Featured What you been doing with your TRIUMPH today??

Bet it was quick too

 

@Armando Morales
Wow, what a beautiful view, Armando!!

 

Sold my 1971 CB450, beautiful bike but it has only been gathering dust in the workshop. Was contacted by a gentleman who said he has been wanting a candy red 450 since he was 16 years old in 1971. Got an offer i could not refuse.


Also time to change front brake pads on my Cup and probably went a bit overboard with it. I do not like sliding calibers so got 4 pots from Raisch.

 

Nice little Honda.
I agree with you about the sliding caliper. I've heard of Rausch but didn't know they made a caliper to fit the Street Cup single disc, which means it should also fit the Street Twin. It looks like it's a straight swop..is that correct?
Has it made a noticeable improvement and what did you pay for the caliper?

 

Weather was good, so went out for a few hours riding. I found a ‘new’ road today, and at first pass I missed this sign…



Soon found out about ‘restriction’ though…



That’s a bridge across a stream and the middle 100 metres of the 3 mile road is that width. Aimed at cyclists and walkers I guess, but there are no signposts to prohibit motor vehicles, so felt few qualms about pootling along that bit at 10mph.

 

Sorry, it is not Rausch but Classicbike Raisch! Yes, it is a straight swop. Comes even with a new shorter brake hose, the original would be too long. You have to order the pads separate, not included. I was thinking of Brembo from Free Spirits but it mounts with an adapter and the Raisch mounts directly on the leg. Like that approach more. No riding yet, been raining cats and dogs as you say but forecast looks Ok for tomorrow. Will return with impressions.
The caliber + pads was around €500 + €15 for shipping. You find it at the second page on their website for Triumph LC/ from 2016.

 

Commute for me today - my filtering game was strong; it's something that I have been less confident with than other aspects of riding, but on the way there and back tonight I took (calculated) opportunities that I would not have done before so I am getting there!

 

Shorter testride today. Will still need more bedding in but the improvement is clearly noticeable. Better bite and easier to modulate braking power. Was it a necessary upgrade? I would say no, the Nissin caliber is good enough for my kind of riding, but why not make it better if you can, as an old manager of mine used to say " an activity without budget is called hobby".

 

Commute again today...nice enough ride there and back .

 

So, after a couple of weeks with it, here are some of my initial thoughts about the Tiger 1200 Rally Pro:

• The bike feels *much* lighter and better balanced than my previous 1200 did. That was a pretty top-heavy bike, especially if the road or terrain was off-camber. This new 1200 is distinctly better. It's taller than my 1200 Alpine was (expected, given the higher suspension), but it feels considerably easier to manage at low speeds and when stopped. Triumph did well here.
• In general, I love the new engine. Down low, it's much more awake than the outgoing engine was. For lack of a better description, it's rowdier than the older engine was. In a good way.
• Up above about 6500 rpm, there are definitely more vibrations through the handlebars than there used to be, but they're not terrible, and the bar end weights from the barkbusters I added compensate fairly well. Also, I don't often ride up high in the rev range, so it doesn't affect me greatly.
• The bike is very comfortable on longer rides (I've taken it out for several rides that were 300 miles or longer, and have been very comfortable on each). It's definitely more comfortable on longer rides than the 900 rally pro (although that bike was also quite good on long stretches of miles). This does not surprise me, given how comfortable the outgoing 1200s were.
• The rider pocket for wind/buffeting is pretty good, but not perfect. Like my older 1200, I added a Puig adjustable blade to the top of the wind screen, and that cleans up the air stream well. I can ride with a peaked helmet, with the visor open at 75mph+ quite comfortably. For reference, I'm 5ft 10in (179cm).
• The Anakee Street tires that come mounted on the bike are decent, but nothing special. They're rubbish off road, and they're loud on pavement about 70mph. But they're not so terrible that I'm going to immediately swap them out for something else. I definitely will put something else on the bike when they're done, though.
• It's pretty nimble in low speed maneuvering, like a parking lot, though I find a weird soft spot in the throttle when just barely cracking it from a standstill (like when first starting to move when maneuvering out of a parking space, or moving ahead a few feet in slow traffic).
• The bike is surprisingly responsive on twisty roads, considering that the front wheel is 21 inches. Triumph's done a good job with the bike geometry when in road mode to compensate for the bigger wheel. I haven't taken it off-road extensively yet, but I'd expect that the off-road modes probably switch the geometry to rake out the front more (like the recommended manual off-road suspension settings on the 900 rally pro do).
• Speaking of suspension: the suspension on this bike is *very* good, and I'd forgotten how much I love semi-active electronically adjusted suspension. I missed that going from the previous 1200 to the 900 rp.
• Overall, I like the way Triumph layed out the instrument cluster in the TFT *much* better than the weird and hard-to-read tach display they put into the 900 series. However, I think that I prefer the ease of choosing what additional info is displayed (trip data, fuel usage, etc) on the 900's screen. That additional info requires digging into the menus on the 1200, and is not sticky.
• Like every other Tiger, I *hate* that I have to stop the bike to switch into off-road mode. Please, Triumph, let me do that without stopping the damned bike. When the route switches often between pavement and dirt, this requirement is a big pain in the ass. I also continue to be annoyed that when I shut the bike off in off-road mode, it's back in road mode when I start it up again. This is a real problem in rough off-road conditions if, for instance, you drop the bike during a failed hill climb in very loose rock or sand. The bike should start up where I left it.
• The under-seat phone charger tray is every bit as stupid and useless as it is in the 900. I promptly removed it, and added a fuse block for powering devices in its place.
• I hate the passenger pegs. They just get in the way while I'm riding, and are pretty intrusive into my space as pilot when coming to a stop. I don't ride two-up, so I removed them.
• The center stand is stupidly hard to access if the passenger pegs are present. It's completely blocked by the left-hand passenger peg, and requires a lot of finagling to activate if wearing larger adventure boots. Also, it's hard to get the bike back down off the center stand unless you brace the stand from the front to prevent it from moving along the ground. I liked the stands in my previous 1200 and my 900 much better.
• The bluetooth functionality and the MyTriumph app suck every bit as bad as they do in the 900. After trying it for a single ride, I promptly unpaired everything and disabled all of the bluetooth functions in the bike. Now, as I did for the 900, I pretend it doesn't exist. I pair my phone and headset to my Garmin Zumo XT, and all works flawlessly.

I'll post further thoughts as they occur to me...

 

took the 72 T120 to town, on the way back stopped at a well pad to see what my house looked like this time of year



then i said, aint no motorcycle in this picture. so tomorrow ill go do it again except ill put the triumph in the picture

 

Quick 30 mile blast locally to see what my exhaust sounds like (any excuse) as I removed the baffle yesterday. Answer = loud. Very .

 

Well today
Took my Cousin Alistair from England who is here in Western Australia out

Had to rebuild the top end of his bike


Head gasket had a big leak on his 1998 t300 Adventurer. So three day's work , head off and flat grind by hand . Rebuild and test ride today.
Found these

Kellerberrin in WA , Alistair with the owner !!

What a great guy and an even greater find ! There were a ten or so Bike's in a shop on the main street , only one visible in the front window.
Owner happened to walk out as we were drooling over the Norton in the window.
He unlocked and let us in.
Great test ride, greater Discovery A top day out !!!!

capt

 

Great find @capt - enjoy the rest of your cousin's visit!

 

Nice capt, not the regular ride start enjoy

 

145 miles for @Helmut Visor and I today (him on the Tuono) into Wales, around the Brecon Beacons area (heaving with bank holiday traffic!!) and a stop for lunch at the Honey Cafe, Bronllys - usually packed with bikes at the weekend but none there when we arrived, although some appeared later. Quick detour to Dom’s Bike Stop in Leominster for a coffee and then home. Nice half day’s outing .

 

Thank goodness for my 1971 cb250. An engine, gearbox, clutch and brakes.

 

@Aaron Brown
Although this is probably not a bike I'll ever ride, I really enjoyed reading your initial observations about your new bike, Aaron. I appreciate your attention to detail and your descriptions. Did you also post this in the Tiger Forum on here, too? I'll bet there are a number of folks who would appreciate your excellent report and find the information it contains quite useful.

 

What, you mean no bluetooth? Sounds like a right pile of sh*te.

 

Sounds like a good day out, @Mrs Visor! I'm missing the photos you used to post, though. Could you share a few with us here and there? From other posts it sounds like you're quite happy with your new exhaust! And suspension?!