The long road of taming my Tiger

[P3aK]

Hi all!

Male, Stockholm, Sweden, 33, sporting a rasta-fari look 

Sooo... I've been lurking around on this forum for a good 2yrs now. I never properly introduced my self and just snuck in some questions here and there. Mostly I don't feel the need to make any posts because the answers are already here, somewhere, if one searches hard and long enough.

Guess I've come to the point now where I'm starting to get my stuffs together and figured I'd share what I've been up to during these 2yrs.


So here's my long road of getting to know, taming and making the Tiger my own bike.

2009 - MC license
2013 - Yeah my life took some other turns so didn't drive a single bike after the license until this point, in Rhodes, Greece. A TransAlp 700 (or was it 750?). Motorcycles was back on my radar again.
2014 - Bought a -96 TransAlp XLV 600. Loved it... for a few months. It has too low power, too low speed, only one front brake disc (pre -97), a tad too small tank, shitty looking front side, only one headlight (two is twice as cool!). With panniers, tent and sleeping gear on top, topbox, tankbox and the girlfriend riding pillion... well, lets just say there ain't much power left over in the poor thing. I clearly needed to upgrade!

2014 again - It was difficult to find a replacement for the TA. I liked the type of bike, it just wasn't up my requirements. I looked at the GS, yes I loved it. Yes, I wanted one. NOOO I couldn't afford one! There were other newer bikes, but it had to be a carburetor so I could "fix it" on the road. And lo and behold... there was the Tiger!

I actually found this forum and read through most of the threads before I even bought one. So I was prepared...I thought. Started looking for sales and eventually there was one. A -98 (strengthened rear frame, upgraded sprag clutch, Kehin carbs, yes please!), Black, 54000km, price... 15.000SEK = £1243 = $1804. I took the train next day 500km and bought it after 15minutes and rode it back. Boy did it have power alright! I let it stretch its legs after about an hour and reached 200km/h before I backed off. Holy  !! 


Spent the night at my parents (where I have the winter garage) and planned to drive the remaining 250km to where I live next morning. Hahahah, no way! *Klack*, *Klack*, *Klack*, *Klack*! I knew what it was already. I didn't want to believe it and I did everything to ignore it. But at the end of that day it wasn't possible to be in denial anymore. It had a busted sprag clutch. Really!? on a -98?


Yepp, they can all go to sh*ts, or... perhaps it already was, and the PO had a secret way of starting it in one *klack* and I just didn't notice when I bought it? Denial turned to sadness, turned to anger, turned to action. So how much would the Triumph dealer want to fix it? Hahahaha, 14.000SEK = £1160 = $1684... uhhm, yeah right! Like I'm gonna pay as much as I paid for the bike once more.


So it was strip the bike, out with the engine, break it open and do it my self. Now I have made acquaintances with some mopeds during my teenage years. And I had changed the oil filter and some bits here and there on the TransAlp. But this was WAAAY out of my league. But I refused to give in to this POS and relied on my dad who is mechanically inclined.
So I had to finally sign up to this forum and this was my very first post: http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,14104.msg105884.html#msg105884


I managed to change the sprag and put it all together. It started up fine and after a minute or two there was engine oil gushing out of the sprocket cover.    Ok, so I f*cked up somewhere apparently. Engine out, break it open again. No obvious mistakes, so it had to be the midsection seal (you know, the one that doesn't have a gasket). Changed to another brand and put it all together and fired up once again. 5 minutes this time... then engine oil up to the knees. Gaaahh!!!    Story short, I took me 5 tries and a very expensive copper sealant to get that piece of  oil proof.


If anyone opens up the engine, my piece of advice: Buy new gaskets for everywhere you will be fiddling around. It'll cost time and more money going back if it doesn't work the first time. And buy the best and most expensive superduper sealant you can find for the midsection. Stuffs that are supposed to "work", simply doesn't. Go heavily overboard and get the best you can get for money.


Mind you, this took me the better part of 6 months to get sorted. I live 250km away from my garage and only had some weekends here and there to work with and we do have a real winter in Sweden. It gets cold and a garage that's barely windproof (let alone cold proof) is not a fun place to do complex mechanical work in. There was other mods, improvements, trials and errors during the same time period.


I realized I had a very morning sleepy tiger. I didn't like being woken up at all. I would blast a full battery charge sometimes to get it awake. So naturally I tried upsizeing the pilot jet (I had done this to the TA and it just loved the mornings after that). And while I was in there I might as well go with Mustangs advice with 105 mains and some needle shimming of course. Turned out to be a bad idea. I don't know how, but the inches and mm's got mixed up and I went with 1mm needle shims. The bike wouldn't rev past 6k and I couldn't understand what the problem was for a long time. Apparently the reality should be closer to 0.5mm, which I'll have to try eventually when I get most of the other stuffs sorted.


Anyway, the needle shims came out eventually and boy there was power to be had once again. I also looked under every stone for some pannier racks (we all know how difficult they can be to find). I finally gave up and ordered new Hepco Beckers from Belgium. It seriously hurt my wallet, but I needed to have something. They were the only ones to be found. I'm still not a fan of them (they're too wide and too low), but it's what I have.



I wanted aluminum panniers, 3 of them, top and sides. Tssk, again it cost more or as much as I paid for the bike. No way, José! I will build my own! Said and done. I built two for the sides at 45x45x20cm = 40.5 liters of space. I tried to make them waterproof (we might see tomorrow, if I have time I will sink them in the bathtub).





I recently found some key-lockable excenter latch locks in stainless steel that I will put on them tomorrow.



I also have some other locks I want to use to have them locked to the actual pannier racks. Good for those adventure trips when you just can't take the panniers with you.



With my attachment solution I also need those locks to keep the panniers from falling off in high speeds (I've run with bungee cord up until now, which works, but I has to be sorted).



Also found some stainless steel u-brackets I can use to tie down tent and sleeping gear on top that I will fit tomorrow.



I have some material for the topbox, but not all of it and not enough time. Perhaps later in the summer.





Didn't like the Mickey Mouse ears that were standard and I had bought some Acerbis hand guards for the TA that I shifted over to the Tiger. As with everything they didn't fit, but I forced them eventually. It's not ideal, but good enough for the time being.

I had started to modify the TransAlp with an offroad style front fender, this was also switched over to the Tiger and a new mount was hacked up. It turned out pretty good (better than on the TA actually) so I'm rather happy with that.





As with most of these Tigers mine looked lazy when it was resting on it's side stand and I couldn't have that. A blow torch and some big tools to straighten it out. I looks and leans much better now, although I will have to add a slightly larger foot/bottom plate for those wet mud, sandy parking places at some point.



The dashboard lights were a sorry sight, especially on sunny days and with the downtime I had I upgraded it all to LEDs (yes I copy good ideas from other people). Also threw in a double USB-connection for good measure.






Perhaps some of you recognize this thread I made about strange sparks between my legs?: http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,14788.msg112526.html#msg112526

I could never find what this problem was and it was so very intermittent that it was difficult to diagnose. And again, my garage is 250km away, I had to live with it for the time being. But I did get a new set of Iridium spark plugs which out to have been a good investment... I hope.

Anyway, last year when I rode the bike for winter storage it was a wonderful day. Sunny shiny, -1C, late autumn/early winter day. The Tiger and I stretched our legs and it rode better than ever. The odd occasional spark, but no power drop, all was good.  I got 245km out of 250 and then ran out of gas... ok, so reserve then. Will last me more than 5km for sure. Nope, it just died. Huh?

I spent 5 minutes to let it cool and started it up again, got 1m before it died again. W T F ?! Story short, after many tries and doing some maintenance on the roadside it was a no go. I had to get a trailer and haul it home. I spent the winter trying to mend the bike. I cleaned out the carbs, even made them take an industrial steam bath (don't have free access to ultrasound cleaning, but it has kind of the same results). I was suspicious of the coils and/or the HT leads so I took the plunge and invested in TT600 Denso Stick coils. Awww, man it's great with these things. It removes a lot of clutter and they seem just so much more solid. Unfortunately it took me a long while to source the correct connections so that is on my To-Do list for tomorrow. Just have to go get the tool to squeeze them on the cables back from whoever borrowed it.  Yes, the cables will be all black and they will have heat shrink on them when it's finished.




Oh, I almost forgot. When Nick Calne decided to clean out his loft I was the lucky buyer of his new unused Motad Venom 3-1 stainless steel exhaust system. I had yearned for this since I first found out there was one. I'm a rather skinny guy and with this top heavy bike, with all the extra weight of panniers, topbox, pillion girlfriend, etc that I put on it, it's just essential to get some kind of weight savings. I was also, rather laughably, hoping this would help make it easier to start or fix whatever problem I had.



Unfortunately it didn't help to start my bike. So, petrol, spark, air and exhaust was sorted. Still no go. That, with the ever more increasing difficulty to wake the tiger up in the mornings I had experienced, could only lead to one thing. Valves! Opened it up and yes sir, very bad sir, very bad indeed. I had one oversized EX valve and two low out of spec IN valves. But worst of all... I had 4 stuck IN valves! I promptly found out the sizes and ordered new ones. Took 3 weeks to get the darned shims and when I put the new ones in.... well 5 of them were still out of spec. 

I wouldn't wait another 3 weeks, so with my dads help we machines the shims to correct sizes and finally got it all sorted today. Goooooood morning Tiger!!! It hasn't started for 6-7 months, now it just roared to life. Clean carbs, clean filters, clean petrol, new coil sticks, good valve clearances, new engine oil, Iridium plugs and larger pilots. Finally!

As I've brutally abused the (absolute P O S) gel-battery that was in the bike when I bought it, for a long time, I knew I had to make mends and get a new one. I had a good read and research about the new Lithium batteries that are finding their ways into the market. But the only one I wanted (Antigravity) cost 4300SEK = £356 = $517 including shipping and I just cant justify it... at the moment. I finally found a supplier of Motobatt AGM batteries two days ago, out of stock of course. But the guy got it home in record time and it's now on the work bench waiting to be dropped into the heart of my tiger. I feel like I'm almost spoiling my pet 

Oh and some A-hole nicked my mirrors last autumn, so I had to get a new set. I got what I could find and they look ok, but the angle and height are rubbish. So I'm in the process or making up my own extensions for them. Well see if this turns out alright or if I have to bite the bullet and get OEM ones in the end.






Recently I was the lucky ebay winner of a Corbin seat for the Tiger. I received it today and got to try it out since the Tiger decided to wake up from hibernation. First impressions: This will NOT work. The recesses for the butt is waaay to far back. I need another 10cm of arms to reach the handlebar. I usually sit against or close to the tank. With this it's a good 15cm of seat between me and the tank. And it's A LOT wider, I could get one flat + the toes with stock seat. Now it's barely toes on both sides (I'm 180cm, so average height). I also seem to slide on the seat cover with my mc pants. When I yank the throttle hard I'm holding on for dear life to not fall off the bike. It's right out dangerous!
I'm very frustrated and hope to talk to someone tomorrow about rebuilding it... I wonder how broke I will be after that discussion?



Since I've had so much time to "bond" with my Tiger I have come to the same conclusion as others. The airbox sux and I hate to drain the oil to change front sprocket and/or the chain. So I did the airbox mod: http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,14638.msg112524.html#msg112524

And I recently sourced a spare sprocket cover and now in the process of doing the sprocketcover-ectomy with short dipstick: http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,13802.msg102819.html#msg102819
http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,5024.msg31574.html#msg31574




So what's left (besides what I'm already doing)?
LED brake light with clear lens, Powerbronze taller windscreen, Girly Touratech chain guard, new helmet for me and some intercom system so me and the girlfriend can talk when riding long distances. Will also get some other shoes for the Tiger. Thinking Heidenau K60 Scout since I liked them very much on the old TransAlp, but I'm still not decided.


Well that's my two years of struggle with this beast, and I guess the length of this post shows just how frustrating it has been. I'm hoping I finally get to ride it now and finish most of these mods and upgrades.

A big thank you to each and everyone in here. You have no idea how much information I have used from this forum. I would have poured petrol on the bike and lit it up long ago if it wasn't for this place. 

So cheers! And thank you for letting me be part of this forum.

[Timbox2]

My God, well I got near to torching my laptop reading that, never mind the bike   . Only kidding, I applaud you for your tenacity and If anyone deserves a break and a good while just riding the bike its you. And I thought Swedes didnt have a sense of humour. 

[nickjtc]

My God, well I got near to torching my laptop reading that, never mind the bike   . Only kidding, I applaud you for your tenacity and If anyone deserves a break and a good while just riding the bike its you. And I thought Swedes didnt have a sense of humour. 

What he said! Good for you.

[ssevy]

You sound like my idea of the ideal Steamer owner - cheap and self-sufficient! Good for you!
If you ever get bored with the Tiger, you would also be a perfect fit for an MG or a Fiat☺️

[nickjtc]

If you ever get bored with the Tiger, you would also be a perfect fit for an MG or a Fiat☺️

 

[Sin_Tiger]

Well done that man. Thanks for taking the time to tell us the tale and I'm sure helping others along the way.

Just post the address of the previous owner and we'll go round and have a chat next time we're in the area 

[T3mike]

Well done that man. Thanks for taking the time to tell us the tale and I'm sure helping others along the way.

Just post the address of the previous owner and we'll go round and have a chat next time we're in the area 

Wow... that is some story. I am with Sin about the previous owner.

[P3aK]

Thanks guys! I've done most of my To-Do list yesterday and today. But I've run into a new funny problem. The jetting is way off.

I'm running 105 mains and 40 pilots. It starts really easy now that I've fixed the valves. But it runs like shit.

Started with 1 3/4 on the mixture screws. I couldn't get past 6k rpm on 3rd-6th gear. And the sound is a lot of fluttering. No pull at 5-6k as I would expect.

Went to 1 1/2 turns, no real improvement.

1 turn, sounds slightly better. But doesn't run any different. Until I got angry and pushed it up to 8-8.5k rpms. HERE I have that sudden surge of power that I expect at around 5-6k.

So I took it down to 1/2 turns, sounds much better and the surge comes on earlier, but not early enough. But on 5th and 6th gear I can't rev past 6k, it's like there's no power left.

I'm gonna close it completely and see what it gives. But can fixing the valves really make this much of a change? I would need to downsize my mains it seems. I tried opening the lid on the right air snorkel. With 1 1/2 turns on mixture screw. But I couldn't rev past 6k anyway. I would have thought that giving it more air would make it better if it's so fat.

I will try some 104/103 mains, but I need to drive the bike 250km first. Are there any I'll effects of having the mixture closed completely,even if it runs decent/fine?

[P3aK]

Closed the mixture screw completely.

Got the pull between 3-6k then it tappers off. Gets stuck at 7k and doesn't want to rev more on any gear.

But now that I re-read the carburetor 101, this should have no impact (well not much) beyond 1/4 throttle. So I'm not really doing much to the mid-/top-range according to the theory.

Grr! Hate when theory and the world doesn't align = most of the time.

So let's put out a new question then. A seized valve (zero clerance)  let's in less or more air/fuel?

Meaning when I shimmed it correctly (have clearance) the engine receives more or less air/fuel mixture?

[Bixxer Bob]

Not a lot of help probably but I'll throw in some basics:

0 - 1/4 throttle = pilot jet

1/4 - 3/4 throttle = needle

3/4 - full throttle = main jet

[GavD]

If it's any help, I've got a '98 with keihins and Motad Venoms.

I run 105 mains, 40 pilots, pilot mixture screw is 2 turns out and I've got one snorkel capped. It's also got a small brass washer lifting the jet needle slightly in each carb.

It runs very well like this, it's a little fluffy when cold at small throttle openings, but after 5 miles or so it's warmed up and that disappears. I keep meaning to get in there and adjust the mixture screw out to 2 1/4, but I've not got round to it.

It sounds like you're going the wrong way with the mixture screw.

[Mustang]

when you did the valve clearances , did you take the cams out ?
sounds more like cam timing is out to me, like you got it off by 1 tooth .
It's easy to do (be off 1 tooth)

[Sparky]

Check the carb slides for smoothness of operation I had one that was sticking and would not go past half way up which caused similar running problems post 25 below.

http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,14469.15.html

Good job sorting through the problems I had similar initiation problems although not as bad as yours.

[P3aK]

@GavD

That is my start setup exactly then (with 1/4 turn less) . It sounded to me it had way too much fuel at 1 3/4 turns and it ran like crap. The lower turns I went, the better it both sounded and ran.


@Mustang

Both yes and no. I did take away the cam shaft brackets (I recorded their positions and never mixed them up). But I never took off the cam chain. If you first rotate the cam shaft so it has no impact on no.3 it's enough to actually lift the camshaft slightly in the no.1 end and get a small screwdriver and a magnet in there to pick them up. Reverse process for putting new ones in. So the chain never left the cogs of the cam chain sprockets, thus never jumped a tooth.


@Sparky

Hmm, that is a possibility. But I did push them up the last time I put the carbs back (8-9h ago) and they did seem to slide just the same all of them. But I was merely taking a look at the butterfly valves from the other side. I wasn't paying specific attention to the slides.

[threepot]

Did you check cam arrows for alignment on tdc? That would give you an indication of the state of your chain? As said,timing could be out?if your chain has stretched excessively,that could effect it? What about your chain adjuster?