99 Tiger woes

[cward]

I have a 99 tiger 885 wfi. THe bike now has 11k mi Just had the 12k svc done. Iwas going to go for aride this morning, but noticed coolant leaking from the head gasket. Dealer thinks it'll be around 1k dollars with new rings etc. Anybody else run into this problem?   thanks cward

[Chris Canning]

The first Tiger I bought in 99(new) it lasted 6 weeks!! had exactly the same problem,it had just turned a thousand miles,the dealer offered to repaired it(which i refused) said i'd rather sell it back to them and have a new one,Triumph got involved and i had a new one,and i ran that for two years and then bought a 955.



Chris

[nomad]

I have a 99 Tiger with 18k on the clock and no leaks so far. I'm getting ready to spend alot of money on servicing, a gel seat , power commander, and a exhaust system for this bike. I have heard of the coolant leak problem before.  now I am wondering if I would be better off spending this money on a used newer tiger. Is their a big difference in power and reliability between the two engines? What other differences are notable between the two? By the way , about 2k miles ago the bike started to have sporatic idling problems. I like the Tiger and would not consider any other motorcycle but I worry about reliability.

[cward]

Hello, from what I've heard the 955 tiger is abetter motor all around ,as far as the pwr commander goes save your money and buy atune boy,its almost like the sagem tunes tool with the added plus of making yer own maps

[cward]

cward again, dealer just called me and said Triumph would give the gasket set for free,but since the bike is so old(?) they will do nothing else and they also said they never heard of anyone else having this problem sorta reminds me of when I worked at aTriumph shop way back when the customer is always wrong and they're right

[Chris Canning]

I sold my 900i for two reasons,1. I never trusted it despite doing several long distance trips on it,it was sold as soon as the warranty ran out but the second and most important one was that i never felt it was quick enough,the 955 most definetly is.

I had a similar conversation with a guy of the Yahoo board who swore his 900i was just a quick(I think they are like chalk and cheese!!) but i see he has now also gone to a 955,mines two and half years old out of warranty and i'm more than happy with it.



Chris

[cward]

hello all its me again with aquestion for the forum does anyone  know the drill for rebreaking in my tiggerr? It'll have new rings ,but old all else.Dealer isn't sure about oil he thinks the regular mobil4t should be ok but I DON't think the rings will SEAT HOW ABOUT YOU GUYS ALL OPINIONS CONSIDERED AND WILL IT NEED AVALVE ADJ AGAIN at 600mi or1k or6k or12k my dealer hasn't said too much he seems to want to sell me his leftover 03 955 tiger well thanks for letting vent again cward :?:  :

[nomad]

I have been using mobil one car oil in the proper viscosity. I can change the oil more often for the same cost. I recently read that there isn't as much difference between motorcycle and car oil as once was thought. As far as break in oil I'm also in the dark.                                                                                                      Thanks for the info Chris , did your 900 Tiger ever give you anymore problems? Was it stock? I was hoping with the Kand n filter offroad pipe and tuneboy I would gain a boost in power. I'm almost to the point of looking for a deal on a used 955 with low miles and trading in my 900. The problem is as always parting with the money and it would be awhile before I could do any mods to the 955

[cward]

In answer to the last reply , my tigeris stovk except for K&N af. From what Iknow and seen wth a nerw can andKN af w/tune boy expect around 5 to7 total horse pwr increase unless you get the blue or is it green cams you'll never approach the 955 output happy tuning cward

[Chris Canning]

Nomad



When bought my first 900,i thought it was vast improvement on the Africa twin that i had,just as when i rode my first 955 felt the same way,I'd take a bog stock 955 over and any modified 900i you could think of,I've modified boths wheels and brakes on my 955 but if i'm honest the bike was just as rideable in stock condition.



As i said earlier,the first one i had lasted 6 weeks!! I had the second one 2 years,under warranty had new front discs,and a rear shock,but thats all,I raised the gearing by putting a 19 tooth front sprocket on to lower the revs at high speed,but as the 955 revs a lot higher never felt i needed to do the same, with 110 or so on the clock  responds well and the motor doesn't feel stressed at all.



Chris