Tiger 800

RedLdr1 said:

Hmmm, methinks you mean Tim, not Wayne.

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Yep, sorry. I didn't mean to temp anyone (well except maybe for Phil). I know he won't buy another bike, but it might be fun to make him want one.

I'm terrible with names - so I wish you guys would show up at Spearfish sometime so I could put a face with your names.

junglejim said:

Mine does give off "noticable" engine heat. Warmest I've ridden is in the 80s and it wasn't "hot". I've been on worse bikes.

Wayne, I've seen the "low". Nice bike, but the killer for me is you lose the center stand with the low version. I had one bike (Versys) with a chain drive and no center stand - never again. That is really a stupid idea.
Didn't mean to aggravate you Wayne, but then if you want a different motorcycle that's your problem. The salesman will love you.

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No center stand on the low version, well then the standard seat height will be fine. Can't be much taller than the Wee. I'm fine on the Wee, except in crosswinds at traffic lights......

One thing to remember is the NT is older technology, then newer motorcycles have today. Honda brought it to the US to fill a gap, and really I don't think they have filled the gap, then or now. Honda like all motorcycle companies is trying to find away to get new riders to come into the fold. Honda can be consecutive, look at the GoldWing, little has changed for the last few years. Of course then you get the DA-1?
I wish Honda would of come out with a new same touring bike: with shaft, 6 speed for you highway riders, proper protection like the NT, it would have more power and NO fixed bags. I think someday I get a Goldwing trike, but hopefully not too soon.

tawilke46 said:

No center stand on the low version, well then the standard seat height will be fine.

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The Tigers have a standard and low seat position on both versions.

Welcome to the RAT club, Jim!

KazooST said:

Welcome to the RAT club, Jim!

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Thanks Patrick.
I almost got a Sprint a few years back, but wound up with a Versys 650 instead.
I went to high school in Otsego and lived about 1.5 miles (as the crow flies) from "miairhead".
Been gone from there since 1961 going to college, military, working, etc.
I last worked there as a lifeguard at a county park at Hogset Lake near Protage (1961)
Hope to meet up someday and share tales.

Jim

Jim, it sounds like you left about the same time I arrived in Michigan. I doubt we would have remembered each other if we had met however since I was still in diapers at the time!

The 800 is a great bike; it has been on my short list ever since I test rode one a few years back. I just couldn't justify the extra $$$ for a second bike this time around.

I'll drop you a note the next time I head north of the bridge or over into your neck of the woods.

Ride safe,

junglejim said:

The Tigers have a standard and low seat position on both versions.

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I sat on both today. I wonder if anyone makes an aftermarket center stand for the low version.
Rumor mill....you heard it hear first....the 2018 800s will have electric windscreens and 75 cc more displacement.
I found the seat height on the low version fine at both settings and tall version was fine also. I am very impressed by the Triumph 800s.
The only thing I didnt like is that the version with the tire pressure sensors must have the whole sensor replaced every two-three years for $200 a wheel plus labor.
The dealership can hook up their computer and disable the feature if you dont want to do that.

Coyote Chris said:

The only thing I didnt like is that the version with the tire pressure sensors must have the whole sensor replaced every two-three years for $200 a wheel plus labor.
The dealership can hook up their computer and disable the feature if you dont want to do that.

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That is the exact reason I didn't get that model. I got the model without TPMS and other options and added the heated grips and fog lights myself.

TPMS moniter batteries fail. The new Concours TPMS batteries last about 3 years. Triumph about the same. Nice while they work but get expensive to maintain.

My wife's Toyota has the same problem. The service manager told her she is required by WI law to maintain all safety systems that car came with. So they want $120 per wheel plus labor to install and pair them with the "system". I told my wife to refuse. They only work when the OEM wheels are on the car with the summer tires. I bought aftermarket rims for winter tires and just swap them out spring and fall. There are no TPMS monitors on the winter tires anyway. So if they want to give me a ticket for running safer tires in the winter, but without TPMS I'll have to explain that to the judge. I think our Gov-a-munt went too far with that one.

Daboo said:

I'd blame the service manager. Your "Gov-a-munt" could care less about your tire pressure.

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I checked. There really is a law that requires owners to maintain safety systems that are original equipment on cars. Appearantly forever.

Daboo said:

But there's a difference between a law being on the books, and a law that the policeman who pulls you over cares about.

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I understand and I'm generally a friend of LE. I was credentialed early in my career and supervised LE later in my career. But when the laws are on the books the attorneys use them in all sorts of ways. Discression is generally needed and commonly discarded for personal gain.

So, back to TPMS on motorcycles. It is great. It just needs to be more affordable to maintain. Otherwise people will do as I did and just not buy it in the first place.

I am not a fan of TPMS for the reasons you mentioned.
I blame the lawyers for stuff like that. Just remember hot coffee can spill and it burns. I'm surprised we can still buy coffee.

Brad

I have TPMS on my new Triumph. For the same reason I think ABS is a good Idea it helps keep me alive, what is that worth to you.

junglejim said:

That is the exact reason I didn't get that model. I got the model without TPMS and other options and added the heated grips and fog lights myself.

TPMS moniter batteries fail. The new Concours TPMS batteries last about 3 years. Triumph about the same. Nice while they work but get expensive to maintain.

My wife's Toyota has the same problem. The service manager told her she is required by WI law to maintain all safety systems that car came with. So they want $120 per wheel plus labor to install and pair them with the "system". I told my wife to refuse. They only work when the OEM wheels are on the car with the summer tires. I bought aftermarket rims for winter tires and just swap them out spring and fall. There are no TPMS monitors on the winter tires anyway. So if they want to give me a ticket for running safer tires in the winter, but without TPMS I'll have to explain that to the judge. I think our Gov-a-munt went too far with that one.

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I had a Tacoma w/steel wheels and tpms monitors and purchases a nicer used set of alloys but the monitors wouldn't fit that wheel so I went to home depot and got a short piece of PVC with a screw end and glued a cap on the other end. drilled a hole in the side for one valve stem to go in then put one through there and the other 3 inside then sealed it and added air to fool the system. Kept that under the seat or somewhere in the vehicle. TPMS is nice to have but you can live without it.

I put TPMS on the Super Tenere, there are several less expensive ways to do it that's for sure.

I've got the Doran TPMS on Dudley. It takes anywhere from a few seconds to 6 minutes to show tire pressures. At least that's what it's supposed to do. When I left home at 11:00 this morning to ride to Grand Junction for the How the West Was Won Rally (hereafter referred to as HW3), it took about 40 minutes for anything to happen and then the red light came on that indicates a problem. I could tell that the problem had nothing to do with tire pressure, and after about another 20 minutes, the red light went out and I had tire pressure indications. About an hour up the road after that, the front sensor stopped registering, then the red light came on again, and then it went out. I stopped in Rifle for gas and a snack and it only took about 20 minutes to start working. I'm guessing that the batteries in the sensors are dying. Of course, they can't be replaced. You have to order sensors and IIRC, they cost about $50/pair. I'll be giving them a call in the morning.

The only TPMS sensors I've had experience with require that you remove the tire to replace the battery/sensor.
Are there some that can be replaced from the outside?

The Doran (and I think the Garmin) are screwed onto the valve stem.

Make darn sure you use metal valve stems if you use the screw on style. The weight of the sensor being spun around can destroy a rubber valve stem...

junglejim said:

The only TPMS sensors I've had experience with require that you remove the tire to replace the battery/sensor.
Are there some that can be replaced from the outside?

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Hawskhead is one that is getting some good feedback on STO.. you want a metal valve stem if you use any type of TPMS like this as the weight, however insignificant it seems, will cause a failure with a rubber valve stem.
http://www.st-owners.com/forums/showthread.php?147338-HawksHead-TPMS-Review

I can gua-ran-damn-tee that a rubber valve stem wouldn't work. Doran sends you two metal valve stems as part of the package.

I had bought a very light-weight brass 90-degree adapter for my first Concours because the OEM stems mad it very difficult to fill the tires with any air chuck I could find in Ft Morgan. Nobody told me not to leave it on, and one day I had just pulled on to I-76 and engaged my throttle lock, when the rubber stem failed. I barely managed to keep from going down. and it took over three hours for the tow truck to get there, during which time probably 75-100 bikes went by and nobody stopped.