2000 Tiger 15K miles, upcoming mechanical issues???

[rnjstel]

Hi all,

I am seriously considering aquiring a 2000 Tiger and was wondering if there is any tribal knowledge about what (if any) major mechanical issues or must-do heavy maintenance that occurs after 15,000 miles?

My wife and I have not ridden in many years and have decided to start riding again but, with Dual-Sport's. We spend a good deal of our free time Jeeping/Camping in the woods throughout Pennsylvania and Northern/Western Virginia in the States. By mixing in trips on Dual-Sports, we can open the amount of area's we explore and camp ten-fold.

I have been (and still am) a Triumph owner for many years both Mereden and Hinckley machines, still having a 68 Bonneville and my wife having one of the first 2001 Bonnies imported. Since losing a riding friend of ours both machines have become barn-queens (her Bonnie acquiring around a total of around 900 miles in almost 10 years of ownership). I kept riding a little longer with a Yamaha FJ-1200 I also had but, those riding friends kept getting progressivley faster sport bikes and it just wasn't fun.

Our plan to start riding again is for mostly trails, fire roads and slower touring with Dual Sport's/Enduro's. I thought I had my choice locked with a new Kawasaki KLR-650. However, my wife shuffers from "Short-Leg Womanitis" which makes finding a D/S very hard for her. After running through every manufacturer, yesterday we found the entry level BMW 650G X-Country works well for her and also has 1.5 lowering kit. The dealer will be prepping it and next week she will be taking it for a test ride to make sure she is comfortable on it at speed. So that is pretty much the route I am going to go for her.

I thought everything was settled however, walking outside on their used line was a beautiful 2000 Tiger used. It has 15K miles, good 70/30 rubber and visually looks in great shape. I have the inverse problem of my wife being 6'5 so, I like it's height and heft.

I think I am going to ditch the plan for the KLR and just buy this used Tiger. Besides saving almost 4,000 dollars I have an affinity for Triumph machines.

I have looked through this site and your posts, these triples seem to be fairly bullet proof.

Besides usual upcoming maintenance intervals, is there anything specific to certain mileages that I should look for or expect to occur?

Thank you very much for any tibits of wisdom that you can extole from your experiences

[walker]

I would start with the "Girly wisdom" thread.... there is a specific link in there too about common issues.

http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,5025

common faults / weaknesses: http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,5256

[swamper650]

I have accumulated 41K on my 02 Tiger. The issues have been minor and with a little preperation, avoided.  I suggest replacing  the failure prone plastic fuel tank/fuel rail fittings with steel units. While the tank is off, replace the radiator cap and the plastic fittings in the radiator expansion tank. Another issue is to do the voltage fix as described, makes at least a volt improvement in the charge rate.
 I have had great success running the original Metzler Tourance tires. They are adequate on  hard pack and some gravel  and secure on the slab in the rain.
  The Tiger is big, and top havy...remember the mantra....momentum is my freind and avoid sugar sand and marbles.
  My Tiger has carried me from the back roads of central Florida through the back woods of Tennessee and on to the wild mountains of northern Arizona........all possible if you use common sense.  Buy it and don't look back!......

[Wiggus]

Make sure you do the Breather Hose mod. Ask me how I know!  :oops:
http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,4378

And I believe your bike has an alternator like my '99, so you don't need to mess with the voltage fix like the 955 Tigers. Use full synthetic oil and have fun. Some of these may develop a small head gasket leak in the cooler months, but it's too expensive to fix. Just ride it.

[Chris Canning]

Make sure you do the Breather Hose mod. Ask me how I know!  :oops:
http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,4378

And I believe your bike has an alternator like my '99, so you don't need to mess with the voltage fix like the 955 Tigers. Use full synthetic oil and have fun. Some of these may develop a small head gasket leak in the cooler months, but it's too expensive to fix. Just ride it.

'Some' on the head gasket read alot!!!!!!,my first blew a gasket(so did i at the Triumph guy) the second just leaked,then i bought a 955  :D

[Loops]

But then you could just ride it, service it and enjoy.

My '99 885efi has 75,000 odd miles on it without too much bother.  She still happily does the 125mile commute to the office if needed and returns 60mpg.  Fill up every other day.

Like anything you get good 'uns and you get wrong 'uns.

My recommendation buy any generation Tiger and enjoy.

Cheers

Loops

[Wiggus]

My '99 885efi has 75,000 odd miles on it without too much bother.  She still happily does the 125mile commute to the office if needed and returns 60mpg.

Wow! How do you get 60mpg? I get around 50 on the long hauls.
Maybe I need a valve adjustment.

[cosmo]

My '99 885efi has 75,000 odd miles on it without too much bother.  She still happily does the 125mile commute to the office if needed and returns 60mpg.

Wow! How do you get 60mpg? I get around 50 on the long hauls.
Maybe I need a valve adjustment.

Location-location-location.

UK gallons are 5 quarts.

Cosmo

[Wiggus]

UK gallons are 5 quarts.

Ahhhhh....yes.
I don't feel so inferior now. :D

[macgart]

I have about 42k miles on my '99 now.  Just had a cooling fan failure; no big deal unless I'm creeping along on trails or stuck in heavy traffic for a long time.  Been riding it like this for a few weeks with no over heats other than the initial one where I found the problem.  I was climbing a steep rough dirt track when she over heated.

The only other failure, other than consumables, was a leaking fuel sending unit when I got the bike at ~24k miles last year.  The P.O. had a leaking head gasket repaired just before I got it.  No problems last winter.