I've got a Wilbers rear shock coming that will be 1.5 inches lower and my local Triumph dealers said they will mount it and adjust the front forks so the height and steering geometry are where they need to be so my 2005 Tiger rides and handles the way it should. My question is this: I know I need to shorten the side stand and am wondering if anyone has done this and where did you cut and re-weld or did you find another shorter stand from another model that works? I'll try the center stand the way it is before modifying it but the side stand will need to fixed right away. Any thoughts are much appreciated.
You'll find that several of us have done this. Some take from the middle, I chose to cut the plate from the bottom, grind out some length, then weld the plate back on. A little bondo and paint and your back in business.
If you don't weld, take it to someone who can. I can't imagine they will charge much for the service.
As to how much to cut off, I cut about .5 inches until I had a similar lean angle as before I lowered the Tiger. So measure your lean angle before you make any changes.
I cut the side stand almost an inch at the bottom (about an inch from the bottom). I made three cuts. one to seperate the top of foot loop from the shaft (the loop that allows your foot to find the stand) and two cuts to remove about an inch of tube. Then welded the bottom part and loop back to the shorter shaft. Worked great when the bike was lower.
Not so good when I got the bike back to normal setting. Lean angle was very steep. The cat never tipped over, but the stress on the side stand was more then it could handle and it eventually broke off.
I didn't cut the center stand. I could still get the bike on it, but it was very hard, especially when the big cat was loaded for long trips.
I've been mulling over this, but I am going to head out and ck for shorter side-stands. That way if you change it up (for those of us who go back and forth) you can swap your side-stand back.
Does anyone know if Triumph did anything universal with side stand bolt-up settings? Something from a TT600 or S3 would probably work or just about anything since the Tiger has the longest legs of the lot.
That's what I was thinking. If we could find a shorter side OEM stand that would fit our Tiger and not have to cut and weld the original one, that would be the way to go. I see where there's a company called Dual Star here in the US that sells shorter side stands for the Kawasaki KLR 650 and the Suzuki DR 650SE that have lowering adjustments built in to the bike. I will give them a call to see if they have something that will fit our Tigers but I doubt it as there aren't a lot of the beasts in the states. Maybe next time at the Triumph store I'll check out the bikes they have on the floor and see if any might work.
Looking forward to your feedback...
Listen upguys...
Today I had a new sidestand delivered to me for a final fitting for my Steamer.
A couple of friends make the complete sidestand. They can make it any length you need. Keep your old one. Wait til you see the finished product. We'll ahve several at the Ride-Ins.
e mail me OFF LIST ....
tigerride-in@cox.net
I like the idea of having a new side stand when a guy decides to go the shorter shock and front end route but I couldn't wait as my new one and 1/2 inch shorter Wilber shock came in and I had to get it on my 2005 Tiger. I had a guy cut one and a quarter inches out of the stock side stand in the middle, install a rod for strength and then re-weld. It came out perfect and with the new shock and front fork height, my Tiger is more fun than ever to ride. I think it handles better and being able to flat-foot it at a stop light or when off the pavement is awesome. I absolutely love this set up and Klaus at Wilber's was great to deal with. He asked all the right questions and came up with the perfect set up for me. I rarely ride with passengers or a ton of weigth so he made the shock with my weight and riding style in mind. It bolted right on and once my Triumph store pulled the fork up a little over an inch through the triple-tree, the bike is a blast. Feels more nimble and while it's a bit stiffer than the OEM set up as I had it, the ride is fine and the handling is excellent.