Who made Um

[jeffcrigler]

Trying to figure out who mad these Panniers ... any help would be appreciated .... thx in advance

[Bixxer Bob]

The local blacksmith???

[jeffcrigler]

No, they just look as bad as the rest of my bike used to .... they are actually very well made with really nice rubber gaskets all around, and easy to uninstall off the brackets.... just need to have new keys made ... so I need to know where to get the blanks so my local Locksmith can make them.

[Bixxer Bob]

Sorry Jeff, just teasing!

[jeffcrigler]

No problems here .... I totally agree .... Just can't open the second one to see if I'm going to refinish them.... but since your here!
     This is my first tiger, and so far I love the way it handles, but the cruising RPMs at 70mph are a little high for my taste. I'm going to do mostly black-top riding with a some dirt road, but not a whole lot of trail riding for now... The other problem is my new young wife's butt magically appears on the back of the bike as soon as I put the key in the ignition ( not complaining at all ). What sprocket size do you recommend on the front, can I go as much as two teeth up? I would love to drop about 1500 RPMs if the bike can still pull two riders.. The only thing I could find on the thread was a guy who said there was a huge difference in the 955 and my bike (885) in power, but for him it was no problem.

[coachgeo]

looking at the hardware on them.......... I would say those are classic old school panniers.  Like....... old ....... like Abe Lincoln's granddad made them old. 

Think  your locksmith is just going to have to wing it.  Maybe new locks?

[Bixxer Bob]

+1 on the lock replacement.  I do a bit of locksmithing myself and know there's a lock out there for just about anything. If your guy is worth his salt he'll find you something. As for it being locked, if he can't pick it (assuming its not seized) he shouldn't be calling himself a l'smith.  If all else fails you could put a drill through the levers then just turn the bolt with a screwdriver.

Regarding sprockets, Chris Canning used to run a bigger front on his 885; you could either search for his remarks or drop him a PM. Tell him I said hello 

[Dutch]

...the cruising RPMs at 70mph are a little high for my taste.

For a long lasting engine it's not important what you like but what the engine likes 
I don't know what bikes you are used to, imho the Tiger isn't revving that high at all. Imho a bike (maybe with the exception of H-D and those kind of cruisers) should be kept at at least 3000 rpm.

[Bixxer Bob]

You're never going to get it down to 1500 rpm anyway. My 'Bird does 4k rpm at the same motorway speed as 5k rpm on the Tiger.  One day I'll get round to replacing the front sprocket and get it down to about 4k too.  There's a step in the power output between 4.5 and 5.5k, up from 75 to 85 bhp. Dropping below 4k will likely as not drop you too far out of the power band. In fact, it's torque that matters more but sadly I don't have a torque chart to work out what's really going on lower down.

[jeffcrigler]

He was able to pick it .. But wanted me to find blanks to make new keys.. But after hearing you guys ( see I am a yank ) I think I'll just drill them and replace them...
On the RPM thing I want to drop it to about 3500 at 70 mph .. If y'all ( yank again ) think that will work ...

Oh and thanks for the replies

[cosmo]

4,000 rpm/70 mph is very doable. 3,500 rpm is not. I did a 19 tooth front and 43 rear for that.

Cosmo

[jeffcrigler]

Thx ... info appreciated