Classic To Adventure - Anyone Made The Change?

Congratulation, I bet you will be sorry to see the TTr go . However enjoy the new ride ….

 

Nice, I recall you got your a couple of your previous bikes from the now defuncted Triumph Hemmel, now Lind in Watford -

 

I was in there yesterday 4 red GT’s awaiting collection

 

About that trip I took up in the rockies a few weeks ago...



I know Google Maps says the route is ~2400 miles, but all told my trip meter said 3060.


On the first day, which I dubbed "get the hell out of Texas day", I rode 540 miles from Austin, TX to Roswell, NM. I'd call it uneventful, except for the hour or so I spent picking the bike back up after dropping it hard while crossing a flooded bridge over a river, less than 50 miles from home. You can see the damage to the left pannier in this next shot. No real damage to me, or to the bike, so I wrestled the bike back up and kept going. I did, however, switch the sat nav unit away from "find the twistiest route there" mode to "find a pretty twisty route there" mode for the remainder of the trip. Roswell is a distinct tourist trap town. Fun to ride through. Pretty kitschy. I found a hotel, grabbed some dinner, went back and fell asleep.



On the second day, I started riding up through the Rockies from the south, heading out of New Mexico toward Colorado. Such a beautiful area, and great riding roads.



I'd intended to ride through Taos, NM, and find a smaller town to stay in, or possibly go find a dispersed camping spot. However, just outside of Taos, I had an encounter with an angry wasp in my helmet, at freeway speeds. Got stung twice in the eyelid before I could bring the bike to a stop and get the wasp out. I opted to go back into Taos, find a hotel and an urgent care, then stay the night in Taos, to make sure that the swelling wasn't going to prevent me seeing well enough from both eyes to ride. Luckily, the steroid shot the urgent care clinic gave me did the trick, and I was able to continue the next day.



One of our newest national monuments is just outside of Taos, so I stopped at the Rio Grande Gorge National Monument, and took a bit of time to gawk. The gorge is well over 1000 feet deep at the point where the visitor center is. It's utterly beautiful in person.



After I gawked at the canyon for awhile, I headed north out of New Mexico and pushed on to find the campground where I met up with my sister and her family for a few days of camping. I spent 6 days there, and it rained for 4 of them. Some civil engineering and water control projects were required to keep water away from my tent, but it was a lot of fun.




After 6 days of camping, I just wanted a shower, a good hot meal in a restaurant, and a comfortable bed for the night. I ended up in Gunnison, CO at a decent, but not great hotel. I took multiple showers, and then went out for a great meal at the recommended-by-locals Ol' Miner Steakhouse. Then I crashed for 14 hours.

I'd intended to go hit the high passes in the Alpine Loop around Ouray, CO, but there was literally no available lodging less than $500 per night nor any available camping within a hundred miles of Ouray. Also, the smoke from wildfires in Oregon was so thick in that area that you couldn't see more than a few hundred feet. Given that I couldn't unload the bike, and I had zero intention of trying the challenges of the high, unpaved passes with a fully-loaded Tiger 1200, I chose to save that experience for another trip. Instead, I opted to just ride the Million Dollar Highway south from Ouray to Silverton, and head out to find a place to sleep before pressing on. That ended up being all the way down in Durango, CO, where I got one of the few remaining rooms available in the city, for an exorbitant price, but also had a terrific dinner at a place called the Yellow Carrot, which was across the street from my hotel.

After that, I headed out in the morning, and just never found a place I wanted to stay. I ended up riding ~980 miles straight from Durango, CO back to Austin, TX, arriving at 01:45 after 14 hours in the saddle. That's the longest single day of riding I've ever done, but I have to say that the Tiger was perfectly comfortable through the whole thing. Best distance-riding bike I've ever had personal experience riding.

I slept in at home, relaxed through the next day, did the necessary laundry, and then decided I wasn't done. I still had a week left before I had to be back to work. (I always leave myself recovery days back at home after a big road trip).

I decided to head down by San Antonio, TX, and ride the Twisted Sisters (three absolutely marvelous motorcycle roads around the towns of Leakey and Kerrville, TX). On Airbnb, I found an entire 4-br house available on a 5000 acre ranch for less than half of what I'd paid for a rundown room in Durango. I booked it for 2 nights, and spent 3 glorious days riding around the Sisters. Since I'd done this in the middle of the week, the roads were nearly empty, and I had them pretty much to myself. This is definitely not the case on a weekend.

After that, I came back home, and relaxed over the weekend, rode a bit more locally, and then went back to work on Monday...

A great few weeks, and I felt fully recharged. Mission accomplished

 

Great report and pictures, enjoyed the read

 

Funny to admit that I'd intended to post this in the "What did you do on your Triumph" thread, but I suppose it works well enough here

 

Not sure about the seat but my neighbour fitted a lowing kit to the suspension and that has worked for them.

 

Oh, the minor setbacks are all part of the adventures. I had a great time, and am already plotting my next extended outing.

 

Lovely looking bike. What precisely is the problem with the low seat - is it just less padded than the normal seat?

 

I thought about this thread yesterday while I was in a H****a dealership. Picked it as a random destination for a ride and to look at bikes as part of my "what next research" and the salesman insisted I try an Africa Twin for size after I told him the CB500X was more my size if I went the adventure route. Surprisingly low seat height (which was the salesman's point) but very difficult for a short arse like me to get his leg over. Stop sniggering. Having said that, the 500X and the NC750X I also tried were just same compared to how low the seat is on my T100... None of them were on as demonstrators but then I'm not ready to chop in Hugh yet!

 

I replaced the stock seat on my Tiger 1200 with one from Corbin. Light years better. I did a 14 hour, ~1000 mile straight ride on it a few weeks ago (Durango, Colorado to Austin, Texas), and I was fine. Don't know if Corbin has one for the 900 yet, but I'd be surprised if the 900's seat is all that different from the 800 or the 1200.