Suspension

[Chris Canning]

One of the joys of haveing more than one bike,means there's not the urgency to put the bike back together,i have had my Tiger in bits for months,even before the winter set in,but finally got it all in one piece,with the Ohlin shock on the back and Ohlin fork springs and 15w oil in the forks,what a difference!!!!!,have had two previous Tigers,out of habit i always trail the back brake first getting the bike to squat before useing the front brakes,there's just isn't the need any more and with the addition of the Beringers(what J/L sells) the transformation is quite a shock.



Chris

[Guest]

Are you talking 955i Tiger here? Because I find the forks on mine pretty well sorted as standard. And believe me I'm quite fussy.

[Chris Canning]

I certainley am talking 955,and if you think there OK,then you ain't that fussy,their better than the 900i but that doesn't mean much.



Chris

[Brock]

Here's my two-penneth;

No doubt the suspension on these long-legged old birds doesn't suit everyone, but I reckon for this type of bike it's just about OK as standard on the 955i as far as I'm concerned. If you're expecting these things to brake hard into corners like sports bikes then they are pretty crap, but it's a case of modifying your riding style to squeeze the good bits out and minimise the bad ones.

Keep it smooth and progressive, using engine torque for braking rather than jabbing at the brakes in panic attacks and there isn't a lot wrong with the suspenders.She ain't a f.....in' Fireblade y'know!

Anyway...Zebidee said "boing" and he was pretty cool as far as I'm concerned.

[Guest]

There, see Chris, you're out voted.

In fact I am fussy. I spent many, many hours of experimenting with diferent oil wieghts in the forks of my BMWR100GS until I got it right. Many other R100GS owners that have ridden mine have since fitted my wieghts in theirs.



As a byline. Please try to decide which ; there, their or they're you should use. It's not hard and it does matter.

[Chris Canning]

To be honest gents i can't believe i'm even getting involved with someone who thinks the suspension is anything but crap,when was the last time you ran a bike with Ohlins or Whitpower or similar,when you do you'll understand how piss poor the Triumph stuff is,but thanks for the rideing lesson!!! after 34 years on the road includeing 8 years rideing Enduros,i'll have to brush up on my technic!!!



Chris

[Brock]

Oooops! best not take any of this too personally, Chris. Clearly you're well qualified to comment on such improvements. It's just a case of horses for courses I think. Oh, and the small problem of money. Having been through some of the mods you're talking about (with a VFR) I know what you mean, but I've tended to wait until stuff like that actually NEEDS doing. By the way, I've ridden with a few sportsbike lads who are gobsmacked at how well the Tigger handles considering what she is. Some of them have asked whether my brake light bulbs have blown too, seeing as how they hardly ever see them come on. 'Course, I only get these comments from the ones who can catch me up...

Aren't these threads fun? it's all so nice I feel a group hug coming on.

[Deltabox]

:lol:



I find it interesting to see that in virtually every bike forum there are heated discussions on suspension, tires and ponies, where everybody knows for a fact they have found the stone of sages...

I will agree with Chris that WP (although overrated imho) , Pailoli, , Marzocchi, Hyperpro, ˜hlins etc. make great stuff which will dramatically improve handling and stability compared to the OEM suspension.



That said, the majority of the everyday riders will not notice the difference at all and will be quite content to scrape pegs on tarmac and plow through dirt roads without ever worrying about slow-rate compression damping and the like.



Indeed, tiggers aren't perfect, but then, which bike is? It's a matter of application and expectation: If you want your Tiger to handle like an SM, there a some great aftermarket sets available. If you want off-road capabilities, go for softer, progressive springs.

If you're happy with your current set-up, upgrading will only mean unnecessary expenses...





Hug, anyone?  :roll:  :D

[Chris Canning]

Hi Chris



Take things personally,you must be jokeing!!!,



The second 900i  that i had, the rear shock was replaced under warranty,i thought it was that poor,the only problem was the second one they put on was just the same,but the thing i always remember was rideing from Lisbon to Salamanca my other half who isn't mechanicaly minded at all,saying to me 'I think shock gone off' and i remember thinking if shes' noticed it it must be bad.



It needs a stiffer spring,a lot more ajustment on the preload,and separate ajustment for both compression and rebound,no point in being able to control it on the way down,if it just returns when it feels like it,but of course it all cost money.



Chris

[Guest]

I understand your point about the other makes of suspension. I fitted an Ohlins shock on my BMW. A huge difference over the BMW (Sachs) shock.

I am not prepared, however, to pay £1500 for a set of Ohlins forks for the Tiger when, for the use I give it, the OE stuff is perfectly adequate. I don't know what make the forks are, but the shock on the 955i Tiger is a Kayaba who are capable of making some good stuff. Yes, it could be better, but would we be prepared to pay £2000, on top of the price of the bike, to have Ohlins forks and shock as standard equipement? I don't think so.

Triumph has to make a decision on cost versus performance. I think that as I can srape my pegs going round bumpy corners without feeling insecure, they have the equation about right.

[Chris Canning]

I to run Ohlins on my BM 1100s,hence why, as i use both bikes the difference is glareing obvious,but i have to say the bit about scrapeing  your foot pegs, whats that got to do with the internals of the forks being crap,two completly separate things,when you've got your bike over on it's side the forks are doing jack shit!!!.



Can you imagine rideing an enduro bike or a motocrossing and saying well i can lean the bike right over so the forks must be OK!!!!



I'm under no illusion that what i've done is the real answer,it just mask's the problem a little better.

[Guest]

,when you've got your bike over on it's side the forks are doing jack shit!!!..

Except when you hit an effin great hole in the road mid corner.

[Deltabox]

I agree that peg scraping CAN also mean your suspension is bottoming out due to g-forces (and are therefore cr*p).



However, my point  was, if you're confident enough to do so, and are happy with it: leave it be.









(On the onther hand, as someone who just picked up a T400 with WP front springs, I'm probably not the right person to defend the OEM springs on the T400  :roll:   )

[Chris Canning]

It 's funny while everyone has a point of view,hardly anyone ever exsplains what they use their bike for and what kind of rideing,which goes along way to exsplaining the former!!!!.



I bought my 955 new in may 2001,it has just over 13000 miles on it it get's used for one thing travelling Europe and that mileage consists of



2001,1000 miles to run it in

2001,3000 miles to the Polish boarder Eastern Germany etc Lauszitsring WSB

2002,1800 miles to European SuperMoto round at Alp d Huez

2002,3500 miles Le-Harve-Valencia-Cordoba-Lisbon-Salamanca-Santander

2003,3500 miles Calais-Luzern-Florence(ItalienGP)-Andorra-(BarcelonaSpanishGP)-B'Ham.



Which leaves whats left for rideing around in the UK,on summer days,for the likes of Le-Mans 24hour(bikes)or Assen then we go on the Beemer.



But at least it give you some yard stick on how i judge the suspension,most of trips were done with between 400 to a 1000 miles a day.



Chris

[Guest]

I bought my 955 new in may 2001,it has just over 13000 miles on it it get's used for one thing travelling Europe and that mileage consists of



2001,1000 miles to run it in

2001,3000 miles to the Polish boarder Eastern Germany etc Lauszitsring WSB

2002,1800 miles to European SuperMoto round at Alp d Huez

2002,3500 miles Le-Harve-Valencia-Cordoba-Lisbon-Salamanca-Santander

2003,3500 miles Calais-Luzern-Florence(ItalienGP)-Andorra-(BarcelonaSpanishGP)-B'Ham.

Chris

You need to get out more M8!

My Aug 2002 Tiger955i did 16500 miles in its first year :-

1/ 500 miles to Wales in first 2 days of ownership to get 1st service done on way home.

2/ Ardennes RAT raid 1000 miles 2nd week of ownership,

3/ Pyrenees and Mistral run 2000 miles April 2003,

4/ German summer party 1500 miles July 2003,

5/ Tour of North Norway, Sweden and a bit of Finland 5500 miles Aug 2003,

Then Corsica RAT raid November (brrrrrrr!) 2003, 2500 miles.

Plus lots of other pissing about in this country.

Bike now has 21000 on the clock. Yes, I like to get out and ride and I don't give a toss about the "high" mileage.

As for the suspension. You're obviously more fussy than me. I do find it adequate, but agree it's not perfect and could be improved by throwing money at it.

Hope to see out & about sometime.