New wannabe

[Billy Buck]

Howdy!



I'm Bill, the new guy, and thought I'd brief y'all on why I'm here. It's not for what you'd think would be obvious - that I'm a Tiger owner; I don't own one (yet...)



Still growing up @ 50, and sold my beloved Indian a few weeks back to make our financial lives better (wife was dead set against sellling her Buick).



Been spending time w/my buddies and talking shop to keep a hand in 'til I can purchase another machine. Long story short - been checking out new vistas in riding, and some of these sports tourers have piqued my interest. Problem was that after test riding Hondas, Buells, Beemers et al, I'd given up on finding anything suitable (translated=comfortable)  'til I forked a saddle on a Tiger. It's going to be another year or so before I can do anything, so what I'd like to do is hang out here and eavesdrop.



Dealers in my neck of the woods are few and far between, so my primary concern is reliability. The Indian could be fixed on the side of the road, but a fuel injected beast is another matter entirely.



Sorry to be so long-winded - I'll shut up now and take a seat in the back...

[dezrat57]

Hello billy buck!!!

good concern.

check  my post on www.advrider.com          big mean and nasty(forum) and then my post in "V-Strom vs Triumph Tiger"



dezrat57

[NortonCharlie]

Billy Buck,

I stepped off my 73 Norton 850 Commando onto my 2001 955i Tiger.  The Norton could be fixed by the side of the road like the Indian, in fact part of the Norton touring experience was the side of the maintainance.  



I have 41,500 miles on the Tiger in 2 years and it has never let me down.  On trips I have been carrying spare tubes and tire irons plus enough tools to get the wheels off and do misc. repairs.  The only maintainance I've done on the road is lube the chain, adjusted it once, put in gas and a little oil.



I used to (mid 70's) give Honda guys a hard time about the switches on their bikes.  You couldn't take them apart and clean them when they quit working.  Ten years later their switches were all still working and I had had some of my rebuildable ones apart several times.  There is something to be said for simple points, magnetos, and carburators.  You can almost always cobble them together and get them working in a pinch.

[Brock]

Billy Buck...big welcome from across the pond. You won't get unbiased opinion here. We're here 'cos we all love the Tiger. No bike is perfect, but in terms of value for money/smiles to the gallon there is NO better bike than the Tiger. You know you want one...oh, yes you do.

[Billy Buck]

Gentlemen, I feel accepted already - thank you all for the welcome, and the insights.



Charlie, you are 100% correct in that there's a lot to be said for modern technology - I've been repairing vehicles for thirty years now and every year gets a little better in terms of simplicity and reliability - hopefully the same can be applied to motorcycles... The key to the automotive world is the same as in so many other industries; that is having the tools to communicate with them. Congrat's on the Norton - my first intro to Brit bikes was a brand new '76 Bonnie. Loved it 'til I swapped one day w/a buddy on a Glide :)  



Dezrat, I'll be checking your site out tonight - and thanks for the link!



And Brock - if you guys WEREN'T prejudiced it just wouldn't say much for Triumph now would it...?



Looking forward to roaming these halls - just from what I've read so far my desire to ride one of these things is mounting. Mebbe I could cadge a ride from the dealer sometime down the road.

[NortonCharlie]

Billy Buck,



Where  in Illinois are you?



I am originally from that state, moved to Iowa in 76 and 86 after a year in Wisconsin.

[Billy Buck]

Peoria born & raised. When we can get away though, the wife & I love going antique hunting in Iowa, around Dyersville.



Short story behind that one: She's always for planning, I'm more the 'run & gun' type. One weekend we woke up and I said to pack up, we're heading to Galena. A flurry of worry ensued because we had no reservations, but I bulled my way through & we left. On arrival we discovered there wasn't a room w/in 30 miles due to H-D's 95th anniversary (who'da thunk it...)



Turned out the nearest hotel was in Dyersville, and we've been going back ever since - and ever since, I use that incident when she starts worrying about my half baked ways.  



So where you from?