Tallulah's Diary

[Lee337]

The Anakee Adventure was another consideration, and a comparable price to the Road 5.

I had a look around on a couple of fb forums & they didn't seem to rate them on the 955i.

[Lee337]

Had the Road 5 Trails fitted this afternoon, took longer to clean everything than my tame mechanic took to fit the tyres to the wheels & balance them.

Even though I washed Tallulah last week, I've been out on her since & while the wheel was off, took the opportunity to clean the swing arm, rear shock and the sprocket carrier.

Oddly, refitting the wheels was a doddle, the easiest & quickest I've ever done it on the Tiger, even having to dodge around the cat who decided to sit on a floor cushion I was using. Usually refitting the rear wheel is a PITA

Not ridden her with the Road 5's yet as I re-taxed Tabitha & took her out for a wee spin earlier, so I'll taker her out later (when it stops raining) and report back.

Quite by coincidence, I received a newsletter from Michelin a couple of days ago offering £30 cashback if I buy a pair of motorcycle tyres. Followed the link & sent copies of the invoice and got another email from them today confirming £30 will be in my bank by the end of the week.

[ghulst]

Now that is a very nice bonus! :)

Looking forward to hearing how you like the Road 5 Trails.

[Lee337]

True to their word, Michelin deposited £30 in my account this morning.

As for the tyres, well here's another tale to tell.

Having refitted the wheels to Tallulah on Wednesday, I left it until Friday to take her out. As I wheeled her out of the garage, something didn't feel right, there was this weird clonking sound comming form the front of the bike. As I usually wheel the bikes in to the garage forward, it stands to reason, I wheel them out backwards, then turn the bars full right lock so I can turn around and ride off the drive forwards. (Bikes aren't usually geared to go backwards, except for that one time I bump started a mates Kawasaki KE100 many years ago, but that's another story).

Thing is, as I turned the bars on full lock to the right, the clonking sound stopped, but as I straightened the bars, it came back again. Something very odd was happening. OUt with the bottle jack and with Tallulah on her centre stand, I lift the front wheel off the ground - and there it was, the brake pads were catching on the discs, like they had developed a really bad warp.

How could that be, I took the wheel off, took it to my tame mechanic, watched him change the tyre & balance the wheel, brought them back home & immediately re-fitted wheels to bike. So, off come the callipers and with a specially designed tool, namely a long screwdriver, held against the fork leg, the discs seemed fine. Head scratching time...

Maybe I'd forgotten to torque up the axle, so out with the torque wrench, but no, it was as tight as it should have been. I decided I was going to do the requivalent of switching it off and turning it back on again, namely take the wheel out & put it back in. it was while doing this and with the workshop manual open I realised the axle was put in the wrong way around, with the wheel nut the opposite side to the speedo drive.

All back together again and problem solved. I wouldn't have guessed that putting the axle in the wrong way around would have made a difference, but apparentlyit does, unless I got something else in the wrong way, but I'm sure the spacers only fit one way.

Road 5 Trail review

Now lets get down to the new tyres. The weather was fairly good although cold (well, around 8^oC), a little breezy which helped to dry the roads and the test route I chose included some fast sweeping roads as well as a little town riding. Rirst impression was somewhat shakey when I got to the bend at the top of the road, they just seemed to 'fall' into the bend. A short while later I realised that the tyres I'd just replaced were a little squared off, so I'd been compensating for their squareness for a while. I just wasn't used to new tyres on this bike.

Time to take her out on a few of the twisty roads Lincolnshire is blessed with. They hold the road well & something I didn't realise I was missing with the Tourance was how road biased tyres track bends. there was no mid-corner adjustment, no movement through the bars, literally, just turn & let the bike follow the course you set for it. There was plenty of feedback through the bars, thanks to the odd mud patch and badly placed drain covers, but nothing of concern. I felt the rear slip and almost immediately grip again. Even though I was taking it fairly easy on the brakes, I didn't feel there was anything to be concerned with grip wise and probably could have pushed a little harder, but I was conscious these were new tyres with less than 5 miles on them.

I was reminded at first of when I first rode Tallulah, being top heavy I felt like she was continually trying to pull me over. The Road 5's had that same feeling when I got to that first bend and reminded me how top heavy these bikes are, but thst's more a reflection on the bike rather than the tyres and I soon adjusted my riding so that in a very short time I was not exactly riding like I stole it, but certainly riding it like I knew what I was doing.

I did find that there was a little road noise at low speed, around 35 - 40mph, more so than the (worn) Tourance at the same speed which surprised me but feel a far more stable tyre. As I'm not intending to go 'off road' I think the switch to fully road biased tyres and more specifically the Road 5 Trails was a good move. While I'm not yet throwing Tallulah around as much as I was with the Tourance, I was conscious that they were new tyres and even though Michelin say the release compound they use doesn't affect performance when first fittted, I think I'd rather build up my own confidence in them first.

As an aside, I took Tabitha out on the same route before trying Tallulah's new boots, the first ride for Tabitha this year. She's fitted with Pirelli Angels (ST front & GT rear) and while there's a shed load of difference between a '93 Trophy 1200 and a '06 Tiger 955i, I didn't feel any less safe on the Tiger's new tyres than I did on the Trophy and probably pushed each bike equally hard given the road conditions.

I think I might like these Road 5's

[Lee337]

Time to report back on the new rubber. Bought three, felt the same as the last pack, so on to the tyres 

I've now done a couple of hundred miles on all different types of road, today was a short run of around 85 miles taking in the Cambridgeshire Fens, straight for miles, then a couple of 90^o bends, in quick succession. Mostly with a surface ful of broken tarmac & more dips than a rollercoaster. Made more interesting as there were strong sidewinds today trying to push me in to the many dikes that run alongside said roads.

A short run through the twisties west of Huntingdon, while taking in the picture postcard villages.

A run up the A1M towards Peterborough and back on to the more familiar twisties of South Lincolnshire.

I have to say I'm impressed with these Road 5 Trails. Plenty of grip, even during one particularly hard braking as a tractor pulled out. To say I have no 'chicken strips' would be an exaggeration, but I've certainly been leaning Tallulah over more on thesetyres than I did the Tourance. Not really surprising as these are road biased tyres, unlike the Tourance which are 80/20 split.

As I'm planning a couple of road trips this year, I can safely say I picked the right tyre.

Think I'll nip to the shops... 

[Sin_Tiger]

 

[Lee337]

Time is fast approaching for my charity ride & two day tour of North Wales & I want to service Tallulah before I go. I've had her for a few years now & while the mileage I've done is nowhwere near some on here, she's done a little over 8200 miles since I bought her in July 2018.

I replaced both air filter & spark plugs when I first serviced her and while they probably don't need replacing, I seem to remember Triumph reccomend every 4 years for plugs and 12000 miles for air filter.

Whether I change them this time or next year, I've not decided, but she's done 66500 miles and is an old Girly now, so I just might change them when I do the oil & filter change at the befining of May.

I've also noticed that the rear brake feels a little spongy, which I was going to sort out today, Until Tabitha got in the way, so this needs looking at as well. I recently replaced the rear brake pads & rebuilt the rear caliper with new pistons & seals just over 1000 miles ago (October last year) so i suspect they just need bleeding.

[ghulst]

Besides bleeding, I would consider replacing the brake fluid. If the brakes start feeling soggy, it might be moisture in the fluids and you can never bleed that out.

[Sin_Tiger]

I'd recommend stripping, cleaning and rebuilding the rear master cylinder as well, they get forgotten about too often.

[Lee337]

You all know the phrase 'It won't happen to me', well it did

Decided to use this rainy day to service Tallulah ready for her charity ride in June to Welsh Wales and back. Also decided after 3+ yearrs ownership it was time to replace the plugs & air filter too. These were done when I bought Tallulah so I figured it was time.

Bought all the bits I needed over the past few weeks & had them all lined up on the bench ready for today. Start her up to warm the oil & put her on the bike bench & this is where I hit my first snag. As I had to wheel her outside to turn her nose first in to the garage, the tyres got a little wet. Couldn't get her up the metal ramp on to the bench as the rear wheel was spinning (not butch enough to push her onto the bench). No problem, dired the bench where I'd wheeled the front tyre on to it & got an old toewl to dry the rear wheel off. While doing this, the engine cut out.

The lights were on, but the start button did nothing. Switched her off & back on and no dash lights either. Not sure what it was, but in the back of my head was the notion that it was the alarm.

Now, when I bought her, she was fitted with a Meta 357T v2 alarm, which I knew had a limited internal battery lifespan of around 10 years. Always meant to do something about it but didn't get around to it. But, I pressed the alarm button and it armed the alarm with the customary one beep and the indicators flashing -  pressed it again and it sounded 4 short beeps but no indicators. So off to the PC to look up what 4 beeps mean. it iether means that the bike battery low or the alarm battery is low. Now, I know the bike battery is ok as she started (quick check with multimeter confirmed this) and as she was running then cut out, the alarm was suspect.

While the oil was draining, I decided to remove the alarm & make up a couple of jumpers. This done and the oil & filter change done, key in the ignition, thumb the start button & off she goes.

I always knew the alarm would play up one day, I'm just glad it was in the garage at home & not in a months time when I'm in the wilds of Wales.

Now to change the plugs & air filter, but not until after lunch.

[London_Phil]

My Meta failed on my Steamer at a day out in the Cotswolds at a Triumph meet.
Instead of joining the Rideout, I had to strip the alarm and link out the dual immobilised circuits.
Didn't bother to replace it, and didn't bother fitting one to the 800.

Had loads of problems with battery issues on my Nissan import, and ended up removing the oem Nissan alarm, and what I later found to be 2 separate Cat 2 immobilisers.
Surprisingly, the parasitic drain was reduced by about 90% after that.
Once I realised it made no difference to the insurance, I didn't bother fitting alarms or immobilisers on any vehicle since.
Might consider an immobiliser if I had a newer car with one of those keyless entry/start though.

[Lee337]

So, all appears to be good in the garage. Air filter & plugs changed, everything back together again, pull the fuse for the lights & connect up TuneECU & the first thing I noted was the battery voltage was showing 12.3v while the engine was running.

After 30 minutes, I traced it to the charging mod I'd done a couple of months ago. It appears that while putting the battery box back in, I tugged at the wiring a little too much and pulled one of the connectors off. To get around this, I took the mod out completely & Tallulah now has the REG/REC connected to the original plug in the wiring loom. Result? bwtween 13.2 - 13.7v depending on RPM. Not as good as it was, but at least I know it's not the Reg/Rec or stator at fault.

Next up was the EML shining brightly on the dash. A quick look at TuneECU showed 3 error codes, two related to the fuel gauge (as expected after removing the fuel tank) but neither of them usually light up the 'Orange Bulb of Doom'. I deleted the error codes but one kept coming back every time I started the engine. 

More head scratching before I worked out I hadn't reconnected the plug that goes in to the side of the airbox that tells the electronic box of tricks the air temp. Had to lift the tank again so I could get to the plug.

All done now & with 66657 miles on the clock, ready for another year, aside from the usual chain & tyre check.

While getting ready for my charity Wales run, I thought I'd get some wet bags for the panniers. My parents are on holiday in North Wales the same time as I'm due to ride up there so it's bound to rain. I was looking at a couple of outdoor type shops but most of the decent bags were around the £15 mark. I decided to look on eBay & came across a pair of original Triumph pannier inner bags for £30. They're now sitting in the study having been cleaned. Yes, I could have used plastic bags but now I have a couple of bags with 'Triumph' printed on them. 

The final part of the trip preparation was to fit the cradle for my Zumo satnav. Took me a while to wire in & fit it and I'm not really happy as the cradle cannot easily be removed at overnight stops with it hardwired in. Maybe Garmin should have designed it with a plug so you could remove the cradle when not being used. Mind you, unless you cut the wire, an opportunist tealeaf is not going to easily nick it. Maybe I'll have to think about modifying it at some point.

Next up, sorting out Tabitha Trophy's rear brake switch.

[ghulst]

Bags with "Triumph" on them are just worth their weight in gold. So much nicer to transport your stuff in. I know, as I purchased some for my 800 right before I sold it to a friend. Yes, I am one smart cookie.

[Lee337]

Tallulah got a present, She's now fitted with a Viofo MT1 2-channel dashcam. Surprisingly complicated to fit. Yes, I could have just ticked the camera wires along the side of the tank, but I didn't.

So, it took me a couple of hours to do. I decided to mount the forward cam under the nose, being an Adventure bike I figured the front suspension travel would never reach that far, so the camera is safe. Easy to hide the wires too. The rear camera was a little more difficult as I sometimes carry panniers and a topbox and didn't want to restrict the view. In the end I decided to tuck the camera just under the rack, the wire going under the rear cowl about where the indicator wire sits. Next up, where to fit the remote and GPS receiver.

The remote now sits glued to the dash under the heated grip switch, the GPS receiver is stuck in about the same place on the right.

Of course, I had to decide where the wires would run. First up I thought I could tuck them under the tank, but it looked a little messy. In the end I decided to do it properly and remove the tank (with the usual removal of the battery, battery box, side panels, tank infil panels and indicators).

The wires for the GPS, remote control and front camera are now tucked away, pretty much following the route of the main wiring loom and wires for the Satnav.

There's not a lot of room under the seat, so the control box is squeezed between the fuse box and a cross beam. It fits but only just.

Wiring was easy, +ve to the +ve terminal on the battery, -ve to the -ve terminal on the battery, and Viofo provides an additional blue wire to connect to a switched live. They reccomend the ignition wire, but I soldered it on to a terminal under the fuse box. Seems to work well.

Finally, all the remaining wire was bundled up with a cable tie (again supplied with the dashcam) and tucked under the right side panel and secured to the frame. I would have used the left panel as I ran the wires down the left side of the frame, but the excess wiring for the satnav is there.

I'm still processing the first video I took, but it looks to be good quality, I can clearly see the reg numbers of passing vehicles and the sound is not too bad either. There's still a few more things to check, like how well it picks up voices and I've yet to use it in failing light or at night, but I'm sure I'll get around to that.

A nice little touch is the Viofo App that lets you see what the camera sees i real time via a wifi link. You need this app to configure the camera, setting up what's displayed on screen, GPS coords, speed, etc. and to set the clip duration, from 1 min to 10 mins. there's a few other settings too. Overal, I'm quite pleased with it.

[Sin_Tiger]

Tidy arrangement