Tallulah's Diary

[Lee337]

As some of you may know, I name all of my vehicles, starting with my first car, a 1.6 Ford Capri, registered MGP 686P. I named her Midge.

So, meet Tallulah (Tiger) Lily.

She%u2019s a 2006 Tiger 955i, first registered in June 2006. I bought her in July 2018, sight unseen from eBay. In fact, I was in the Canaries when it first came up for sale and put a cheeky bid on her while still on holiday. I was the only bidder so got her for what I consider was a good price. She has a modest 63,600 miles on the clock.

The story I got from the previous owner was that he used her for touring, mostly in Europe but had replaced her with a Tiger 1050. He said the first owner was the BBC who used her for filming cycle races. I don%u2019t know how true that is as there was no paperwork or history other than an engine change in 2009 for an engine with 2000 miles less than the clock suggests. I'm told the head gasket went on the original and once the gasket was replaced, there was no compression, so he swapped the engine out. The original came with her but I've since passed it on. So if the mileage on the replaced engine is true, she%u2019s actually only done 61,600 miles.

Lots has been spent on her in my ownership on repairs and maintenance, mostly small jobs like bearings, chain & sprocket, tyres and general servicing. She%u2019s only let me down once and to be fair, that was because I dropped the alarm remote and the battery fell out. Not sure where it went and after 15 minutes searching, I phoned up the Mrs to bring the spare alarm dongle out to me. I was only 3 miles from home, so didn%u2019t have to wait long before I was on my way. Every other issue I've had, I've spotterd when doing the usual maintenance checks, so she's never left me stranded by mechanical or electrical breakdown. Having said that, there was an electrical issue just after Xmas, but I was able to ride home and fix it in the relative warmth of the Man Cave.

Over the past 12 months, I haven%u2019t had much chance to get out on her aside from some volunteer runs for Volunteer Riders UK (VRUK) who deliver PPE made by volunteers to where it%u2019s needed. During this exceptional 12 months, where we%u2019ve been in lockdown longer than free to roam, I%u2019ve still managed 2,530 miles.

I was going to take her out for another 130 mile run last week but sadly I noticed the rear wheel bearing had gone. I replaced them all yesterday so Tallulah is now ready and waiting in the Man Cave for action.

I'll add to Tallulah's diary as things happen, whether good or bad, maintenance or repair, riding or sitting in the Man Cave with a coffee, staring at a pile of broken parts, just to see what it's like living with a 14 year old Tiger.

Has she lost her claws? - have I lost my marbles?

Probably yes to at least one of those questions.

[ghulst]

Beautiful bike.
Interesting claim that she was used by the BBC in the past. If so, you should be able to trace her pedigree based on old cycling photographs. The bikes are always around the packs of riders and seldom escape either being filmed or photographed. It would be cool to see her there.


===


Late addition. I looked at the highlights out of the prologue and the 3rd stage of the Tour of Britain 2007. I did not see a girly in that footage. Might have been that those were its two days off, but wouldn't count on it. Perhaps Triumph can help you uncover who was the first owner? Or even writing in to the BBC.

[Lee337]

I did ask Triumph who said there were only two registered owners on their database for my vin, not including me.

The guy I bought it from said he was told the story from who he bought it from, so it was probably the first owner telling stories.

I did take a look at a couple of UK bikeraces on YouTube from 2006/7 when I bought her but couldn't verify the claim. It just adds to the mystery of her past though.

[ghulst]

But due to privacy rules Triumph couldn't tell you?

[Lee337]

Couldn't tell me who but the reason it came up was because I was telling the bloke behind the parts desk the story just after I got her. He registered me on their database &at the same time same there was no reference to the BBC..

I suspect I'll never know for sure, but it's a nice story.

[Sin_Tiger]

It could have been registered to a sub contractor to the BEEb which would make it a bit trickier, got any contacts in the biking community that might be able to point you in the right direction?

I do remember seeing a Girly camera bike during sports news coverage of a UK event when it came in shot from another camera and me commenting to the wife at the time, can't remember what the event was or when which is no help 

[Tiger-G]

her "lady garden" needs a trim 

[London_Phil]

I do remember seeing an episode of a program where a silver Girly with full luggage is "ridden" from somewhere in the UK to possibly Scotland.
Buggered if I can remember what program, I watched a lot of telly.......

[Lee337]

Wandered in to the garage this morning as there was a slight possibility I may need Tallulah tomorrow (transporting PPE for Volunteer Riders UK), just to give her the once over.

Bearing in mind I haven't tried to start her for almost two weeks, she started first time. Ok, the engine was a little slow to turn over but she started. I ran her up to temperature while I dug my old solar battery charger out, switched toe engine off & checked the battery charge, 12.37V.

I usualy have her on the battery optimiser, but last weekend, the electrics in the garage blew & I've yet to find the fault.

As soon as I'd connected up the solar charger, I got a message that the run tomorrow was cancelled, so the charger is now sitting on the car (whose battery was so low, I couldn't even unlock it without using the key (2.5v). well, it had been sitting outside unused for over 2 months, I guess, a little like Girlies, the alarm was bleeding the battery dry.

[London_Phil]

Got a call from the daughter today, to say her car wouldn't start... Got in my people carrier with the intention of popping over, and it wouldn't start either. Neither had been sitting that long, but the cold and wet has  not helped. Bought an Audew 2000a battery pack thing last year, and its been bloody amazing. Now have two dead cars on the drive, attached by extension leads, with auto chargers attached to each. Always something...

[Lee337]

Late December last year, Mrs L's car wouldn't start, been sitting on the drive, unused for almost a month. Had to take the battery out to charge it. That day, we had to walk a 3 mile round trip to the supermarket to get something for dinner, which apparently was my fault - I didn't have any jump leads.

What do I get for Xmas, a Noco boost GB40. which I was quite pleased about. to be fair, I was expecting jump leads, which probably wouldn't have worked anyway, as my car had been standing since the begining of November (actually, that's 3 months, no wonder the battery was flat).

The Noco was what started my car today, started a 3.2l petrol car with ease.

[Bixxer Bob]

My 2.2 diesel Honda CRV was sounding a bit tired with the onset of cold weather so bought a new Yuesa with 4 yr guarrantee.  Sorted.  Even on the coldest mornings it's a lot more perky that of late.

I've never understood wringing the last out of batteries when they're about the same price as a tank of fuel.  Car or bike, a weak battery can cause so many problems - some of them expensive - that it's just not worth it.

[ghulst]

When I find my Mini under here, I'm sure it'll start just fine.


On the other hand, the '18 Citroen Jumpy van has not missed a beat. Ever. It's been a joy to own so far. The Mini did request a new battery last year when I got it. Then, as COVID started, I left it sitting in the street for a month and a half, draining the battery completely. That annoyed me for a bit. Then I decided to just fit another new (and much bigger) one in November to solve the starting problems. It is much better now. Drove fine last week, so I am full of confidence.

[Lee337]

Tallulah sees the light of day for the first time this year. I volunteered for a run  (part of a relay) delivering visors to a school in the south of England somewhere & I got the job of moving the PPE across my patch. I was told there were three good sized parcels, so loaded up Tallulah with panniers, top box and, just to be on the safe side, tank bag in case I had to split one of the parcels. Only had to do this once but you never know. besides, I had some lunch and a flask of coffee in the tank bag.

Off I went, filling up with Premium on the way & she performed faultlessly. I'd forgotten how good the old 955i can be. A few twisties on the way to the pick up point & it didn't take me long to get back in to the swing of things.

Much of the 120 mile run was done on the A1 so not so twisty but she still purred along at a steady 70mph (honest!). A good run, despite the temperature being around 5c. Glad I fitted my R&G heated grips when the original ones failed a few years ago.

Did I need to take panniers, topbox & Tank bag? No not really, all three packages could have fitted in the top box with room to spare.

[ghulst]

Adventure!

Well, at least one of us got out on the bike today. And for a good cause!