Sitting by the side of the A13 waiting for RAC recovery, Tiger died in fast lane with clouds of steam from the exhaust. Managed to coast to the side of the road safely.
Looks like its going to be expensive. :(
:shock:
:( Best of luck mate!
Sounds like a head gasket failure :?
Quote from: "Bixxer Bob"Sounds like a head gasket failure :?
That is what I am hoping, expensive enough but not an absolute disaster. It could however be a lot worse, just have to wait and see. Bike is now with Tri Moto who will look at it when they get a chance, probably next week so its back to aching arms commuting on the GSXR!
Not looking good, early signs are cam chain has possibly jumped a tooth and all exhaust valves are knackered looks bad!
Anyone got a spare engine for an 05 kiciking around?
How many miles mate? Only I'm about to go looking for a cam chain sort of noise from my 05. She's got about 24k on her I think....
Plenty of engines on ebay with varying prices, could be a chance to make a 1050 fit.
Quote from: Bixxer Bob on September 03, 2012, 05:16:35 PM
How many miles mate? Only I'm about to go looking for a cam chain sort of noise from my 05. She's got about 24k on her I think....
About 66k, trouble is she has made so many different noises over the years you dont know what to check. Only sign I had of this coming was a couple of minor overheats whilst commuting in the London traffic which I put down to rad cap/airlock and was going to sort out when I next had the tank off. She was running the best shes ever run just before dying!
Have been looking, but there are not many engines around that look good at the moment and I am not sure shes worth spending much money on, may have to bite the bullet and look for another Tiger or even something boring but reliable.
If you want this to be an excuse to move on, fair enough. But otherwise, keep it in perspective. New exhaust valves and a gasket kit is the cheap option. The rest is just time. If you need wheels in the meantime you could pick up an old Sprint off Ebay for less than a grand, use it, sell it on and get your money back when you're finished. Have a think on it before you splash the cash.
Quote from: Bixxer Bob on September 04, 2012, 09:25:01 AM
If you want this to be an excuse to move on, fair enough. But otherwise, keep it in perspective. New exhaust valves and a gasket kit is the cheap option. The rest is just time. If you need wheels in the meantime you could pick up an old Sprint off Ebay for less than a grand, use it, sell it on and get your money back when you're finished. Have a think on it before you splash the cash.
I haven't made up my mind about anything yet, guys at Tri Moto are digging a bit deeper into the engine to see if anything else is damaged, not sure whether valves have hit pistons etc.
At this stage I am just looking at my options and if I can get her back up and running for under 1k I will but I don't really want to spend more than that. If it is just valves and gasket I will get her repaired, if a reasonably priced low mileage engine comes up I will also consider it. I love my Tiger but she is fairly high mileage and has been used daily through all seasons so she is not worth a lot for resale and as there are 06's out there with less than 10K on the clock for around 3- 3.5k my money my be better spent there.
I need a bike for my commute and whilst I am not bikeless but I do not want to ride my limited edition GSXR into the winter so I have to decide what to do fairly soon, I may look at sprints as a short term solution.
So I weighed up the options and decided I didn't want to move on just yet as I love the Tiger. I am buying a new (to me) one tomorrow, an 05 in Caspian blue with just 14k on the clock.
Bike has been fully serviced and looks immaculate plus has full luggage, decent tyres, TOR pipe and tune, fender extenders etc so should keep me going for a while.
An bringing my dead Tiger home from the mechanics and will attempt to repair it myself in the new year when I have some time.
Looking forward to a 200 mile ride home with the new bike tomorrow
Good choice
:thumbsup
So it was train down to Somerset on Friday and picked up the new bike, meant I got a nice 200+ mile ride home to try her out (A roads, motorway and some nice B roads around Salisbury plain).
She is the 06 model even though on an 05 plate and first impressions are very good, looks good, rides very nicely and the gearbox feels much more precise than my previous 05 (but that could just be the mileage difference).
Paid 3,250 for it which seems reasonable for the condition and mileage. Farkles on the bike when purchased, rear hugger, front fender extender, adjustable levers, oild cooler/ radiator guards. Just need to swop over my LED bulbs (dash and taillight), tall screen, GS handguards and Givi topbox and I am away.
Nice to be back on a Tiger after a few weeks riding a sportsbike. Will post some pics when I get a minute.
Overall very happy so far.
Nice one mate.
See you on the A12/13 soon.
:thumbsup
Quote from: HockleyBoy on September 17, 2012, 09:25:33 AM
So it was train down to Somerset on Friday and picked up the new bike, meant I got a nice 200+ mile ride home to try her out (A roads, motorway and some nice B roads around Salisbury plain).
She is the 06 model even though on an 05 plate and first impressions are very good, looks good, rides very nicely and the gearbox feels much more precise than my previous 05 (but that could just be the mileage difference).
Paid 3,250 for it which seems reasonable for the condition and mileage. Farkles on the bike when purchased, rear hugger, front fender extender, adjustable levers, oild cooler/ radiator guards. Just need to swop over my LED bulbs (dash and taillight), tall screen, GS handguards and Givi topbox and I am away.
Nice to be back on a Tiger after a few weeks riding a sportsbike. Will post some pics when I get a minute.
Overall very happy so far.
How many miles has it done?
Think the last of the 955's had the same gearbox as the 1050's,funny you should be comparing Tigers,I went to buy another on saturday I'm still getting over the shock of how a bike can be neglected and the owner being completey oblivious,he told me the last person who looked at it just walked off!!!,as luck would have it the sun was shining and he offered me a cuppa.
Quote from: Chris Canning on September 17, 2012, 05:04:34 PM
How many miles has it done?
Think the last of the 955's had the same gearbox as the 1050's,funny you should be comparing Tigers,I went to buy another on saturday I'm still getting over the shock of how a bike can be neglected and the owner being completey oblivious,he told me the last person who looked at it just walked off!!!,as luck would have it the sun was shining and he offered me a cuppa.
It had just under 14k on the clock and has full matching luggage. Luckily for me this one appears anything but neglected. Full service hsitory including bills all MOTs etc. He was selling as had always wanted a GS and had just bought a nice looking one.
Seller was really helpful and a bike enthusiast, took half day off work so I wasnt sitting around at the station, made cups of tea and even led me out through the town so that I didn't get lost finding the A303.
Not sure what you are looking for but there is a nice 06 on ebay at the moment (they will accept 3,500) with only 9k on it and it looks immaculate. Seller is in Rochdale. I had made an offer but seller did not respond until after I had agreed to buty the one I got..
Thanks for that,but if I buy another it'll be wire wheel and I'll build a replica of the one I have,the original plan was to go the Multistrada route,but my supplier(Bixxer will laugh) didn't get the job and paying the real price for one didn't appeal,it's a better bike(than mine),but not 10 grand better!!.
I made the guy an offer and after thought sh%% I hope he doesn't take me up on it,I bought a low mileage R100RS many years ago that had seen winter weather and you can never get e'm back even if they've only seen 20 minutes of salt.
Quote from: Chris Canning on September 17, 2012, 07:51:51 PM
I made the guy an offer and after thought sh%% I hope he doesn't take me up on it,I bought a low mileage R100RS many years ago that had seen winter weather and you can never get e'm back even if they've only seen 20 minutes of salt.
I know what you mean about the salt but some of us have have to ride all winter, which is why a bought another 955 Tiger. It's a relatively low cost option compared to some of the other bikes out there and it deals with everything pretty well. A bit of ACF 50 seems to keep corrosion at bay for quite a while. Wll hopefully get my original Tiger sorted out at some point and that will become my commute.
Sounds like a really good buy all up, will get a lot of smiles for not a lot of money on that :thumbsup
Quote from: Sin_Tiger on September 18, 2012, 04:00:50 PM
Sounds like a really good buy all up, will get a lot of smiles for not a lot of money on that :thumbsup
Hope so and saves me having to think about my next bike for a few more years!
Sadly for you poor buggers down south,having to ride a bike 12 months of year because of the traffic is just a way of life,hence when ever I've seen a bike forsale,if it's south of Watford the odds are it's been commuted.
The upside,the standard of riding down south is a league better than anywhere else in the UK.
As for the 955 tiger,the older they get the better value for money they become,I've travelled with allsorts of bikes in the last 12 months both friends and folk we have met along the the way,ranging from the 1050 that doesn't have our range,to GS beemers that have the initial stomp but once you get going more than a match,and if you run a 955 with a pipe/airfilter/19t sprocket mods,your top end(yea yea I know if you need it) will match the 1300 tiger.
Quote from: Chris Canning on September 19, 2012, 09:31:29 AM
Sadly for you poor buggers down south,having to ride a bike 12 months of year because of the traffic is just a way of life,hence when ever I've seen a bike forsale,if it's south of Watford the odds are it's been commuted.
The upside,the standard of riding down south is a league better than anywhere else in the UK.
As for the 955 tiger,the older they get the better value for money they become,I've travelled with allsorts of bikes in the last 12 months both friends and folk we have met along the the way,ranging from the 1050 that doesn't have our range,to GS beemers that have the initial stomp but once you get going more than a match,and if you run a 955 with a pipe/airfilter/19t sprocket mods,your top end(yea yea I know if you need it) will match the 1300 tiger.
I love riding so don't mind the commute other that the extra wear and tear on my bike and yes it helps with the riding skills when you do 20k miles per year in all sorts of traffic, however I still have lots to learn!
I spent a fair amount of time deciding what to do next when the motor gave up on my Tiger and came to a similar conclusion that on balance I wouldn't get a better bike for my riding (commuting, touring, general riding) than another 955 for my money (Also have loads of spares which will save me cash in the future).
Have the pipe and tune on the new bike so air filter and 95t to do when I get a minute!
I never learned to drive a car till I was in my mid twenties so I had nine years of all year riding,pushing against the garage door to find a foot of snow and tootling off to work on my brand new Kawasaki H1A still raises an eyebrow when I think about it,and when Le-Mans was in april have arrived at the hotel all but frozen to death,so I take my hat of to you,but I certainley don't miss it,although when there are salt free roads still do a fair bit on the old XT660 during the winter.