Classic To Adventure - Anyone Made The Change?

Neal H · Sep 6, 2021

I agree with the above. If you can get both feet down when sat on the bike, you should be able to easily flat foot one side or the other while keeping your other foot on the peg. I always go left foot down when coming to a stop.

learningtofly · Sep 6, 2021

littleade said: ↑

That's what I do as a rule, though if I'm going to be waiting for some time at traffic lights I now snick it into neutral as I come to a stop, but put my right foot down instead and apply the Hillhold with a dab on the front brake which is in effect like an electronic handbrake on a car so I can then sit there relaxed with the bike in neuteal, clutch out and going nowhere. When the lights change I just pull in the clutch, stick it in gear and away I go, no faffing around doing the hendon shuffle anymore. Typical technology, you never thought you'd want it until you try it.
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I imagine it is - like cruise control, which I now don't know how I did without!

Notso · Sep 6, 2021

I had a lovely run to my nearest Triumph dealer yesterday on my 2018 Street Twin. My bike is coming up to 3 years old and given the good pre-registered deal I got I thought I would see what options there are as my bike really has not lost much value over what I paid. I kind of had a itch for a Street Triple, but sitting on one made me realise it wasn't for me, not as lent forward as a GSX I sat on recently, but that kind of feel. The Speed Twin felt familiar obviously. The bike I really liked the riding position on was the Tiger 900. I do start to understand why the adventure style is so popular. It didn't feel that heavy to me, especially when compared with a 650 V-Strom I sat on recently, that really felt top heavy to me (yes, I did a similar trip to a Suzuki dealer after reading a compliment about their gearboxes!). I can see myself moving on to an adventure style at some point, especially if I start touring or riding to work more often (c100miles away). I will stick with my Street Twin for now though, it has that 'fits like an old shoe' feel and the itch for a change has subsided a bit!

Sir Trev · Sep 6, 2021

learningtofly said: ↑

I imagine it is - like cruise control, which I now don't know how I did without!
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Ditto on the cruise control in the car - makes everything very smooth in traffic, especially if you have the adaptive option. The auto handbrake on my Ford is much like Ade's GS by the sounds of it and is great at reducing fatigue. As the car is a slushbox auto it creeps if you don't keep the brakes on and having the car do it for you until you add a few revs to move off it so nice!

Notso - know what you mean about the Strom as I found the previous model a bit like that when I had a test ride a few years ago. Won't stop me trying the current version next year when I start considering new bikes but anything after my T100 feels tall and top heavy

learningtofly · Sep 12, 2021

Well, yesterday I had the Tiger's first "service" (i.e. oil and filter change, plus a general check-over) done, and finally offloaded the low seat; in its place I now have the Triumph lower engine bars. Today I went for a ride into central London and stopped off at Regents Park for coffee and a muffin. I have a fantastic parking spot on the Outer Circle, on a little strip of roadway that sits between the double yellow lines on the public road and the pavement immediately in front of the period office building facing the park, and enables access to the private car park a little further along (in fact, the park's boating lake and coffee shop are just the other side of the hedge in the photo below). I've parked every bike I've owned here multiple times without a problem, and the space is always available as the little strip in question really serves no purpose whatsoever, and is too narrow to take a car.

Just a couple of things to mention...

Firstly, I realised when I picked the bike up yesterday that the standard seat had never been properly fitted in the low position, either by me or the Triumph technicians. It now is, though, and it makes enough of a difference that I can actually flat foot the bike. In fact, riding in traffic today has given me a lot more confidence, and I no longer worry about coming to a stop. That's helped by the fact that I've developed a slightly different technique for stopping on this bike, in that I've realised it feels less precarious if I out my foot down literally at the moment that the bike stops and whilst the forks are still compressed; sounds strange, perhaps, but it really makes a difference.

Secondly, I was filtering and stop/starting today for much of my time on the road, and the Tiger behaved impeccably in those conditions. It's size, relatively high centre of gravity and larger front wheel mean that I can't dart into little gaps the way I might have done on my other bikes, but once you allow for that it's completely capable (and really does seem like a genuine all-rounder, which is just what I wanted). In fact, I feel quite confident on/used to it now, to the extent that it doesn't really feel particularly big any longer.

It may not get the looks and comments, but it does the business.