2008 Street Triple R

[ghulst]

I feel that this bike deserves its own topic.  So, I bought myself an '08 Street Triple R. Now that I have it, the question is, where do I take it? I have already bought a gel saddle, as this one did not treat my bum that well on the 200km ride back home.

• I think I want to find some crash pads/frame sliders. Any suggestions?
• I have a GIVI rack on the back that the previous owner fitted. Any suggestions for bags to bring things for a trip of a couple of days? (I am considering a set of Enduristan soft bags...)
• I have seen sets to fit a quick shifter. That might be interesting.
• I am not the lightest of humans, and as the R has adjustable suspension, I would like to set that up correctly to fit me. So, I either need to figure out a way to do that, or book it in with a specialist.
• I would like to have heated grips, so I need to find out whether there are there original Triumph heated grips and whether I can find some of those. (I have a set of new Oxford heated grips lying around, but I would like to have something more subtle on the handlebars than the massive Oxford operating panel. Also, I have seen suggestions to replace the two cans with one lower exhaust to save 15kg. But I would like something that is pretty quiet as I have neighbours that I would like to stay friends with.  

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

[Lee337]

When looking to replace the heated grips on Tallulah, I opted for R&G grips. The control is not as clunky as the Oxford one & I believe the grips themselves are a little thinner. Having said that, one of the grips has recently failed after 6 years.

Not heard of Enduristan before so had a quick look at their website. They seem to have a good range of products, although a little expensive for my taste.  I had a set of soft luggage on my Aprilia, which I also used with the Blackbird, which were good for the odd weekend away. I still have a tail pack, which is probably on a par for space as the topbox on the XC, which again is an Oxford one (bearing in mind cash, or lack of it was a deciding factor when I bought it). Used it a few times but has sat in a cupboard for the past 4-5 years as I have hard luggage. To be fair, at a fraction of the weight, the only thing that stops me using it is security, having to either take it off when not with the bike, or just use it for dirty laundry.

Can't help with the suspension I'm afraid, while I weigh around 88kg, the Tiger suspension handles it OK although with the weight of my & luggage, the rear shock is set a couple of clicks off max. I upped the oil weight in the forks on the Trophy and replaced the rear shock which the Co I bought it from claim to have set specifically for the bike & weight of the rider. They asked me how heavy I was & if i rode solo when ordering the new shock.

I know there are probably settings for static sag, rebound etc, but that's a dark art, much like setting up carbs to me (or Daytona electricals). I'm sure there must be YouTubers who have done set up stuff, but I guess going to a specialist would do the job properly to your weight, riding style & usage.

[ghulst]

Better weather, better picture. Just had a bit of a ride this afternoon to get to work and back, with a bit of a detour. And I noticed that I do need to get some practice in with this bike. After all, it is a Daytona without fairings, so it has a very large turning circle and that is something I am no longer used to. You don't notice that on the road, but when you want to turn the bike on a parking lot, that is a lot harder than I expected.  But that will hopefully come back again. 

[Lee337]

Nice & clean 

I've had Talyn J out a few times over the past month, firstly with my brother on his new bike (35 - 50mph as its being run in) and a couple of long rides with a few friends. Looks like it's been over a ploughed field. I keep meaning to pull her out of the garage for a wash but every time it's dry, I end up going out for a ride again 

[ghulst]

Ah, yes, that wash. Did I mention that I picked it up quite dirty from the previous owner? And that it intended to wash it after the first 200km ride home?
Well, that didn't happen. :D So that is back on the list.

[ghulst]

Remember I said I really needed to get used to the handling?



Well, today I had the suspension looked at and that explained a lot. :) The bike was completely out of balance. It was heavily leaning backwards and the forks were set much too soft. So, even though I thought it was a nice bike to ride, it wasn't even close to being its best self.

After a complete reset of the suspension, the back of the bike is now much higher up and the whole thing now feel completely different. The guy warned me to take it easy on the first roundabout and he wasn't kidding. This is a very direct machine. You really have to keep your wits about you when you toss it in a corner now. But it responds so much better. It will take a bit of getting used to again, but without the strange responses when effectively the suspension bottoms out. :)

So, I am looking forward to more fun with this.

[Lee337]

Excellent result 

Far from being a suspension/handling guru, I always reset the suspension to stock when I get a new (to me) bike. Even if it's tired, I find it a good starting point as manufacturers usually set the bikes up for the average rider, which describes me to a T. Plus you never know whether a ham fisted lard ar$e owned it before. Next up is the position of the brake levers & clutch lever, just to make things eassier & more comfy.

[ghulst]

True and I like to do that, but it is a bit of a hit and miss to really know what the actual situation was when new.




In this case the guy had this great tool that measured the sag and gave him the measurements that he needed. Plus he did some screwing with different settings that I just didn't understand anyway. I mean, I know what he was screwing on, but I don't have a clue how much and in which way. :D

[ghulst]

Somewhere in March, I discovered that one of the front indicators had broken and had been fixed with a tie wrap. I hadn't seen that when buying the bike, so the black on black worked well enough to fool me. And it has stayed on for a while. However, on my way back home from the office yesterday, the right side indicator was happily blowing in the wind instead of staying on. I had already bought a replacement set, so this morning I took half an hour out of my schedule to put a new set on. They are not cheap and not easy to put on (as they do come with wiring, but you basically need to pull that off and put the old wiring in the light as it is otherwise not compatible). But look at the change. I obviously did both sides, as that makes the whole bike look a lot better.

[Lee337]

That looks better.

Hope you're enjoying the new ride.

[ghulst]

It is on and off. I often like it, but then there are times when I miss my Tiger.

(And times when I watch Harry do Sand Raiders...)