This photo was take the other day by my mate Frankie whilst out on a Bulldog RAT run to Broadway Tower.
There’s (loads) more of his work on his Facebook page
Triumph Tiger 800 as seen by FrankieArt
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Triumph Tiger 800 Roadie
After two years with the Tiger 1050 I decided to try something a bit smaller and lighter for the summer.
Here she is as I got her home (OK, I have removed the enormous AMC topbox…)
62-reg with a personal plate. The previous owner bought a Fazer 1000 so didn’t want the “T800” plate. 4,500 miles only and still 6 months of warranty left.
Here she is with the obligatory Givi:
Fitting was not difficult – just drilled a couple of extra holes in the AMC rack and bolted the Givi E250 adapter on top. The box sits a lot lower than on the 1050, in fact the whole bike is lower, lighter, revvy-er (is that a word?).
It’s a very different bike to ride, more like a big Street Triple than a small Tiger. The bike will not pull away on tickover (as I discovered in the petrol station) and 85mph in top gear is 6k revs (6k revs on the 1050 is closer to 100mph).
The gear indicator is brilliant. The time display is a little small in the top left corner and the trip meter doesn’t automatically switch to “miles to empty” when the fuel light comes on. Buffeting is pretty bad so I’ve lowered the seat which makes it better at 80 but worse at 40. I might have to experiment with a few screens…
LED spotlights are great but I don’t use them much. Tyres are Pirelli Scorpions (OEM) which are OK but the rear is squared off.
Here’s a picture of the AMC box:
Here’s the obligatory exhaust – you didn’t really think I’d stick with the standard can for long did you?
Look – no baffles…
After a month, I’ve just about come to terms with the bar risers and decided to keep them!
Triumph Daytona 1000 (Now sold)
This is one of Hinckley’s press bikes from 1990. It uses four-cylinder 998cc version of the short-stroke 750 Daytona/Trident engine.
This bike was shipped to the Isle of Man for the TT Races in 1990 by MCN where Chris Dabbs and Keith Heuwen attempted to convince the punters that this was Triumph’s answer to the CBR1000F etc.
There’s a video from Duke (www.dukevideo.com) documenting the whole episode. They say: “Top tester Chris Dabbs puts the 1000cc sports superbike through its paces in every way possible and makes some comparisons with the Yamaha FZR1000. Ex-GP rider Keith Huewen joins Dabbs on some ‘A’ and ‘B’ roads in the UK before flat out timed runs at Bruntingthorpe testing ground where the Daytona does 156 mph with our camera on-board! Then it’s off to the Isle of Man where the handling of the new superbike is fully explored. There’s even footage of an – unplanned – crash test (not Dabbs’ or even the bike’s fault we might add!!) Comprehensive, informative and fun. Don’t miss it!”
[There’s a DVD and a download as well]
Dabbs did indeed crash the bike by riding it into a straw bale – the dent is still evident in the silencer!
I’ve ridden this bike and it’s not bad for an early 90’s “superbike” and probably would have done well against the CBR of the time. Unfortunately for Triumph, the FireBlade appeared soon after and shifted the goal posts (slightly…)
It is top heavy with a long stretch to the bars but comfy as long as you are tall enough (I am). The pilot’s eye view is a bit strange as Triumph appear to have bolted an extra cylinder on the right hand side of the bike. When you look down, the engine protrudes from beneath the tank about 1″ more on the right than the left!
I like Daytonas. Here’s the pair.
Update March 2014
The bike has an MOT and is now for sale at Bridge Moto in Reading:
Update April 2014
Gone from their website so I assume sold…
Triumph Tiger 1050 Suspension – WP Rear Shock
My Tiger has just passed 30k miles and to be frank, the rear suspension is shagged. It bounces over bumps and if/when you hit the second bump whilst cranked over in a bend, you’d better have some spare trousers in your pack!
One of the guys on www.tiger1050.com had moved on (up?) to a Ducati and was offering his 10k mile WP rear shock absorber for £350. He worked in London so we met at Euston and I brought home my new rear shock and looked forward to the next 10k miles (before, presumably, a rebuild would be in order…)
Here’s the removed OEM shock compared to the WP part. The Triumph shock looks much heavier (I didn’t weigh them) with a much thicker spring.
Someone told me once that new bikes have to be designed to cope with two 20 stone people so no wonder they are oversprung. Not sure about 40 stone (that’s 254 Kg or 560 lbs depending upon where you are), but it sure looks over-engineered.
Road test to follow.
Remus Powercone Exhaust – Triumph Tiger 1050 (update)
Ever since fitting the Campbell Custom Sidewinder exhaust on my bike nearly 18 months ago, I have been on the lookout for one of these. The Campbell is just too noisy…
I like the low slung design and assumed that the single can (as opposed to the twin “cans” of the Campbell) would give a deeper tone and still sound brilliant.
They have shown up on eBay every now and then but finally found this one.
It doesn’t come with a centre-stand stop so I had to make my own from an old aluminium window fitting. I’ll keep a lookout for a linkpipe that includes the required small metal fitting. I asked Remus and they offered me a new one from stock (a mere £82 + shipping…)
Update (27-Dec-13)
Found just the link pipe with the centre-stand stop for £30 (BNWB) so bought it.
Now fitted and have removed the old aluminium window latch that I used to stop the stand hitting the chain.
Triumph Daytona 675 vs Tiger 1050 Sport
With the great weather in July and Chris undecided as to whether to ditch his Blackbird, we headed off to Bulldog Triumph to try out some of their bikes.
Out with the old?
I was primarily interested in the Tiger 1050 Sport. I’d heard a lot about the differences that I’d find between the new model and my “old” 2006 bike. First impressions were good, the solid feel of the Tiger, a little quiet for my liking but I’m sure that wouldn’t be to difficult to fix. The brakes are awesome! Just pulling up outside the dealer before heading off gave an indication as to how much better a new set of brakes can feel over a 25k mile set. Same with the suspension. This bike doesn’t wallow around corners (!) – maybe I should invest some money in a suspension refresh…
It was 30°C and 3pm on a Friday afternoon so didn’t get a chance to try the headlights. I’d be interested to see how they compare to mine [HID dip and standard “candle” main]
After half an hour or so we swapped bikes.
This Daytona is a bit different!
After wafting along in the arm-chair comfort of the Tiger, the Daytona was a bit of a shock. It is absolutely tiny.I’m looking straight at the road about 10 feet in front of the bike. To look down the road I have to crane my neck into a very uncomfortable position – and then I can’t look through the lenses of my glasses so the view is all blurred!
The bike goes like a rocket and hits the rev limiter in every gear that I use. I just can’t change gear fast enough. And what a great sound comes from the Arrow slip-on exhaust.
Conclusions:
- Chris loved the Daytona and hated the Tiger
- It was as fast (in real life) as his Blackbird, was so much lighter and flickable and just more fun.
- He’s not sure he could ride one to Wales and back in a weekend…
- I loved the Tiger but sportsbikes are not my cup of tea (glad I tried it though)
And then there was this sitting in the car park back at Bulldog…
It was hot though…
Triumph Tiger 1050 Indicators
If you’ve got an old-ish 1050 Triumph, be it Tiger, Sprint or Speed, take a look at the design of your indicators. Do they look like this?
Round, opaque, old fashioned?
Then try these!
Sharp, clear, new.
These are the new style indicators fitted to the more recent models and are a direct replacement. They can be bought on eBay quite cheaply as people fit LED indicators to their new bikes and flog these off. I picked up a set of 4 (from a Speed Triple) for £20 – they are £26 each from your friendly dealer.
Fitting couldn’t be more easy:
- Undo the single (rear) screw that holds the lens on the indicator
- Remove the lens and pop out the reflector
- Remove old unit by unclipping the two wires
- Slide the plastic housing off the flexi-mounting, leaving the wiring intact
- Slide on the new triangular housing, feeding the wires through
- Clip wires onto the new reflector (doesn’t matter which way)
- Fit new lens with single (front) screw
Job done. Sparkly-looking new indicators!
Campbell Custom Sidewinder Exhaust – Tiger 1050
I saw this on eBay and just thought that it looked awesome – so I bought it!
Just under half the list price for a new one, it was within my available funds and only a short trip to Horley (Gatwick) to collect it.
It replaces the Zard that was on the bike when I bought it:
It gives a lovely clean look to the back of the bike.
However, it is very, very loud (makes the Zard sound like a standard can…) I’m not sure that I’ll be able to stand it for too long – I’ve done 6 miles today and that was enough.
Maybe I should speak to John Campbell about whether these baffles look correct or whether there is some stuffing missing? We’ll see.
Buttflap Fender Extender for Triumph Tiger 1050
I have written before about fitting fender extenders to my various Triumphs, the aim being to be able to open my topbox after a wet ride and not get my hands dirty (this is especially true when commuting with an office suit on underneath the bike kit).
My new Tiger 1050 does not fit the fender extender design used on the 955 Sprint ST
…as the rear-end design is completely different:
Looking at this, all it really needs is a 2-3″ extension on the bottom of the number plate – maybe cut down a rubber (car) mudflap or something.
Then I spotted the Buttflap (actually was Googling for fender extender images to get ideas) – what a dreadful name but seems like a good idea. I’ll give it a try.
This is from their website – another dreadful bit of artwork, but it is all that’s there…
So here’s my first attempt:
First remove the numberplate:
Remove the two Allen-head screws that secure the plastic part, drill the Buttflap to suit and mount it to the numberplate holder.
Looking good…
Add a strip of the double-sided tape (supplied) to stop the numberplate from buzzing.
Fix the numberplate back on over the Buttflap. Job done.
They say on the Buttflap site that you can hardly see the thing against the tyre.
They’re right.
My Bikes
I have decided to write the definitive history with the help of a recently-discovered photo album from the 70’s and some of my old mates at the time.
1978 - Brighton & Hove Albion Scarf!
You can read it here (opens in a new page)
The bikes described include:
Raleigh Runabout RM6
Honda CB125S
Honda CB175K4
Honda CB500/4 (four of them)
Honda CB550K3 (three of them)
VFR800 Fi-1
Triumph Sprint ST 955 (4 of them)
Triumph Tiger 1050
Honda CB900FZ