My first off road ride.. not so nice

[Alan Spears]

I finally took my stock suspension 02 Girly for a ride over a tall, bumpy, washed out mountain pass. The view was spectacular, the ride was not. It felt like I was riding my old fzr with high handlebars. Lots of wheel bounce, front and rear, I felt every rock, hole, and root straight through to my head. I did not expect a true dirt bike ride, the Tiger is what it is, I did not expect my buddy on his Electraglide to be able to keep up with me! I need y'alls help, yes I am from the south we do say y'all. I am 6'2"  230 lbs, very capable rider. The bike has 2" ROX risers but that is the extent of its mods. What can I do within reason to help my Girly ride like I know she wants to?
thanks

[Mustang]

how much you want to spend ?

it will be around a grand minimum to get a decent suspension under it front and rear

moving this to Girly section ........................

[John Stenhouse]

Get an aftermarket rear shock, change the fork oil for 15wt will do as a start

[JTT]

At your size, you will do well with heavier fork springs as well.  My '03 was grossly under-sprung in the front making it ride low in the travel.  I also added RaceTech Emulators in my forks and they help with the action.

In the rear you can jack up the preload and lighten up on the rebound (most have it cranked for road use making it WAY slow for off-road), but that's about the limit without shelling out for a new aftermarket shock.

[Alan Spears]

This is very helpful, I will start up front seems to be least expensive. I do not know what weight the stock springs may be, what would yall suggest as replacement springs?

What rear shocks do most owners use?

thanks

[Chris Canning]

The hardest part about sorting the suspension out on the Tiger or for that matter any bike is putting your hand in your pocket!!!!,when you have come to terms with that the rest is relatively easy.

Rear is either Hyperpro or Wilbers,the front is trial and error, go for any of the aftermarket spring options and then either a combo of oil or a single weight, on the road 15wt works fine for big guys or if you ride two up,but the forks need 50 miles to warm up, before that the initial movement is stiff at the begining of the movement,I've seen on here a mixture of 10wt and 15wt and also quantity may vary depending on what floats your boat,the front end is time consuming rather than expensive.

[dino246]

iM ABOUT YOUR SIZE, 230LBS AND 6'2" TALL. mY 06 HAS GOT .95 KG.MM FRONT SPRINGS FROM SONIC SPRING VERY REASONABLE PRICE AND GREAT PEOPLE TO DO BUSINESS WITH. i HAVE THE EMULATORS AND 15 WEIGHT OIL TO ROUND OUT THE FRONT FORKS. THE REAR I JUST INSTALLED A WILBERS 641 SHOCK WITH HYDRO PRELOAD AND EXTERNAL RESIVIOUR. i LOVE IT.

i ALSO TALKED TO RICK AT COGENT DYNAMICS ABOUT USING SOME HONDA XR650L CARTRIDGE FORKS AND THE TIGER LOWERS AND PUTTING THEM TOGETHER. THIS WOULD MAKE GREAT FORKS AND MORE SUSPENSION TRAVEL.

GET SOME MUSTANG PEGS ALSO TO GET MORE LEG ROOM.

[cosmo]

No real help, but....

Every so often, I ride an old Brit bike, usually a rigid (M-20).

After that, the Tigger's ACE!!!

Saves me a load of dosh, that.

Cosmo

[Chris Canning]

Always makes me smile when folks talk about how good their tiger is,with stock suspension on you'll never be able to ride it fast enough to find out,there's a fantastic bike if you scratch the surface with a few bob spent on e'm.

After riding my K,getting on the tiger it feels like the motor has fallen out,but it's the alround package that counts,although I have to say on the way to Mugello this year the bike felt a little ashmatic against some modern day 2.0 turbo diesel cars on the motorway,just means I had to work it a little harder.

[brianco]

I'm 6'6" 260 lbs. I replaced my fronts with Hagon progressives. Definitely made a big difference. Also replaced the fork oil. I have no other experience with off road motorcycles, so I don't have an absolute reference, but my Girly is standing taller and diving way less on stops. Feels fine over the bumps off road. Two surprises: the springs in there were already progressive and the spacers were way too short. This could be a prior owner replacement or something. I had to make new PVC spacers when I bought the Hagons.

[blacktiger]

I'm 6'6" 260 lbs. I replaced my fronts with Hagon progressives. Definitely made a big difference. Also replaced the fork oil. I have no other experience with off road motorcycles, so I don't have an absolute reference, but my Girly is standing taller and diving way less on stops. Feels fine over the bumps off road. Two surprises: the springs in there were already progressive and the spacers were way too short. This could be a prior owner replacement or something. I had to make new PVC spacers when I bought the Hagons.

I can confirm that the standard springs are progressive wound.