First post as an owner!

[Mudhen]

Finally closed the deal and brought home a '96 Steamer.  She's got Lilley bars, jet kit, center stand.  22k miles.  What a different ride than my GS Adventure!!!  Wow.



Lots of impressions after my first ride.  Some good, some not so good...but it's a totally different bike - so really, it's all GOOD!



It's 25f here today so it was a chilly ride home....but I plugged in my Gerbing gear and made it the 40 miles without losing any appendages   :D

[whoa]

I'm amazed you can find a bike around ten years old with low miles.  What a find.  Congrats.

[Mudhen]

I'm amazed you can find a bike around ten years old with low miles.  What a find.  Congrats.

I found 7 Steamers in my search (in the US).  Winchester Motosports actually has a '98 with 1300 miles on it right now.  1300!  I would have loved it, except there really is no sense in me paying a premium for a nice bike just to take out on the trails...

[SIBBO]

wow that is a really nice looking bike for its age.It must of had a loving owner.

And good to see your love of all things Brit extends to the 4 wheeled variety........

[whoa]

It must of had a loving owner.

Loving owner!  The dude never rode it.



Actually, my father came across a thirty year old Dodge once.  The man who purchased the car died shortly after and his widow never tried to sell.  I suppose there are plenty of reasons why these bikes don't get miles stacked on them.  I found the same when I was shopping for used bikes but still amazes me there are so many with few miles.  Really seems a shame.

[Mudhen]

It does have some rash on the left faring where it was dropped pre-Lilley bars.  And when I picked it up the seller told me it had received a new engine at 5k...not sure why.  However, the service record book was included and I looked up the original purchaser and he still lives at the same address, in the next town from me!  I may give him a call just for fun.

And good to see your love of all things Brit extends to the 4 wheeled variety........

Haha...my dad collected MGs so I got bit, I guess.  I just hope I can keep this thing running; unlike the Mini and TC collecting dust in the garage... #-o

[Kill Switch]

Nice bike.  Love the design, maybe more than the current design.

[looch]

Congrats, Hen. Neat that you got to ride it home - there'd be none o' that up here (at least not for me). I'm curious - what didn't you like about it?

[Patrick the Scot]

Good up on ya for the new wheels. I have never really look closely at a Steamer, and  I think that it is, aesthically, a superior design to the new Tiger's fairing. Looks great.  :D

[Mudhen]

Congrats, Hen. Neat that you got to ride it home - there'd be none o' that up here (at least not for me). I'm curious - what didn't you like about it?

Wind, wind, wind.  Rushing up inside my helmet, which was really loud, and pusing me around more on the road (that's a good thing, because it means I've lightened the load over the big pig!).



Seating position - what sport bike did these bars come off of?  Guess I need to raise them or get some Ricky bars or something.



Sweet spot - slight lag on acceleration - but WOW!!!!  What a sweet spot!  No question this bike would trounce my GS.  Total grin factor!!!  Unfortunately, it's higher in the rev range than I'd like for off roading, but I'll adjust - switch out the sprockets and keep the revs up.



Footpegs - small, but can be fixed.  Passenger ones?  Ugh.  Gotta take those off I guess.  My street boots were hitting them, once I put on my dirt boots I'll be in trouble.  Unfortunately, I think that means my heels will be hitting the exhaust...



And the blinkers were hard to get used to...obviously I've just gotten used to the bizarro-GS ones...

[Mr Mistoffelees]

I do love the look of the old steamer - nice find  :D

[abell]

I wonder if this was the same bike that was advertised on triumphrat.net for a while. Looks great. And you were fortunate to get a decent weekend to collect it, they are few and far between in New England at this time of year  : (

[Mudhen]

I wonder if this was the same bike that was advertised on triumphrat.net for a while. Looks great. And you were fortunate to get a decent weekend to collect it, they are few and far between in New England at this time of year  : (

Could be, it was Mick Maguire's wife's bike.



They had a battery tender attached to it, so I replaced the 3amp fuse with a 25amp one and plugged in my Gerbing gear.  Without heated grips my hands were cold (even with the Gerbing liners) and my feet got really cold.  Must be something with how the wind flows compared to the GS because I've ridden in colder weather and not had cold feet on the Beemer.



Glad my wife got me heated socks for Christmas - next time I'll wear them!

[Robbie]

my feet got really cold.  Must be something with how the wind flows compared to the GS because I've ridden in colder weather and not had cold feet on the Beemer.

dont think it is the way the wind flows, more like the foot warmers fitted to BMWs you know them things that stick out in front of your feet that get hot!

[Mudhen]

dont think it is the way the wind flows, more like the foot warmers fitted to BMWs you know them things that stick out in front of your feet that get hot!

Good point - in the summer there were times I thought my feet were going to spontaneously combust!  I put them up on the jugs to try to cool them down...