Tiger XC accessories / farkles thread

[riceaterslc]

Originally Posted by youtalkintome?

22" without bags, they seem to be made well but haven't seen the others. I like the fact that they don't mount to the pilon pegs and have a x-over brace.

thanks.

for reference, the other two racks i've been looking at are touratech (18.5") and metal mule (19.5")

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by Yossarian™

Fine.

My go-to boot for riding the XC is a pair of Sidi Canyons.

I really liked those boots, but, were too narrow. I was told "It's an Italian thing.", which must be why their cycling shoes are too narrow, as well.

[fullmonte]

Originally Posted by ducnut

The good thing about a boot discussion here is that everyone's kinda' on the same page. I hate to solicit the entire forum and have people telling me "X" boot is the best when I don't ride what they ride. However, take owners of a bike I'm interested in, who probably ride the same style I would, and I can get pretty good idea what boots to look at. As they've posted, I'm interested/have looked at every boot they've mentioned. Simple.....I think.

So which are you getting first, new boots or a Tiger 800XC?

[cug]

Originally Posted by ducnut

I really liked those boots, but, were too narrow. I was told "It's an Italian thing.", which must be why their cycling shoes are too narrow, as well.

Yeah, Sidi run a bit narrow, especially compared to the Formas which run pretty wide (and soft). I have a pair of Sidi Adventure GoreTex I'm picking up later today and if you like I can let you know here how they work out over time. Especially whether they widen a bit. As they are natural leather, they should.

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by fullmonte

So which are you getting first, new boots or a Tiger 800XC?

Probably going to go with a Roadie. We sat on an XC, but, it's just as tall as my 1050*. Tubeless tires appeal to me, as does the 19" front wheel. I like to rail turns too much, which will make it hard to give up my 17" front and supreme torque of the big motor. I think the Roadie will be a nice compromise, from the test ride. I've got a couple things that'll have to take place, before I can get onto an 800. However, if I come across someone who wants to trade, it would happen sooner. I've been watching.

*I have aftermarket suspension (Penske 8983/Traxxion AK20) with stiffer springs. The bike sits much higher than the OEM setup, so I've slid the fork tubes up ~1-1/2" and shortened the shock all the way and reduced preload.

Originally Posted by cug

Yeah, Sidi run a bit narrow, especially compared to the Formas which run pretty wide (and soft). I have a pair of Sidi Adventure GoreTex I'm picking up later today and if you like I can let you know here how they work out over time. Especially whether they widen a bit. As they are natural leather, they should.

Thanks, but, a little more serious boot than I would like.

[cug]

Originally Posted by ducnut

Thanks, but, a little more serious boot than I would like.

After going down twice in my Formas and being disappointed by the protection both times, I'm going with something "more serious" ...

[ducnut]

Originally Posted by cug

After going down twice in my Formas and being disappointed by the protection both times, I'm going with something "more serious" ...

Yeah, I'd seen your comments, about that. I'm currently wearing my Alpinestar SMX5s, from my track days. They suck, for day-to-day use and, especially, on any questionable surface. I'm going to do some serious looking, at the Indy MotoGP, as all the manufacturers have product suites. I should probably lean toward your advice.

[cug]

Originally Posted by ducnut

I should probably lean toward your advice.

My only advice is: wear the stiffest, most protective boots that fit and that you can tolerate while riding. Carry a set of light sneakers or sandals for walking around. After my offs I'm even more into ATGATT than I was before. It helped. Both times. I shredded some gear, but better the gear than myself.

[Jarno123]

Originally Posted by browneye

First, I would say wait 'till you get a bike then dig into what accessories you'll really need once you get some miles on it.

Second, this is not a dirtbike. It's a road bike that has been adapted to travel off pavement. It is heavy, suspension is soft, and the motor and gearing is oriented for road going.

The ideal crash bar attachment point is the frame. The ideal design is a down-tube cradle frame with a substantial skid plate attached to the frame at the bottom, ala motocross/enduro bike.

The Tiger has been designed with the option to add protection bars to the motor to protect it from a lay down. If you crash it hard enough it's gonna break something.

If you crash it hard enough it will break the passenger foot peg brackets off and bend the frame - the sub is an integarted part of the main frame.

The factory handguards are plastic. If you crash it hard enough it will break them and bend the bars, break all your levers and mirrors off. If you do a lot of offroad a pair of guards with an aluminum backbone is highly suggested.

It's fun to discuss all the little add-on doodads you can do with these bikes, but let's not lose sight of what the design intention was for it and not try to make it something it's not. It makes a horrible dirtbike. It makes a fantastic adventure bike that is road oriented. It will NOT keep up with lightweight enduro bikes offroad. Any wild ideas that it could is just a pipe dream.

Couple of questions since you seem to be able to very clearly answer my questions

First, I was thinking of taking the Tiger eventually on trips like the ROB, BAM and the lot. I'm pretty sure it's doable, but just don't know to what extent. Heard some guys in Australia did some real serious offroading with it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqDzP...65F-pAHm19UDL0
sorry, don't know how to embed yet. Anyway, those guys seem to be really happy about the bike so I figured, what they can do, I should be able to do as well. That's the type of riding I intend.
You say the Tiger is bad offroad. Yes, obviously compared to an dirt bike, but we're talking adventure bikes here. You don't take a dirtbike on 20.000 km trips. Or at least, you shouldn't. I think that the worst that can happen is that you crash your bike at a reasonable speed. The crashes that a person walks away from. If I'm in a hospital, I don't think I can really care all that much about whether or not my bike is not damaged, a little damaged or very damaged. I know, I have poor priorities. But the lower speed crashes, that's something the bike should be able to handle if you're going on a big trip, which is why I was wondering if the crashbars will help, or make things worse.

Now I've also read a couple of time about people who break their subframes. Since the Tiger does not have a separate sub frame, does that make the Tiger extra rigid, or prone to breaking welds and what not? It seems almost common to break a subframe, so can the Tiger handle more vibrations because it's parts of the main frame, or will the complete frame fall apart?

Originally Posted by browneye

IMHO a guy should have a bike for each type of riding he likes to do.

It seems like you are a very wise man

[Mikehusa]

Jarno,

The stuff in that video is exactly why I bought my Tiger and it has not let me down. The bike is more than capable in those situations and many more. I have found it to be a very good two up tourer, canyon carver and a very good (FAT DIRT BIKE) even on single track. I have taken it on rugged off road trips to a 4000 mile trip up the west coast.

I do recomend crash bars, I have Holans and am very happy with them. Do some research as to how they bolt on to the motorcycle, some have been known to damage the engine in minor tip overs. My Holans have held up very well in low speed crashes. I am running the stock plastic handguards but will eventually upgrade.

Upgrades I have done and recommend

Bar risers: good for off road making it easier and more natural to stand on the pegs. (ROX)

Crash Bars: I like my Holan set up. Fits tight to the motorcyle but still gives good protection.

Skid Plate: I'm running an Altrider and it has proven itself. I do recommend drilling a small hole in it so it doesnt hold oil after a filter change unless you want to remove it each time.

Knobby tires.

Hand gurds

Panniers and top box

Kick stand foot



The most important upgrade:

Get your bike and take an off road class. I recommend Rawhyde in CA. Those guys know what ther're talking about. I took away a lot more then I thought I would.

[ducatirdr]

Originally Posted by ducnut

I really liked those boots, but, were too narrow. I was told "It's an Italian thing.", which must be why their cycling shoes are too narrow, as well.

I have SIDI Crossfire SRS boots for my Enduro riding. They were narrow just like SKI BOOTS... What do you do with ski boots is take them to a ski shop that specializes in fit. I have a shop near me that is known for fitting ski boots. I took my Sidi SRS boots to them and they used their steam heated hydraulic stretching tools to widen the toe box and instep. WHAT A HUGE DIFFERENCE! They fit like slippers and you can't see any changes to the boots. The plastic took the heated stretching perfect. I raced a season in them and had no issues.

Cost was $35 for the fitting. The shop owner talked dirt bikes the whole time and loved the challenge of something new.

-Tom

[BlackBeast]

Has anyone fitted a rotopax on the inside left of the HT rack and if so, could you post up some pics please.
Just want to get an idea if it works/available space and what it looks like to have it fitted in that space permanently.

[Kawidad]

Originally Posted by cug

After going down twice in my Formas and being disappointed by the protection both times, I'm going with something "more serious" ...

You back in the saddle again?

[soldierguy]

I was just doing some e-mailing with Jason at ADV Motorrad. He's got a set of Holan Pro crashbars in stock, ready for delivery. To me these look like they provide the best coverage, and Jason is a great guy to work with on ordering stuff. So if you're in the market for the Holan Pros but didn't want the wait (they're all shipped from Poland), Jason has a set in stock now.

http://www.advmotorrad.com/index.php...&product_id=87

[browneye]

Originally Posted by Jarno123

Couple of questions since you seem to be able to very clearly answer my questions

First, I was thinking of taking the Tiger eventually on trips like the ROB, BAM and the lot. I'm pretty sure it's doable, but just don't know to what extent. Heard some guys in Australia did some real serious offroading with it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqDzP...65F-pAHm19UDL0
sorry, don't know how to embed yet. Anyway, those guys seem to be really happy about the bike so I figured, what they can do, I should be able to do as well. That's the type of riding I intend.
You say the Tiger is bad offroad. Yes, obviously compared to an dirt bike, but we're talking adventure bikes here. You don't take a dirtbike on 20.000 km trips. Or at least, you shouldn't. I think that the worst that can happen is that you crash your bike at a reasonable speed. The crashes that a person walks away from. If I'm in a hospital, I don't think I can really care all that much about whether or not my bike is not damaged, a little damaged or very damaged. I know, I have poor priorities. But the lower speed crashes, that's something the bike should be able to handle if you're going on a big trip, which is why I was wondering if the crashbars will help, or make things worse.

Now I've also read a couple of time about people who break their subframes. Since the Tiger does not have a separate sub frame, does that make the Tiger extra rigid, or prone to breaking welds and what not? It seems almost common to break a subframe, so can the Tiger handle more vibrations because it's parts of the main frame, or will the complete frame fall apart?

Took a look at the vid, nothing too tough there, typical of the riding I think most Tiger owners see with the exeption of a few that are a lot more hardcore.

Crash bars will keep the engine from hitting rocks in a tip over or low-speed fall. They also keep the bike propped up enough to keep the radiator from getting crushed.

The rocky and sandy segments there are obviously ridden by an expert rider. If you ride the rocks at speed you'll bottom the suspension and risk pinch flats on the front. Any bike can handle sand with a competent pilot, but it's still a heavy beast for that kind of terrain.

I find it intersting what a lot of riders consider 'off road'. Just about everything in that vid was smooth dirt. Most any bike can handle that. My experience with 'offroad' includes tight single track with rock steps, whoops, and extremely varied terrain. Almost everything that is a 'road' is navigable by any of these adventure bikes with the right tires. The better the suspension the faster one can traverse rough terrain without bottoming or breaking.

I just don't like to see any of these bikes, including the XC, presummed to be ideal for the riding the likes of what they did in the ICON Raiden vid. Yes, with stunt riders and special effects you can make anything look like it can do anything. In the real world it may not be able to be realistically duplicated without detriment to rider or machine.

Hope that helps you make a decision on the Tiger XC.