Thinking About It....

[Tom Herold]

I own an 05 955 Tiger, love it. The best all around bike I've ever owned, no doubt.

I don't off-road with it, but do run long distance and hit the twisties when I can. I like it's manners on the highway and in the mountains, they're great bikes.

With that said;

I'm thinking about crossing over to a roadie.  I'm looking for input from previous 955 owners experiences once they crossed over, all the pros and cons.  I don't mind personal input or opinions on the seats, wind management, one and two up riding, farkels, etc.

I have a new Triumph dealer in town and I'm heading over there to test ride a roadie this weekend for comparrison.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

[Sin_Tiger]

Not a Girly owner, steamer. Can't comment on two up yet.

I love my roadie just as much as the steamer, I can vouch for the roadies manners in just about any road conditions, even had it on the gravel for a short run, no issues there for me either. Covering 200 miles (tankful) without a stop I don't find a problem, the standard seat is fine for me 5'10" 78kg kitted up. The screen is not great but haven't done anything about that yet, there are more thereads and options out there than you can shake a stick at. I can handle the height but have a set of Mick's lowering plates to fit just for a bit more comfort. I dislike the chromed bars for no other reason than I think they look out of place on a bike like this and they do seem to bend easily  :oops:

I have fitted:-
SW-Motech crash bars, a must for me!
CRG casing protectors, pricey but I hope will be worth it in an off.
Zard High Level Carbon, mostly for weight and to get the width to fit boxes evenly, pricey but the added bonus of the sound makes me forget that in a key turn  :D
Triumph Centre stand
Motrax heated grips still to fit.
HID50's H7 & H9 conversion still to fit, standard dip is pretty dismal even properly adjusted after you've been used to dual H4 lamps.

It's a fine bike and seems to have very few reliability issues.

It's a bit like having two dogs of the same breed, same main traits but two different characters.

Go test ride one

 

[Speed3guy]

I owned an '05 955i.  I put 40,000 miles on it in just under 4 years.  It was the best bike I had owned up to that point.

My wife bought an '07 Roadie, and I loved the power.  Eventually the power and handling got the best of me and I bought a slightly used '08 Roadie.

The 955i had (at various times):
original and gel seats
stock windscreen, cut down stock windscreen and stock windscreen with a laminar lip.
Steel, grippy footpegs sold by georover on this board a few years ago.
Race Tech Cartridge emulators and progressive fork springs.
crash bars, heated grips etc.

The 1050 has:
Stock and tall seats.  (My wifes has the low seat, so I have experience with that too.)
Stock screen.
Crash guards
heated grips
hand guards

Here are my thoughts:

On long boring interstate stretches I would still slightly prefer the 955i for comfort.  It has a presence and dominating feel that the smaller feeling 1050 can't match.  That said, the wind protection is better on the 1050, mostly because airflow is less turbulent.  I stay pretty dry in the rain on the 1050.

In the dirt the 955i is a bit better, but I have ridden the 1050 over some surprisingly rough country, including over Capital Reef in SE Utah.  Make sure you crank the preload up a bunch.

The 1050 is better at everything else.  It handles like a cross between the 98 speed triple I had and the 955i Tiger.  In other words it goes where you point it, but without the vague feel of the 955i Tiger.  It is planted like the 955i, and doesn't fall in after trail braking like the Speed Triple does.  I was dragging pegs on the 1050 on my first real twisty ride.  It took quite a while to build up to that on the 955i.  The power of the 1050 is incredible, lifting the front wheel without the clutch even at my 6000 ft+ home altitude.  The comfort is similar but different.  The position, power, and styling of the 1050 make you want to do bad things.  All without giving up any comfort.

Guy

[ArizonaKid]

I lost my 02 Tiger last December to an accident (lady made a u-turn in front of me and I put it down). After nearly 9 months I found an 07 Roadie with a number of nice upgrades (suspension front and back, Triumph exhaust, heated grips, Zero Gravity windscreen, center stand, all the bags (side, top, seat and tank), etc, etc). The other posts are accurate, but I'd like to add that this Tiger is a MUCH DIFFERENT motorcycle than the 02. It handles, feels, and rides much differently -- not better or worse necessarily, but differently.  There are some things I like better and some things I wish they  would have left alone, but all in all I'm happy with it. The suspension work on the 07 is a giant improvement, as I understand it. In my research, the OEM suspension leaves a lot to be desired on the newer Tigers, so I'm glad that was taken care of.  The quality and general nature of the big triple is a big plus and in my opionion is probably one of the best motorycle engines ever devised.  I've owned Japanese, American and European motorcycles of various flavors over the years and my 1050 Tiger (as she sits presently) is right at the top of the list, regardless of price.

[Sin_Tiger]

I owned an '05 955i.  I put 40,000 miles on it in just under 4 years.  It was the best bike I had owned up to that point.

My wife bought an '07 Roadie, and I loved the power.  Eventually the power and handling got the best of me and I bought a slightly used '08 Roadie.

That is an amazing garage line up