Tiger 1200 mergefest **all 1200 chat here

[Robbie]

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[KuzzinKenny]

Hey Robbie !! Cheers for postin that review    

sounds like a winner  

 8)

KK

ps nice pics too !!

[Chris Canning]

Having meet Robbie some years ago,he cured me of this internet meet and ride out lark  :D  :(  ,but he can ride a bike,but he's two peneeth ties in with just about every other write up I've read,it's OK,just bare in mind he has a 9 year old 955,or is hindsite starting to tell us the 955 was even better than we thought  :? ,or are the majority who like the Dora non Tiger owners??

By comparison when I rode a 1200 Multistrada,the balance of the bike was what I've been chasing for 10 years or more and the motor is quick,but even then I wasn't left thinking my Tiger is stone age although mine isn't stock.

[Bixxer Bob]

My reaction after sitting on it straight after getting  off my Girly the other night was that the Girly is more comfy. The Dora seat is quite narrow due to chasing manageable leg length. Also, the reach to the bars is further and lower. I like my Girly even more now.  Pity about the jelly-mould looks..... :roll:

If I had a spare £12k sloshing around I can think of worse ways to spend it, But I don't , so that's that  :)

[Robbie]

Having meet Robbie some years ago,he cured me of this internet meet and ride out lark  :D  :(  ,

just think of all that fuel and time I have saved you :D

[Robbie]

is hindsite starting to tell us the 955 was even better than we thought  :? ,

By comparison when I rode a 1200 Multistrada,the balance of the bike was what I've been chasing for 10 years or more and the motor is quick,but even then I wasn't left thinking my Tiger is stone age although mine isn't stock.

I think the 955 is better than a lot of people think. But it is a bike that is supposed to do different things, so like all compromises it is not brilliant at anything and not bad at anything. It can tour with luggage but not as comfy as a pan or as fast as a blackbird. It can green lane but not as good as a KTM 640. It can carve the curves on A roads but not as good as a R1 and it can scratch B road twisties but not as good as street triple.
I have tried the Multi 1200 and it is a brilliant bike but the compromises are weighted away from what I tend to use my bike for.
Winger uses his 955i for fast 2 up touring, his modifications add to his tigers ability to do that (and it is fast and it stops, it grips  I know cos I have tried to keep up) my bike is for distance touring with the family and playing on small lanes, or it was. The sprog is 15 and doesn't what to play with dad as much. SWMBO is using her bike less and refuses to camp
(should have got a younger model)
So I am using my bike differently, now it is days out pottering lanes or weekends with the lads blasting around. This means a new bike or changing what I have. Dora would be great for fast continental trips (IMHO Chris) fuel range accepted. It is more pillion friendly than the 1050. The weight and a few little niggles make me think it is not a big green lane r. what Dora is, is exactly what the Triumph design spec set out. 'Make a bike that ticks all the boxes that the GS ticks' and I think they have done just that, it isn't a quantum leap in bike design because that is not what the market wants.
If my 955 got stolen or some other disaster then I would be in the queue for the first low mileage  fully loaded trade in. but it would need some mods for me to be happy.
For the moment I am looking out for new suspension and brakes, smaller panniers and the time to overhaul bearings and tart up the old girl. Triumph are going to sell loads of 1200s but not that many to 955i owners I think. Just like the 800 the 12 is different but not that different.
I remembered a few things from my test ride
The petrol tank has one of them tiny filling holes that you can not get most nozzles in it so you have to hold and aim, you cannot see how full the tank is so topping off will be a messy business.
The top of the shaft drive unit has what looks like a vent plug; more investigation would be needed before deep fording.
It is easy to put on the centre stand, but very front heavy
If you want a bigger tank and spoke wheels, you may not have to wait that long   :shock:  8)

[Spud]

Sorry if this has been posted but i've heard the factory is looking at droping a new gearbox on and fitting a chain, are we going to get a lighter off road version ? cheers Spud  

[Robbie]

I had a look at this but the shaft form an intergral part of the engine castings and frame. It could be done and I hope it could as I would like chain (fully enclosed please) remember the TR1 Chris?

[Chris Canning]

Thing I remember most about the TR1 is everyone poo pooing e'm and Yamaha selling e'm in crates at a 1000 pounds a pop and 3 years later they cost 1500 quid secondhand so maybe there's a lesson in there somewhere,enclosed chain  :D ,but dry lube does me fine.

I class myself as an interested bystander with the Dora,with the Sport Tiger in the wings and I've seen my first £7500 Multistrada :D ,and my 955 not dead yet(famous last words!!) there's a long way to go and no rush.

[Nick Calne]

Went for an MOT today and they had a couple of the new bikes there...

Two things struck me...

Looks- While you (definitely and quite clearly) could see how technology had marched on, it is amazing how it still was similar somehow to the older bikes.  (Steamers and Girlies)  It looked alright and felt pretty good.  Better in the flesh than the press photo's  - Aesthetically, I was far from convinced until I saw today.  To my designer's eye there are a couple of hiccups here and there but it isn't the jamboree of disconnected lines I feared.

Money - It costs a whole 4k more than the 800xc.  Which does kinda make you ask why.  I know it's reasonable compared with it's competitors, but what makes it 50% more expensive than a near identical motorcycle?  Maybe the 800xc is just good value?



The guys in the shop said they had sold loads already, which is good to hear.

[bosun]

I've had mine for a week now & absolutely love it.

Virtually every person that has ridden one has loved it.

It is a very good motorcycle.  :D

[Chris Canning]

Good write up on all the big trallies in MCN today,ambiguous is the word I think,but good reading nontheless.

[John Stenhouse]

Why is it I arrange for a test ride when all the nice weather has finished?

[Sin_Tiger]

Chairhead weather  :lol:

[John Stenhouse]

OK, took Dora out t'other day and I enjoyed it.

Storming motor, Triumph have kept the same formula from before absolutely super motor, smooth, torque laden and ballisticly fast.

Only a couple of down sides and neither would stop me from buying one if I had a spare £14k!

Fly by wire throttle is sooooooo sensitive, but I could get used to it, and usual Triumph suspension, that is built to a price, the super Ten suspension was better.

Overall I loved it.