Added another triple to the stable yesterday.

[1000lbs]

Well, I was able to answer the Tiger questions I had, and brought this beauty home yesterday afternoon.



The deal on this 07 was too good to pass up, and this is as new as a second owner bike can get.  Picked it up in AZ yesterday with 384 miles on the clock (Its not even broken in yet).  I should be able to get a plate on here tomorrow, and let the games begin .

[Rincewind]

Congrats 1000lbs!  Sounds like a fantastic deal - low miles and aftermarket exhaust.  Enjoy your new Tiger!

[xbud]

 Congrats, that's a good looking bike

[DNA]

Nice - looks great - i bet it sounds as good as it looks.

[Hickey]

Wow!  That looks fantastic.  Congrats.

[falconati]

Second owner, and not even 500 miles?  What has the world come to....

[MadOzodi]

 

Congrats on the new addition!

 

[1000lbs]

Thanks all, this should be fun.

All right, I've got a little time now and I'm all set for the DMV (AAA) activities tomorrow   .  So I thought I'd share a bit of how I decided to go with the Tiger.

Like many here on the forum, I was looking REALLY hard at the new Duc MTS 1200. If I sold off my bikes I could actually pull it off, but I just couldn't get my head around the price.  Not that I don't think the "value" is there compared to other new bikes, but it comes in at over double the $$$ of the most I've ever paid for a bike .

The features I liked best about the Duc were: good power, low weight, good rider/passanger ergo's, and luggage capabilities.  All of that combined with the top shelf components and some cool techno stuff that is just that "cool" but not a requirement for me.  All in all the perfect bike for my needs, addressing a couple of the short comings of the Speed Triple that I've enjoyed for the past three years.  

Then I got to thinking about how much I've enjoyed my Triumph experience and the triple in general.   After a bit of comparing I found that the Tiger had most of what I wanted in the MTS but could be had for about 1/3 of the price in a nice used example.

After a bit of digging here and on the Tiger boards I started to get a picture of what it would take to sharpen the claws on the Tiger a bit and bring into the ball park of the MTS.

After about $2500 in parts I'm looking at a well sprung Tiger, with the added bhp and weight reduction of the exhaust, and a difference of - 10-15 bhp and + 10-15 lbs compared to the Duc.  In my mind that puts it in the ball park.

Ducati has definitely built a amazing bike in the MTS, and I look forward to hearing how people like them when they finally hit the road, but after taking a honest look at what I wanted my next bike to do, I just couldn't argue with the value of the Tiger.

Second owner, and not even 500 miles?  What has the world come to....

   I was thinking the same thing when I found the listing.  I feel like I rescued a puppy from the pound.  The previous owner was a good guy, he and his wife have a couple vespas to scoot around on.  He bought it, took it on a short trip, and had some physical issues that kept him from riding more.
 
I'm looking forward to doing some back to back runs with this and the Speedy (while its around).  The Leo Vince sounds good and not too loud.

[falconati]

FYI if you haven't heard, but apparently you can squeeze a couple ponies out of airbox modifications (this goes for any 1050 bike).  I haven't done it, but my local Triumph dealer has assured me that there is a lot more engine to release, should you want to.

[bomber]

The Tiger's gonnja make a GREAT budget MTS for you -- the engine will have you giggling big time!

[Punchdude]

Congrats! She's a beauty. I agree with Falconati..that is a sin. 3 year old bike with under 500 miles on the clock. If there were eight deadly sins, that would have to be the additional hell-burner...

[Croak]

I dunno, I'm glad people do that...makes for some smokin' deals, and the bike ends up with an owner that appreciates it.

I mean c'mon, Heaven would suck if everyone was there...

[GuyM]

Great bike! Enjoy...  

[1000lbs]

FYI if you haven't heard, but apparently you can squeeze a couple ponies out of airbox modifications (this goes for any 1050 bike).  I haven't done it, but my local Triumph dealer has assured me that there is a lot more engine to release, should you want to.

Thanks, I read up on that while waiting to pick it up last week.  I took care of the airbox mod yesterday while I was under the tank.  Got my plate today, so I will be off to the dealer to get the arrow race tune loaded for the pipe and air box asap.  The previous owner installed the pipe, but no ECU tune.  By most accounts and dyno sheets on the web, this alone should put the Tiger up to Speed Triple numbers and clean up the low throttle .

Its been a while since I had to go through break in period.   Its killing me to not hear that pipe at full song, but I should be through that by the end of the weekend.

Let the farkle begin!  I'm off to order my center stand (should be standard), hand guards, and sw motech tail rack.  Just the essentials for now, I'll get to the bigger stuff after some miles and evaluation.

[bomber]

If you haven't yet done so, I think the next best thing you can do for your Tiger is to adjust both headlamps (though, if only one, do the low beam).

Headlamps this bad have not been seen since acetylene was used, and the poor adjustment from most all examples form the factory doesn't make it any better, IMO . . . .

Owner's Manual has the all the G@ for ya -- easy peasy job!

[stromgal]

The headlights were the Tiger's biggest disappointment for me. The Strom has such awesome lighting that even with my lousy eyes I can see to ride at night. I know if I ever succeed in getting a Tiger the headlight upgrade will be a must-do.

Congrats on the new ride, 1000! I search Tigers for sale every day, and am amazed at the number of them out there with less than 4k miles... but less than 400? Wow!

[bomber]

I don't think anything this side of a small aircraft rivals the Strom's lights . . . . while riding in the Thulies last summer, dark moonless night, my Strom riding buddy flipped his brights on (while following about 1/4 mile behind) -- I almost fell off the bike.

[1000lbs]

Gave the Tiger a breif intro to my favorite local mountain road (Hwy 74) after work today, and I can safely say that I am now "ok" with parting with my Speed Triple   .  

I'm sure I'll miss the Speedy if/when it sells, but even while keepin it under 5 of maybe 6k rpm, I can feel the potential of the Tiger.  

I have the suspension set for rider and luggage according to the manual, and it does leave something to be desired.  Its not rubbish, just under sprung and needs some damping tweeks.  It was still good enough to knock off some of the tire whiskers that were still on the original rubber  .  When my center stand comes in I'll try to set the sag and damping as good as the stockers can do, but there will likely be some upgrades in the near future.

As for the engine, I'm still under run in limits, but it feels plenty strong down low and the pipe sounds pretty good, and not too loud with the baffle installed.  Its running the stock map now, but I may try to get to the dealer this week to get either the Arrow street tune or TOR tune installed.  I've been searching the Tiger board, but haven't found a clear answer to which tune to run with the baffle in and the snorkle modified  .

I'll try to get to the lights this week to, but I don't tend to do much night riding this time of year.

[pushr0d]

Sweet bike!

By all accounts, the Tigers (and most of the other Triumphs) are sprung for little people.  If you ride at 200lbs or more, you're gonna want uprated springs on both ends.

Until you do, be careful pushing it in the corners.  The Tiger has a good bit of fork travel, and when you compress either or both ends, it changes the steering rather dramatically.

[bomber]

Agreed that the Tier is undersprung -- I'm not sure it's any worse in this regard than many other makes -- both ends of a fair amoun t of travel, but ot's not caused me any difficulty -- the bike lets you know what's going on pretty well.

I'd suggest cranking more preloads and damping into yours . . . . . it'll never be Ohlins-like, but you can get it OK-ish ;-}

[Lucky 13]

Thanks, I read up on that while waiting to pick it up last week.  I took care of the airbox mod yesterday while I was under the tank.  Got my plate today, so I will be off to the dealer to get the arrow race tune loaded for the pipe and air box asap.  The previous owner installed the pipe, but no ECU tune.  By most accounts and dyno sheets on the web, this alone should put the Tiger up to Speed Triple numbers and clean up the low throttle .

Its been a while since I had to go through break in period.   Its killing me to not hear that pipe at full song, but I should be through that by the end of the weekend.

Let the farkle begin!  I'm off to order my center stand (should be standard), hand guards, and sw motech tail rack.  Just the essentials for now, I'll get to the bigger stuff after some miles and evaluation.

Apologies for a tangential question here...But I'd heard that it's difficult/impossible to register a bike in CA that was purchased out-of-state with less than 7500 miles on it. But it sounds like you had no trouble buying the bike in AZ and getting the CA registration? I ask because I'm in the market for a (slightly) used bike and might find myself in this situation soon!

[1000lbs]

Apologies for a tangential question here...But I'd heard that it's difficult/impossible to register a bike in CA that was purchased out-of-state with less than 7500 miles on it. But it sounds like you had no trouble buying the bike in AZ and getting the CA registration? I ask because I'm in the market for a (slightly) used bike and might find myself in this situation soon!

If it has less than 7500 miles and was registered in a state other than California, CA DMV considers it a "new" vehicle.  The requirement for new vehicles is that the vehicle must be manufactured for sale in California.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffvr29.htm

So here is what to look for.  Any vehicle manufactured for sale in California will have an emissions lable that will read something to the effect of : meets all federal and California emissions requirements for the year of production ****.  The key here is to find the emissions sticker and be sure that it has the word California on it.  The emissions sticker is not the Federal vehicle safety sticker which never reads California and will always have the VIN on it.  That was the hold up on my purchase.  The seller found the Saftey sticker and said "California is not on there". I wouldn't buy it, without verifying the CA emissions sticker, cause DMV will say, no CA sticker no plate.  If it does have a sticker you should be good to go.

Hop this helps.

[Lucky 13]

If it has less than 7500 miles and was registered in a state other than California, CA DMV considers it a "new" vehicle.  The requirement for new vehicles is that the vehicle must be manufactured for sale in California.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffvr29.htm

So here is what to look for.  Any vehicle manufactured for sale in California will have an emissions lable that will read something to the effect of : meets all federal and California emissions requirements for the year of production ****.  The key here is to find the emissions sticker and be sure that it has the word California on it.  The emissions sticker is not the Federal vehicle safety sticker which never reads California and will always have the VIN on it.  That was the hold up on my purchase.  The seller found the Saftey sticker and said "California is not on there". I wouldn't buy it, without verifying the CA emissions sticker, cause DMV will say, no CA sticker no plate.  If it does have a sticker you should be good to go.

Hop this helps.

That's exactly what I needed to know, thanks for the info and quick reply. I'm on the lookout for an '08 or '09 Sprint ST -- I'll have to find out where the sticker is on that bike so I can ask a seller to look for it.

[desert_rider]

That's exactly what I needed to know, thanks for the info and quick reply. I'm on the lookout for an '08 or '09 Sprint ST -- I'll have to find out where the sticker is on that bike so I can ask a seller to look for it.

I helped 1000lbs bring that beautiful Tiger back from AZ.  Both his Speed Triple and Tiger had it on top of the air box.  Sprint is most likely the same.

[rgbeard]

Many manufacturers are now building "world cars/bikes".  Instead of making differing models for CA, Japan and other tight-emission areas, they make vehicles that meet the strictest simultaneously.  This allows them to reduce cost by not managing differing regulations.

I can't speak for Triumph, but I know firsthand that Jaguar does this.  You may find, if you speak to someone knowledgeable about a particular brand you may find it the case, and if so it would simplify your shopping.

[1000lbs]

In regards to Triumph, they have two builds for their models, one of which is California specific the other is not CA compliant.  

To make the process a little easier, get the VIN for the bike you are looking at, and have a friendly dealer run a VIN inquery through the Triumph database.  The VIN inquery will let them know if it is a California model, and if there are any outstanding recalls that need to be addressed.  California models will have the CA emissions sticker somewhere.

As for finding the sticker, yeah its a PITA.  On both my Speedy and Tiger you have to remove the tank to get to the top of the airbox where the sticker is located.  As d_r said, its likely the same for the Sprint.  

[Lucky 13]

This is great, thanks for all the good info everyone. Too bad Triumph makes some bikes not to California spec :/ I know BMWs are all CA-compliant which made shopping for them a bit easier.

Will definitely go the VIN + dealer computer check route -- not likely I'll be getting sellers to pull their gas tanks for me looking for some crazy California tree-hugging certification sticker!

[BlueRidgeKat]

Second owner, and not even 500 miles?  What has the world come to....

Excluding STN and IBA members, this sounds about like the norm to me.

[Lucky 13]

If it has less than 7500 miles and was registered in a state other than California, CA DMV considers it a "new" vehicle.  The requirement for new vehicles is that the vehicle must be manufactured for sale in California.

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/fast_facts/ffvr29.htm

So here is what to look for.  Any vehicle manufactured for sale in California will have an emissions lable that will read something to the effect of : meets all federal and California emissions requirements for the year of production ****.  The key here is to find the emissions sticker and be sure that it has the word California on it.  The emissions sticker is not the Federal vehicle safety sticker which never reads California and will always have the VIN on it.  That was the hold up on my purchase.  The seller found the Saftey sticker and said "California is not on there". I wouldn't buy it, without verifying the CA emissions sticker, cause DMV will say, no CA sticker no plate.  If it does have a sticker you should be good to go.

Hop this helps.

OK, for the record I'm not planning to screw around with this because I know all too well what a PITA the DMV can be...But how exactly do they establish/verify the mileage on a bike when you register it? Does someone actually walk out and switch the bike on and read the odo on the spot? Hard to imagine any of those folks actually getting up from behind their desks. I know if you buy from a dealer they fill out all the proper paperwork including the odo reading yada yada, but if you buy from a private seller it's all pretty much on the honor system if I remember right? i.e., Filling in the purchase price for tax purposes, etc.?

As for me, I've listed my BMW for sale and started trolling the internets for a lightly used Sprint ST. Looking forward to finding a new ride!

[1000lbs]

Its really not that hard to get through the DMV if you find a deal on a CA model bike and are prepared when you arrive.

Yes someone from the DMV will come out to inspect the bike and verify the miles on the odo.  They also inspect for appropriate VIN stamp, engine number, and emissions sticker.  Thats pretty much it.  They don't look for any safety or emissions equipment during the inspection.  Their job is to verify that the numbers match the title from the other state and the milage is accurate.

I've done this twice now with an ST1300 from NV and now the Tiger from AZ.  The biggest pain is removing plastic or parts to have visible access to the info on the bike they are looking for.

Good luck with your moto shopping.

[Lucky 13]

Its really not that hard to get through the DMV if you find a deal on a CA model bike and are prepared when you arrive.

Yes someone from the DMV will come out to inspect the bike and verify the miles on the odo.  They also inspect for appropriate VIN stamp, engine number, and emissions sticker.  Thats pretty much it.  They don't look for any safety or emissions equipment during the inspection.  Their job is to verify that the numbers match the title from the other state and the milage is accurate.

I've done this twice now with an ST1300 from NV and now the Tiger from AZ.  The biggest pain is removing plastic or parts to have visible access to the info on the bike they are looking for.

Good luck with your moto shopping.

Good to know, thanks again!

[Dan K]

COngrats on a great find.  Another threadjack....

Anyone have info on the airbox mod for the 1050?  Just picked up a Sprint myself and would love to uncork a few extra ponies...I'm used to some seriously fast bikes (Tuono, Ducatis, FZ1, k1300S, etc.) and while it's plenty fast, I wouldn't mind some more oomph especially if it's easily available...

- Dan

[Punchdude]

COngrats on a great find.  Another threadjack....

Anyone have info on the airbox mod for the 1050?  Just picked up a Sprint myself and would love to uncork a few extra ponies...I'm used to some seriously fast bikes (Tuono, Ducatis, FZ1, k1300S, etc.) and while it's plenty fast, I wouldn't mind some more oomph especially if it's easily available...

- Dan

check out tiger1050.com.  same motor and there are tons of info on the site to do the airbox mod....

[R Doug]

Bravo!  That's a great deal on an excellent bike.  May you have many happy miles on it!  

[1000lbs]

COngrats on a great find.  Another threadjack....

Anyone have info on the airbox mod for the 1050?  Just picked up a Sprint myself and would love to uncork a few extra ponies...I'm used to some seriously fast bikes (Tuono, Ducatis, FZ1, k1300S, etc.) and while it's plenty fast, I wouldn't mind some more oomph especially if it's easily available...

- Dan

Dan,

I'm not sure the same mod applies to the Sprint, but on the Tiger it is really easy.  

The Tiger's air box is identical to the Speed Triple with the exception of a snorkel fitted in the Tiger's air box.  The snorkel is only open on the left hand side, the right side is a blocked of blank copy of the left.  In the center of the snorkel is a some what small opening for the air to enter the air box.  This snorkel really seems to restrict air flow as compared to the dual intake funnels on the Speedy.  

To mod the Tiger you simply pull the snorkel completely out, or as I did, cut the blocked right hand side open (smoothing the edges) and widen the opening in the center of the snorkel to the first set of thick ribbing on the snorkel.  Then get the exhaust of your choice, free flowing filter, a new fuel map (tuneboy or dealer installed Triumph map) and most dyno runs show a big jump of 10-15 bhp  .  The Tigers are pretty stuffed up as delivered from the factory.

It was the first thing I did with the Tiger when I brought it home.  Now, on back to back runs I honestly can't feel a bit of difference between the Tiger and Speedy in the power department  .

Hope this helps.

[Croak]

It's my understanding there's not much cheap power to be uncorked from the 1050 Sprint.  

You can get the Sprint up to Speedy levels with a good aftermarket or TOR and matching tune though.

The same motor in the Speed Triple gets a few extra ponies due to a less restrictive exhaust, and the Tiger has a few less because of a more restrictive exhaust (which is why they plugged up the airbox..can't flow it out, don't need it coming in).