ones I wanted but finally found some that aren't connected to the engine cases.

Are you going to keep it a secret?

The Holan were the closest I'd seen that actually had less chance of damaging the engine by spreading the load across several engine attach points at sacrificial mounts down low and the same attach point up high. These aren't those.

C'mon, fess up, who makes them?

Edit: I found them. Looks like Givi has redesigned their previous offering.

Givi part #TN6401A

After they arrived and I started to install them I realized the horror stories I had read on line about the install was correct. It turned out to be more than I was going to attempt by myself in the garage. I carried them down to Motorcycles Unlimited and let Patick's crew do the install. Patrick even commented on the install. When they took them out of the box they thought this will be easy, until they saw the 7 pages of instructions. The money I paid was well worth it.

MotoTex said:

Edit: I found them. Looks like Givi has redesigned their previous offering.

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Be sure they have the A in the part number. The TN6401 guards are still available and they are the one I was finding at most retailers. I found the A's at just a few retailers. I order mine from Sport Tour GIVI TN6401A Engine Guards

Hemibee said:

Be sure they have the A in the part number. The TN6401 guards are still available and they are the one I was finding at most retailers. I found the A's at just a few retailers. I order mine from Sport Tour GIVI TN6401A Engine Guards

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Thanks for the info.

I've been dragging my feet on guards, wanting to read reviews from those who have put them to use. Some brands have actually caused damage to the engine at the attach points in minor falls and that seems counter to the alleged purpose.

As with your preference, I want something that attaches in a way that won't lead to damage of costly soft aluminum engine parts. These and the Holan bars seem to be better thought out in that regard. Hoping to read some feedback from riders who have dropped the bike on them and what the results are.

Meanwhile, I'm riding "without protection" and hopefully won't catch any diseases until the decision is made.

MotoTex said:

Thanks for the info.

I've been dragging my feet on guards, wanting to read reviews from those who have put them to use. Some brands have actually caused damage to the engine at the attach points in minor falls and that seems counter to the alleged purpose.

As with your preference, I want something that attaches in a way that won't lead to damage of costly soft aluminum engine parts. These and the Holan bars seem to be better thought out in that regard. Hoping to read some feedback from riders who have dropped the bike on them and what the results are.

Meanwhile, I'm riding "without protection" and hopefully won't catch any diseases until the decision is made.

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I hope I don't have first hand experience to share at any time soon.

I like the looks of the Holan bars but was having trouble finding any and when I contacted a couple places they told me they were having trouble getting them. The Givi bars weren't much easier to find but when I contacted a couple dealers they each said they did not have them in stock but would have them within one week and would ship out to me on the day they arrived. I had to wait a week to get them but getting them a week later was better than ordering and not knowing when and if they would come in.

I've got better attachment photos I will share to give you a better view of the attachments that I'll post once I get the photos reduced. If there is a view you want that I don't have, ask and I'll try to get the photo.

I have a thought on the engine guards causing damage. I noticed most of the aftermarket brands were using the same mounting location as the Triumph brand guards. I've not read of the Triumph guards causing the same damage as reported by the aftermarket guards. My thought on this was that the Triumph guards are more compact that the aftermarket ones. When the aftermarket guards, which in most cases come up higher on the bike, the ones reported to cause the damage, are subjected to force on the upper region they in turn apply more torsional forces on the engine cases. In my way of thinking this is what causes the damage and why I wanted to stay away from most of them on the market. Now my thoughts may just be a large pile of bull patties but that is my thoughts on the matter. YMMV

MotoTex said:

Meanwhile, I'm riding "without protection" and hopefully won't catch any diseases until the decision is made.

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Like you I was hoping I wouldn't catch any diseases while riding "without protection" but I did it and didn't catch anything.

The damage I saw was at the top mounting point where they used a bolt on the cylinder head. When the crash bar got the weight from a tree strike the flange between bar and bolt bent, letting the bar mash the valve cover and cylinder head, breaking it.

This was the SW-Motech bars.

Here's a photo from the ADV Tiger 800 Crash Bar Thread

I had not seen that photo, all that I've seen have been the lower cases. Now I'm even more glad I purchased the one I did.

Took a short ride Saturday and ended up racing the storms home after I left my destination, just beat them home. The area saw a few problems from the storm(s) so I was glad I was in the garage before they hit. Here's a short video of the ride out. . .

https://vimeo.com/103345331

Anyone else have the throttle idle issue with the 800xc? Suddenly last weekend after a 200 mile gravel and dirt ride mine started dyeing at idle.

I pulled off the tank and air box and cleaned everything and made sure there was a 0.5 mm gap on the lever for idle. I still stall though better than it was before I cleaned everything. Any ideas?

Hail said:

Anyone else have the throttle idle issue with the 800xc? Suddenly last weekend after a 200 mile gravel and dirt ride mine started dyeing at idle.

I pulled off the tank and air box and cleaned everything and made sure there was a 0.5 mm gap on the lever for idle. I still stall though better than it was before I cleaned everything. Any ideas?

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Yep, not mine but Mike's had the same issue a few months ago. Same situation, after riding dirt the XC would stall at idle. I don't remember the exact trick, but it goes something like this.

Turn key to on, let it cycle through the 'modem'. Turn the key back to off & let it cycle through that 'modem' as well. I think he did this maybe three times & it finally reset his throttle. I'll send him an IM to confirm, but in the meantime give this a try.

charrito said:

Yep, not mine but Mike's had the same issue a few months ago. Same situation, after riding dirt the XC would stall at idle. I don't remember the exact trick, but it goes something like this.

Turn key to on, let it cycle through the 'modem'. Turn the key back to off & let it cycle through that 'modem' as well. I think he did this maybe three times & it finally reset his throttle. I'll send him an IM to confirm, but in the meantime give this a try.

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I will try that!

There is a rod that comes out of the stepper motor and at the other end there is a roller that it moves on a cam plate to achieve idle.

Where that roller contacts the edge of the cam plate it can get dirty and the roller won't roll the plate into position for idle to work.

That is the part that cycles when the modem noise is heard. I'm guessing it is a routine to help clean the dust off that interface between roller and cam plate.

There is a lot of information in one of the Tiger threads on ADV with photos and ideas about what to clean it with and what to lube it with. (dry silicon is suggested, or any lube that won't attract dust)

BajaDad on ADV went so far as to put a foam barrier around the area to reduce dust accumulation on the Tigers he built for the Baja Rally. Though no photos of that fix were posted, so I don't know exactly what was done, but it seemed to work.

I've had to do it once. I cleaned it all up and I haven't had a recurrence.

I hope this might be of some help.

I took my Tiger 800 'Roadie' to Arkansas last week, and came back yesterday. She rode there atop my Tacoma (for several good reasons - going a couple days early to visit my son and had to take lots of stuff, my rear tire would not make the trip up and back in addition to the riding there, etc).

ANYWAY - rode around NW Arkansas on Friday, Saturday, Sunday - about 300 miles a day - as part of the EPIC RIDE on a separate thread in this forum. Observations on the Tiger:

+ Handles great. Chicken strips almost gone (< 1/4") both front and back on the stock Pirelli Scorpions.

+ Transmission is way-too close ratio'd. I could easily skip the odd (or even) gears and with the 800's relatively broad / flat torque curve, that was fine. Note: I had a brain-fart once, and started out (up a slight grade!) not in 1st gear - but in 5th! Without much drama. And that is after I upped the gearing overall about 15% (+1 tooth front, -4 rear) - so my current gearing has my 5th higher than the OEM 6th!

+ OEM Pirelli's are pretty good tires - no complaints in dry traction, and no drama (surprisingly) in the wet (significant rain, or at least wet roads, Friday and Saturday).

+ I will probably spoil myself this fall with a new rear shock - likely Penske.

+ I developed a bad front fork leak - left fork, oil seal went out (apparently - I've not disassembled yet). Not discovered until loading on the last day, so fortunately happened later rather than sooner. I have ordered replacements.

+ Before the oil seal failure above, the front was behaving very well. Note that I did replace the OEM springs with stiffer Race-Tech's, set sag for me correctly by adjusting the length of the spacer, and used fresh correct-weight fork oil with the correct and measured air gap. So I am happy with that mod. And before anyone asks - I don't see how changing the spring and spacer and freshening the oil would cause a seal failure.

+ Corbin seat was comfy, and the beaded seat area was wonderful for moving around, keeping more cool, etc. Money well spent.

Anyway, bike was very well behaved and we kept the rubber-side down all weekend. Good stuff.

Neil

Often there is debris lodged in a leaky seal. Look up the Seal Saver tool, or learn about it and fashion something to do the same thing to clear any debris lodged under the lip that is letting oil through. That might be all it takes to get it to stop marking its spot.

Sounds like you had a great ride!

Hi Neil
thanks for the update on your Tiger and your recent trip to Arkansas!
Glad to hear you are enjoying it -
Sorry to hear about the suspension leak but I am sure you will fix that easily.

Is your Corbin seat new or is it already broken in? I am thinking about making that investment sometime soon as well and always worry about getting a new seat because it is such a personal choice on what is comfortable.

I have been riding a different bike the last few weeks and yesterday evening (7:00PM) I got back on the Tiger for a quick twenty mile loop as I had been neglecting her.
Five minutes into the ride I was being hit by a lot of heat on my left leg.
I had forgotten what this feels like due to not being on it for awhile.
Seriously uncomfortable at 45MPH. I put my left hand down to trace the heat - it feels like an industrial blow dryer coming at me from radiator right along the engine - running right into my thigh and channeling up to the seat between my legs.
Checked it again at a stop sign and did not feel it as bad.

After the 20 miles, I was hot as heck. I know it's summer in Texas, but wow I had forgotten how bad this is for me on the Tiger.

The reason I bring this up is that I would really like to get together with a couple of other Tiger 800 (2012-14) owners and see if this is the same bike to bike. I am convinced it is not!

I would really like some of the other TWT Tiger 800 owners to ride my bike and see what they think - and frankly I would like to ride another Tiger 800 to see if it feels different to me.

AND..... - I would really like to meet some of you all - we should try to plan a Tiger Meet Up at one of the monthly ME&G or Pie Runs this Fall.

Let me know what you think!

Mototex: thanks, I will find a thin piece of shim stock with no sharp edges and try that.

D-man:
Corbin is about 4,000 miles so far: feels good. This Corbin is not near as firm as the ones I owned before... I believe they were Dual Canyon Sports seats. I liked the firmness of those, this one is softer but shaped real well and supportive, I do like it.

I did not notice excessive heat in any one place, and I suspect I would have.

Getting tigers together would be nice if we could arrange it. Let's keep our eyes on pie runs and such.

Later


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