Cheryl & Leslie's Triumph Tiger 800XC ADV to Alaska

Discussion in 'Ride Reports - Epic Rides' started by soph9, Jun 12, 2011.

  1. AlanI

    AlanI Adventurer

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    As a matter of interest, how tall is Cheryl as she appears to be able to flat foot quite well on the bike?
  2. Daytonacharlie

    Daytonacharlie 2 Wheeled Backpacker

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  3. soph9

    soph9 Would Love to ride ALL the TIME

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    Cheryl is 5'5" and has the reg height seat on low and is flat footed. Her inseam is 31.5. I on the other hand am not flat footed, I am 5'4.5 with an inseam of 30 ish. I have the low seat on low.


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  4. Oldone

    Oldone One day at a time!

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    Going on 68 yrs. old now but I just spent the past two days re-reading everything and I'm not kidding, I think I spent at least 15 hrs. doing that. So, thanks once more for a great ride, we sure had fun didn't we? :1drink

    Gary "Oldone"
  5. Kirt

    Kirt Biker Dude

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    This one is not bad either...

    [​IMG]

    Great ride.
    Thanks for taking us along....
  6. Delilama

    Delilama weestrommer

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    Guy's .Once again thanx for all you effort in doing the RR!!:clap:clap:clap
    Just one question,one bike has a black frame and the other has a silver frame.Is there a differance?
    After reading,seeing by photo your trip,am looking at maybe getting one my self.But will never sell the KLR!:clap
  7. MrKiwi

    MrKiwi Long timer Super Supporter

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    Those mega Tiger pics are great. Send the link to Triumph with an invoice, they provide mega advertising opportunities...:rofl
  8. JG77

    JG77 I ride my own.

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    Cheryl and Leslie,

    I have enjoyed following the two of your on your journey through your pictures and ride reports. Phenomenal scenery, and reading of your adventures makes me start believing that a cross country trek by bike is not such a far off reality for me. It helped me quite a bit as a complete rookie rider to read your discussions about your gear and issues with the bikes and how you resolved them. I have always thought I wanted a Beamer, but with your report, I am thinking maybe a Triumph Tiger is the way to go.

    Good deal! :clap

    JIll
  9. soph9

    soph9 Would Love to ride ALL the TIME

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    Funny when Triumph pays attention to what we did with their bikes we get a record day on our BLOG.....too funny! We thought they forgot about us.....better late then never eh?:freaky:lol3
  10. soph9

    soph9 Would Love to ride ALL the TIME

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    Probably picking up the Beemers tomorrow. The Tigers need big time servicing and maybe by the end of the week we might know if we will own the Tigers.

    Has to be a deal we can't refuse. Stay tuned as we are too!


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  11. AlanI

    AlanI Adventurer

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    :thumb:beer
  12. soph9

    soph9 Would Love to ride ALL the TIME

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    Mind you that was with luggage. Since we have dismantled the bikes and freed them of all luggage and mounts Cheryl is not so flat footed now but we would still have to adjust the pre-load. Have not done that but we still fit the bikes well enough to safely ride.

    It is unknown if we will become the owners of the Tigers we rode for 44 days. They will be dropped off at Western Powersports in Langley, BC so the bikes can be looked over, hopefully get the stalling issues rectified and maybe Triumph might even learn a thing or two as to how the bikes really held up throughout our adventure.


    I hope they can check things like the chains, sprockets, cables, our air filters most likely are quite dirty again, fluids (all seems OK), wear and tear in general.


    We hope by the end of the week there will be a better understanding of the cost to us if we were to buy these bikes. The offer has to be a good one because the cost of this trip overall was high but well worth it.


    Anyone thinking of traveling to the north need to be prepared for high prices for gas, food and some lodging options where there are no options. For instance if you ride the Dempster or Dalton your choices are slim to none for safe housing and that comes at a cost. We will be posting our expenses soon, but by all means many can do this trip a lot cheaper than we did. Due to the weather being so wet we did not camp as much as we wanted to. Having said that many would have just sucked it up and set up outside anyways.


    So, hopefully we will get our BMW bikes back today and only time will tell if Cheryl & Leslie will own the Tigers which we found to be just a great all around bike.


    [​IMG]


    First picture of us after we arrived Deadhorse at the end of the Dalton Highway. Picture was taken by Ray Jardine, our new friend from the road. Ray is a well known inventor of the rock climbing tool called the “Friend”. Google his name, great adventurer and neat guy.

    Maybe I will video tape and take pictures of our reaction to riding the BMW's again:lol3
  13. dceggert

    dceggert Been here awhile

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    If you still have the Tigers, how about a group shot of the Tigers and BMW's all together? LOL...your driveway would look like a biker hang out spot...
  14. soph9

    soph9 Would Love to ride ALL the TIME

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    Beemers are at the dealer but maybe there we can get a group shot!:lol3
  15. slide

    slide A nation with a future

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    You mention 'safe housing'. What danger is there in housing?
  16. soph9

    soph9 Would Love to ride ALL the TIME

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    Meaning staying inside rather then becoming a grizzly bears meal:D
  17. slide

    slide A nation with a future

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    Oh, OK. Grizzlies attack up there? We had grizzly / browns (I never understood the diff) but they didnt' bug anybody unless pretty severely annoyed by a human or attracted by poorly stowed food.

    Oh, yeah, one did cause a problem (I had to croak it) but it turned out to have a huge infection & literally gallons of pus came out of the thing. It may have been dying from an abscess or something. I consider that a real anomaly.
  18. VikB

    VikB Been here awhile

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    I bicycle toured the Dempster solo using campgrounds and wild camping. As long as you store your food away from your camp there is no particular danger from bears.

    BTW - virtually all my camping experiences over the years [except for Baja] have been in grizzly country in Canada and I've never had a problem at all using the normal bear safety techniques you can read in any number of books. Bears have no interest in you if you don't attract them with food or surprise them by getting really close without their knowing.
  19. TAMPAJIM

    TAMPAJIM Been here awhile

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    You ever see that movie where the guy thought wild bears were his buddies and they ate him? :eek1
  20. dceggert

    dceggert Been here awhile

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    Here is an interesting tidbit and something for the adventurous inmates to read over the winter months as there is probably no better adventure story that one can possibly read about...the Journals of Lewis and Clark. There was a reason the published journals were a huge seller back in the 1800's but I will let YOU read them and determine why... :evil

    Anyway, off topic...when the Lewis and Clark expedition arrived at the Mandan village and were getting ready to head west, the Native Americans warned Lewis and Clark about the bears they would encounter on their travels. They were pretty much told that the brown and black bears would not bother them but are dangerous if provoked. The larger brown bears, however, were mean spirited, tenacious in chasing them, and impossible to kill. Many of the tribe were lost to these bears and Lewis and Clark were warned to stay away and not get near them (they didn't listen, they thought it would be 'fun' to find one of these formidable opponents and add it as a trophy. They thought that the guns they had would take care of them right quick and in the end they found out that they were wrong! Nobody on the team lost their life to a grizzley, but after several close calls of near death experiences they avoided them after the first few encounters).

    The curious one, however, was the warning about the 'white' bears in that they were larger and worse disposition than the big angry brown bears. When I read the journals I took this to mean polar bears but the editors and commentators of the journals point out that polar bears were not in North Dakota in 1805 so the natives were meaning something else or making up stories. I, however, am still not convinced and think the warnings could very easilly be explained to be about polar bears as the Mandans were a displaced tribe from the upper Minnissota/Ontario area and may have encountered polar bears in the James Bay area in summer months. The oral traditions handed down over generations to stay away from the big mean brown and white bears sounds like very good advice to me!