honda ,yamaha,all jap bikes are reliable,but would you call triumph steamers realiable?I know cool factor nothing compares to triumph i have owned 5 three tigers a bonnie and a rocket,but just wanted opinions if you would consider these steamers reliable? thanks :D
Absolutely.
But it is like all things, if you don't do regular maintenance, then something will bite you in the ass :)
its the most reliabletransport i ever had n that includes cars. also the transport ive owned the longest without sellin, crashin or modifyin. mus be pretty much perfect cos i get bored real easy when it comes to things like that. jus do ya maintenance and itll be fine. mines done jus under 60 thousand miles n only probs i ever suffered was ignition pick up, coil failure and timin chain adjuster breakin. otherwise never had a prob with it 8)
You are going to get mixed messages. I don't think it's particularly reliable. Some of the servicing is difficult and some areas of the design in terms of maintenance suck.
Still my favourite bike ever though. :wink:
Quote from: "nickcalne"You are going to get mixed messages. I don't think it's particularly reliable. Some of the servicing is difficult and some areas of the design in terms of maintenance suck.
Still my favourite bike ever though. :wink:
What reliability issues have you had?
Agreed, servicing wasn't on anyone's mind when they were designing it.
Quote from: "CoolHandLuke"Agreed, servicing wasn't on anyone's mind when they were designing it.
speshally when it comes to the airfilter and no2 spark plug :roll:
No. And designed by ham-fisted ship builders. Wired in a sweat shop by 5yo Romanian children who would rather be in school. But mine was speshul, I guess. :roll:
I drive a Toyota truck. That's my yardstick for reliability. That's also my yardstick for boring.
The Tiger is different. It gets into your soul and starts ripping your guts apart from the inside.
Every bike has it's weaknesses and design peculiarities. This one had legendary british engineering behind it. :lol:
Reliability Luke? :D My guess is that you are pretty useful man with a set of spanners and this may be sparing you some pain.
To date:
The swingarm snapped at the chain adjuster (though this was possibly at due to the garage doing the bolts up too tight) coil failure, pick ups, snapping throttle and speedo cables etc... been through a fair few little things in a couple of years but it's not just this that makes me think it's not wholly a sensible thing in terms of maintenance. It's the silly design elements as JD points out. Oil out to change a chain or front sprocket. Carbs off to change an air filter. And spark plug no.2 is hilariously awkward. These things deter ordinary guys with limited skills and I suspect that means that most bikes don't see the love they deserve, are mistreated and so are even less reliable
Then there's the DAR question, the spinning captive bolts in the tank, pitting wheels and the weak sprag clutch, all of which to date I've dodged. (touch wood) Oh and the idiot lights aren't bright enough for us idiots.
Did I mention the warping sidestand?
Maybe I'm being unfair. Mines a thirteen year old bike, I'm certainly not a mechanic, what should I expect eh?. However it sits next to my 99 daytona in the garage and they are a world apart in terms of quality.
Still love it dearly though. Rode it today to work and nearly froze my nuts off.
we've owned ours since new and the probs have been few and far between and any of the three tigers are maintained to be able to take off for points unknown at the spur of the moment .
So I have to go with DAMN RELIABLE , well at least my three are anyway :shock:
The swingarm snapping by the eccentric adjuster is a common fault with the black swingarms. Apparently, the silver swingarms are less prone to this.
Some of the other stuff you mention, like cables and coils are ancillary items that are meant to be replaced periodically, so you can't really blame that on the bike :)
The spinning captive bolts in the tank are due to poor maintenance. A bit of copper slip in there and this would never happen - something any decent/conscientious mechanic would do on the first service when they are needed to be taken off.
I'll give you the sidestand, swingarm and sprag :lol:
Very few of the items you mention are actually reliability issues.
Quote from: "nickcalne"...However it sits next to my 99 daytona in the garage and they are a world apart in terms of quality....
The design flaws you could almost forgive I think; the late Steamers were at the back end of an old design which was Triumph's first attempt after all and they were at the bottom of the learning curve.
Nevertheless, I think you might have something there Nick, my Trident was a class bike, even though it was almost a Steamer under the plastic. My Girly has far more niggles than my mate's Daytona. I wonder if the "adventure" style bikes were just an attempt to wring a few more quid out of the mainstream designs and so were developed on the cheap with little investment in development or extra parts.
It's a pet subject of mine I know, but I can't help thinking that when the put FI on the Girly, an intern must've developed the software in his or her teabreak with a "that'll do" attitude - "it's not like it's a mainstream product or anything, what'll they do? buy a BMW...?"
I've only ever owned old sh!te, so i guess thats why I dont expect car type 'drive and forget' type of ownership.. I dont have Triumph written through the middle of me, and find some things frustrating, however I think anything Japanese of the same era would be much the same - I wont touch t'other halfs similar age Yamaha Thundercat as it just irritates me having to remove all of the bodywork to do anything..
the important/regular stuff like changing oil is far easier on the Triumph than a lot of other makes as it doesnt entail bodywork removal, or in some cases having to fight with downpipes/exhausts to get to the filter... the center plug on the triple isnt that much of a problem with the correct plug spanner, and changing the airfilter is probably a bi-annual event for most people, so dont see it as a big issue..
having said all that, and despite owning 2 older Trumpets, I still wish I'd kept my Moto Guzzis :lol:
i have the black swing arm,how does it snap this sounds a little risky lol
Quote from: "kingdomstyle"i have the black swing arm,how does it snap this sounds a little risky lol
It tends to snap if the eccentric adjuster bolt is overtightened.
Would i call Steamers relaible ?..
I can talk only about mine, it is the only steamer i have ever seen and rode.
Yes, she is a very relaible bike..
We are talking about bikes produced between '93 and '98, with thousands of miles on them and changed many owners thorough years. Are Steamers relaible ?, Compare to what ?..
If we are comparing them with same age bikes, any brand bike same age;
Yes, they are very relaible..
Before steamer, i owned a '96 R80GS Kalahari and a '97 R1100GS, belive me, same age BMWs were not more relaible than my steamer..But, more confortable.. :D
Even with the brand new bikes, you have to be very lucky, have friends here, they had mechanical and electric problems within the first days after they bought their new R1200GS..
Relaibilty is a relative concept.. For any bike..
If you
are kind of rider, just knows how to put gas in the tank and ride the bike,
take her to dealer or a repair shop for maintance, service and repairs,
your bike is not relaible at all
Because, except very few exceptions, these people are doing bussiness, they have to make money and their time is limited, they don't love you or your bike and they don't have to, your bike and you are only the objects to make money out of..
Having 24 different bikes last 28 years, experienced many things with dealers and mecanics, they used wrong grade oils and spark plugs, sold wrong size tyres, wrong Ah batteries, swaped parts from my bike to other bikes, showed the other bikes broken part to me as if it was my part and sell new part to me, mess up the adjustments on purpose and make me go there again to make some more money, etc, etc...
Please, do not think that i am a dealer enemy, of course there are few honest ones and i am talking about only my country, Turkey..
If you
immediately download or buy the "repair and maintenance manual" before or the day you buy your bike, read it few times to become familiar with your bike technically and immediately register to a worldwide tecnical forum site related with your bike, read technical articles, problems and solutions before it happens to your bike, find few spare part suppliers, buy necessary tools and start doing regular services, minor repairs yourself,
yes, your bike is very relaible..
Nobody else loves your bike as much as you do, nobody else takes care of your bike as good as you can and spend time on it as long as you can with patience..
As a steamer owner, what problems we could have?, Pick up sensor faulty, DAR, ignition coils maybe, few other little things, what a big deal, once in a life time, fix 'em up properly and forget..
Most other bikes, even new ones have chronic problems.
All bikes are relaible if you take good care of them..
hear! hear! Basri.
I dont have much experience of Tigers or Triumph in the long term. I absolutely loathed the way it was put together, a by product of robotic assembly, when doing my rebuild. But what I can say and the evidence is there for all too see, that engine for all it's faults was over engineered. Have a look at the state mine was in. It was so bad I stripped it down because I knew it had to be be broken. In the end I did not need to replace a single mechanical item. Just gaskets. If I had a real gripe at all, it would be over the metallurgy. It is very prone to oxidation.
When it comes to maintenance on these beasts, the old adage is true. If the job is worth doing; do it properly. Because maintenance is awkward at best, the job often isn't done properly. That's not a bike reliability issue.
aaargh... perhaps I should edit my post - just found broken bolt on the clutch side of the alternator shaft... £98 for the upgrade kit :shock:
I blame Nickcalne for making me say nice things about it - I knew I was tempting fate.. :D :D
Quote from: "NeilD"aaargh... perhaps I should edit my post - just found broken bolt on the clutch side of the alternator shaft... £98 for the upgrade kit :shock:
I blame Nickcalne for making me say nice things about it - I knew I was tempting fate.. :D :D
The real question is why did you wait for it to break?
Quote from: "BruKen"Quote from: "NeilD"aaargh... perhaps I should edit my post - just found broken bolt on the clutch side of the alternator shaft... £98 for the upgrade kit :shock:
I blame Nickcalne for making me say nice things about it - I knew I was tempting fate.. :D :D
The real question is why did you wait for it to break?
the rattling noise grows on ya after awhile :ImaPoser
it didnt really sound that noisy, so I'm looking forward to the 'silent running' once its back together.. :ImaPoser obviously been like it a while as the bolt head on the clutch side is polished nice n shiny where its been rubbing against something.. :shock:
at least I was finally able to use the clutch holding tool thats been hanging on my wall 'just in case' :D
Quote from: "NeilD"aaargh... perhaps I should edit my post - just found broken bolt on the clutch side of the alternator shaft... £98 for the upgrade kit :shock:
I blame Nickcalne for making me say nice things about it - I knew I was tempting fate.. :D :D
That'll learn ya! :lol:
Mind you my car been in the garage for the last three days and is set to cost £800. Shouldn't really whinge about the bike...
I got a 87k miler, it rode great if a bit 'steppy' in power delivery, the brakes were not brilliant and a bit fierce when they did bite, the pogo sticks strapped to the front wheel did a tremendous job of keeping her flying into bends and keeping her straight without too much input up to about 140 kph but had a serious 'domestic' every time the front brakes got involved, I couldn't stop grinning.
But I took it apart, as I do with everything, the brake pads turned out to have been made in Indonesia from coconut husks by some local batik artists, the previous mechanics thought grease nipples on the rear linkage was for attaching flashing LED strips to but the needle roller bearings put up with it manfully for this long, they also thought that brake fluid and fork oil lasts forever, the previous 'tuners' thought that drilling the carb slides out and the can ends with a Black and Decker was a sure fire way to massive power gains and having enough sh1te in the air filter to supply the Irish with potatoes was part of the power plan. The electrical genius with the masking tape, the car temperature sensors and a few bits of pre-war cable also thought that having three different coils would make the power delivery smoother.
If it could survive all that and still return so much fun, start at every prod of the button, when there was fuel in it (level sensor disconnected :roll: ) not let me run into the back of the taxi that just decided it wanted to be in my lane and not cause me to want to strap air bags to the seat. Reliable, as much as my Honda ever was, fun more than my meager skills with English allow me to express.
I am going to have to buy a quieter helmet, not to stop the lovely noises from getting in but to stop people looking at me like my riding jacket zips up the back (actually many locals wear their jackets like that) and have belts and buckles on the sleeve ends, due to the great hilarity emanting from inside the helmet.
Read the above and then look at what else I ride / have ridden recently and that should give you an idea of how much I am looking forward to getting her back on the road after the rebuild.
well i am going to keep my eyes on the swing arm on regular basis lol :shock:
Don't overtighten the bolts and loosen/retighten them yourself if anyone else does it for you. :wink:
nick if you do that,there should be no problem...
Very. Bought my 1998 steamer 18 months ago, with 44K miles, and just rolled over 56K with only routine maintenance. I'm planning a long trip through the Pacific Northwest this summer and will be riding the steamer, and I have absolutely no doubts about her reliability.
mixed reviews
My Sprint has 45,000 miles, the Tiger has 31,000. The Sprint I bought in 2006 without a front end, as it had been crashed into a 200 lbs herd animal at 50 mph. I rebuilt the front end, and went on to put 16,000 miles on it. I checked the valves this winter: 2 needed minor re-shims. I've ridden the Sprint across America, in tornadoes, through days of pounding rain and across the Bonneville Salt Flats at 140 mph. Never had a problem. No DAR either. The Tiger so far shows that it might be about the same. Also no DAR and all 8 valves did not need adjusting.
I think Triumph was really worried that these bikes would have problems and carry on the legacy of the older Triumph company so they over-engineered them. They have their foibles, but I would say they are at least as reliable as their Japanese counterparts.
my tigger has been everywhere and still runs as good as the day I first brought it home 12 years ago ....................
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee47/2uoykcuf/rocky%20mtn/101_2427.jpg)
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee47/2uoykcuf/places/100_1448.jpg)
it is what it is and I wouldn't trade it for anything ! :D
I almost bought a R100GS last spring. I started doing some research into their reliability and the cost of ownership and quickly decided against it. True the engines run for hundreds of thousands of miles, but having to worry about final drives & transmission splines and leaky pushrod tubes and German electrics and so on was more than I wanted to maintain if it was to be my only bike. I didn't want to spend my winters tearing down & rebuilding in order to get ready for the next riding season. I have owned enough British cars to know what that is like and it gets tiresome after awhile.
When I bought my Steamer, I knew I was getting a 15 year old bike and it would likely need maintenance. The good thing is I can do most of the work myself, versus owning something newer with all the whizz-bang computer stuff. The better acquainted I get with the bike, the more I agree with people like Mustang and other good folks on here in saying I'm prepared to ride my Steamer pretty much wherever.
By reading the Beemer & KTM forums around, there are plenty of reliability issues to go around even with today's technology.
Straying a little off topic, but I've always wanted a Ducati. That was until I went into a new dealership that opened here in South Minneapolis. They are great folks, but I'm not happy with what Duc is doing.
The Ducati machines have moved into what BMW is. A super high-tech bike that is almost drive-by-wire and no longer really user serviceable. And stratospherically expensive. To be fair the industry as a whole has moved in this direction.
I'm hoping that Triumph doesn't take the bait.
I have heard Moto Guzzi now makes the most reliable, as in, low-maintenance, high milage bikes money can buy.
Mustang those are two great pix of your kitty. In the second picture, did Mrs. Mustang drive the Bonneville to Bonneville?
Quote from: "Colonel Nikolai"Mustang those are two great pix of your kitty. In the second picture, did Mrs. Mustang drive the Bonneville to Bonneville?
nope that's my little brothers bonnie , he lives in cheyenne, WY
Mrs.M doesn't like long road trips all that much , me ....well I like12 hour days in the saddle for days on end .
Quote from: "Mustang"nope that's my little brothers bonnie , he lives in cheyenne, WY
Mrs.M doesn't like long road trips all that much , me ....well I like12 hour days in the saddle for days on end .
Very cool. I don't have a picture like that of my Sprint at Bonneville. Wish I did.
Quote from: CoolHandLuke on March 03, 2011, 11:21:54 PM
The swingarm snapping by the eccentric adjuster is a common fault with the black swingarms. Apparently, the silver swingarms are less prone to this.
So, if I paint my black swing arm silver does it mean that it is less likely to break? :augie
Sorry, I'm teasing. It's pretty quiet at work these days (nobody wants to do road tests in winter) and I am slowly working my way through 71 pages of Steamer posts.
Sorry git, aren't ? :icon_wink:
No more than the rest of us. :augie