Why I bought my Tiger 1050I had my 05/06 Sprint ST for 13months. The motor is the real strength of the Sprint and the styling for 1050 is all class. But, after 13months, and 32000km, I was getting itchy feet to try something new. I then looked into the Speed Triple and thought wow. 21kg less, more horsepower, more upright seating. What a package. Over the following 12months I did 39700km on my white Speedy - a lovel machine. It only had 2 flaws. The first no wind protection at all when doing high speed touring. The second, well I wrote it off in a crash on the Bonang Hwy in Vic in March 2008. There was a third minor issue - the suspension on the Triple was a bit harsh.My riding requirement haven't changed - pretty much 7 days a week. Outside of the commute I do a few day rides and weekenders with friends. These can be anywhere from 300-1100K day rides and 1500-3000k long weekends. All on a mix of roads - slab, sweepers, twisties and even some dirt. So I needed something with a good motor and good handling. So I needed something that would do all this and give me some wind protection. I love the 1050 motor so my first choice was to look at the Triumph range. Well, the old 955 Tiger may have been a true dual purpose bike, but she's a lardy old tub. The new 1050 Tiger on the other hand is a nice sleek machine. Dry weight of 198kg (12kg less than the Sprint!), same 1050 motor, slighltly lower tune, but that's fixed by a) the low weight, b) the lower gear ratios and c) the ToR (Triumph Off Road) exhaust can that helps her breath more easily. So far I've done over 5000km in 2 months and enjoyed everyone. The Tiger is not perfect, but the suspension is adjustable, the weather protection acceptable, the performance more than acceptable, and the comfort and character superb. The minor flaws are: wind noise buffeting from the screen is a bit of a pain, I'm currently trying both the bigger touring and a home made cut down screen. The headlights a 1 low beam and 1 high - which I'm not keen on, but I've fitted a HID low beam and (no pun intended), it's brilliant! What else... err nothing. She's a great all rounder, with a little bit of sporting pretentions but can do many high kilometer (600-1000km) days with out monkey butt being a problem and do it any speed from 100-200km/hr.
As time goes on, I'll post pics of the Toger 1050, and other interesting links etc below. Whatever your choice of steed, enjoy the journey.
Russ. 17 April 2008 |
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My Tiger 1050 Suspension SettingsRuss suspension settingsI am about 100kg's fully kitted out for a ride and 178 cm tall and found the following near perfect, for both ride comfort and bike performance and feel Version 2.0 Front Spring Preload wound all the way in (no rings showing at all) Sounds extreme but you still only get 30%+ rider sag Front Compression all the way in and 3/4 of a turn out Front Dampening all the way in and 1 1/4 turn out Rear spring preload all the way in and 8 Clicks out Rear Compression and Dampening all the way in and 3/4 of a turn out. Version 1.0 Front Spring Preload wound all the way in (no rings showing at all) Sounds extreme but you still only get 30%+ rider sag Front Compression all the way in and 1/2 of a turn out Front Dampening all the way in and 1 turn out Rear spring preload all the way in and 6 Clicks out Rear Compression and Dampening all the way in and 3/4 of a turn out. Tiger1050 - notes on Re: suspension settings
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Last Updated: 02/02/09. Copyright © Russell Cook 2000/2009. mailto:ruscook_oz@yahoo.com.au.
