What Were You Doing When You Dropped Your Tiger?

[Eric]

I may hold the record for the shortest amount of time between ownership and drop. About 20 minuites. Had ridden the dealer's demo Tiger several times on different roads and different situations without mishap. However, when the new one became mine I headed up the Blue Ridge Parkway. Pulled into an over look where four Harley riders were taking a break. As I came to a stop on an incline, intending to turn and head out again, the momentum at slow speed was more than I could hold and down I went in front of the Hog troupe. Panniers were on so the only damage was some stratches to it and the hand guards. Spilled a little coolant. The Harley guys, I must say, were very gracious and helped me right the Tiger.

MUCH bigger bike than the Triumph Bonnie I traded in for the Tiger.

[Silverstripes]

Not dropped it yet in eight months. However come very close a few times. This bike demands respects at stops. You need to watch the camber as this can catch you out.



Last close one, stop at a T junction, wife on the back, slight camber to the left and the deadly ingredient was a bit of gravel.



Its getting closer each time and only a matter of time before I join the drp club. :roll:

[Sofalofa2005]

LOL.... It happened to me last week! 13,000 miles in 9 months. We live on a very slight hill. I have to get off and open a gate to our yard before I bring the bike in. The neighbour had parked his car a bit further down than usual, and due to the Tiger's over-long side stand it was a bit too side-ways onto the hill... got off, seemed a bit upright but thought ahh, it'll be okay for the 20 seconds it takes me to open the gate... get off, walk over to the gate...



CRUNCH... there it was, lying over on it's right hand side.... SH*T... more through embarrasment than anything (I was convinced all the neighbours were peering from behind the curtains and giggling at me!), I crouched down (keeping back straight of course) and got it upright in one shove (and that was against the slight incline)! - I ached the next day by the way - amazing how embarrasment gives you super-human strength!



Damage was not as bad as I thought it would be... Right bar end weight bent, brake leaver a little bent and a very slight scuff on the engine... However, the bar end was causing the throttle to stick on, the bit the bar end screws into inside the bars was bent, so today I bought some new handlebars (£56 + VAT... not too bad). Apart from that, absolutely fine!



Suffice to say from now on I'm gonna be extra careful... could have been a lot worse!



Russ

[MARKC]

wheeled the bike out of my mothers garage.Fully loaded with a 2000 mile round trip to Italy in front of me.Sat on the bike and fell over.I was trapped underneath it was a while. Doh!!!!!



That was a year ago.I thought I had got away with a few scratches to the engine bars.When giving the bike her pre summer polish.I noticed the brake pedal pivot bolt was loose.When the bike had gone over the pressure on the pedal had bent the pivot bolt and stripped the threads out of the bracket.

[iansoady]

Twice - first time a week after picking it up trying to do a full-lock turn in the supermarket car park. Second (and hopefully last) time a couple of weeks later coming into my own drive. Reasons both times: using the front brake in slow speed turn, looking at the ground instead of where I want to go, not using the clutch.

When giving the bike her pre summer polish.I noticed the brake pedal pivot bolt was loose.When the bike had gone over the pressure on the pedal had bent the pivot bolt and stripped the threads out of the bracket.

Yes I found this although mine was just bent. The replacement is only a couple of quid.

[Brother Number One]

Where's the off-roading option :?:

[Green Lantern]

What sort of Klutz drops his Tigger after less than a week of ownership? Thanks for the honesty folks, glad I'm not alone.

Don't worry, brother, you're not alone.

And on the seventh day...I dropped mine coming to a stop in a parking lot  in Bear Mt. It was my first time outside of the city, grinning in the twisties over 60. I pulled into a parking lot just after filling the tank up (about 48 extra lbs), and a car blew its horn for me to move. I turned around to look for the car and suddenly my Tiger was laying on its side bleeding coolant like a river. Newbie that I was, grabbed the closest handle bar to me and gave it a tugg...and that's when the disc in my lower back exploded. Needles to say my buddy and I got back on two wheels. Almost a year later my back still bothers me after long rides.

[blacktiger]

Late at night. I am setting on my Tiger, admiring my garage, thinking about what a kool-studly-keen dude I am and I slide off of the seat.



And the suspension unloads, and the Tiger pitches over, and tosses me into the wife's new Sabre, which also goes down and who's handlebar gouges out a big chunk of the seat of the wife's old bike, which happily, did not fall over.



At which point, I scream like a girl and go drag the wife out of bed and tell her that I just destroyed the known universe.



We got the bikes back up. Mine, broken mirror. Her new bike had a tiny scratch on a side panel. The old bike got the seat torn up.



EverythingÌs mostly OK. I rode the Tiger about 6 miles and it was its usual gnarly self.



I was in the doghouse all day. She was really, somewhat kool about it all.



Yeah, alcohol was involved!

[tiger feet]

In the 8 1/2+ years I've had my Tiger it's been dropped 3 times.

The first times I was stationary and tried to pull away in third gear with almost no throtle, the only damage was an indicator lens and bulb.

The second time was also stationary, as I was trying to park on an incline, I didn't put the side stand down properly and landed on a Honda Fireblade :!:

The last time I was actually moving but not very fast round an uphill corner not far from the Spanish coast, it had just finished raining and the roads were wet. I suspect there was oil on the road too as the bike just slid away from underneath me and I was left starring at the tarmac :!:

This time it sustained some body/paint work damage and bent the rear brake lever too.

I landed on my right knee and hand tore my riding suit slightly and scuffed the plam of my gloves and toes of my boots.

I was able to continue the tour I was on without further incident :!:

We covered 3000miles in ten days, over 900 in the last two days, just what the Tiger was made for :)

The fuel consumption amazed the BMW riders in the group too :shock:



Regards,



Tiger Feet.

[blacktiger]

Its a big bike. Its a really big bike,



It can be a big tippy-feeling sort of bike.



It can be a catch-you-off-guard-and-toss-your-ass-off sort of bike.



But its the only bike that even remotely fits a lot of us.



If you are not six foot plus,  you may not be a Tiger candidate.



 Even then, don't let your guard down!

[Brother Number One]

I'm 6'4" and I still struggle at times; it's the width of the seat, not just the height.  I wouldn't change a thing, mind.



Slipped disc is scary.  I have a policy of NEVER picking a bike up alone.  I once dumped a Trophy 12 after rudely blasting past a car.  When the driver stopped, I made him help me pick the bike up :!: 'Course, it would be very easy to hurt your bike during the 'whoa, it's going' part of a slow drop.  Maybe we should all have a policy of just dropping the bugger when it wants to go?  Bikes heal better than backs. :idea:

[tigerrob1090]

i was  backing my tiger into the garage my back pack hit the shelf and over we go no real damage i slowed it going down but my shoulder was bad next day....ps i,m only 5"8........ :lol:

[acollbpse]

Why not make your first post one of shame and embarrassment?



I bought a used 2001 Tiger two weeks ago after getting sick of spending more time trying to get my previous bike to run right than riding it.



I was coming back from the mechanic (had to reschedule a state inspection appointment) and parked the Tiger in my driveway which is level, flat, paved and otherwise unremarkable.  I remember putting the sidestand down and yanking the bars over to one side for max stability and I always park the bike in gear.



I hopped off to my left and then saw the bike rebound from my dismount and slowly fall away from me.  I reached over to stop it, but as Newton said:  "a full fuel tank in motion, likes to remain in motion" and I gently laid the bike down on the right side.



Fuel tank leaks on the right side too if you have enough in there it seems.  Damage was a bent handlebar weight, slightly scuffed passenger footpeg, and my rear brake lever is bent in slightly.



I tried once or twice to lift the bike up but it was hopeless.  About 8 hours before I dropped the bike I took a mean slapshot to the top of my right shoulder and the puck squished the muscle nice and hard (I'm an ice hockey goalie).  So with a sore shoulder and a herniated L4-L5 disc in my lower back I was going to need help lifting the piddling kitty.



I went to the neighbor's house and yelled up to some contractors doing some siding work:  "hey, can you give me some help, my bike fell over and I can't pick it up."



I then realized that I probably should have said:  "my really big, heavy, bad ass enduro motorcycle fell over" because "bike" sounds like my Huffy SanteFe 10 speed fell over and I sound like a total knob for enlisting the help of others.



The dude with the lurid facial hair came over and in about five seconds the two of us got the bike upright and with relief I found the damage was just minor.



I'm actually strangely calm about dropping the new bike, its sort of pleasant to get it out of the way in such a controlled manner.  If you haven't dropped your Tiger yet I suggest you gather a friend or two and try it in the comfort of your own driveway (one to help lift and one to photograph the Kodak moment so you can cherish it forever).



This begs the question:  which crash bars does the group suggest?  I'm shopping for them in another window as I type this...



(many thanks to the folks posting the squat and lift technique, althought I don't plan on practicing and perfecting this on my bike, maybe my buddy will let me push his 1980 XS850 over several times while I get the hang of it - he still owes me for rebuilding those craptacular hitachi carbs on his bike, why didn't they just JB weld the jets in ... o-rings, what were they thinking?)



ps:  I was waiting to post pictures of the bike until AFTER I dropped it the first time, part one of the plan seems to be complete...

[Brother Number One]

I can pick mine up, easily, as long as I have the Iron Maiden lighting crew to hand, to help :D

[iansoady]

Fuel tank leaks on the right side too if you have enough in there it seems.  Damage was a bent handlebar weight, slightly scuffed passenger footpeg, and my rear brake lever is bent in slightly.

...

It's worth taking the pivot pin out and checking it as you'll probably find this is bent as well. This can hold the back brake on slightly causing overheating.