Trumph Tigger 900

[Jenna]

Been hunting around to find a new big trailie/adventure bike that would make a nice rebuild project and stumbled across a an early tigger in a salvage yard thats an easy repair. Uptil now i discounted a tigger thinking it was going to be too expensive but this bike is on the same lines as a clean transalp or tatty @ so its a viable option

Has anyone had a Mk1 tigger (that the 885cc) pre plastic crap model... if so how did you get on with it?.. I'm also trying to track down the tigger owners club as the website seams to have vanished, any links would be helpful.

[Shep]

Jenna

I have not had a Tiger but i had a 1991 Trident 900. One of my favorite bikes of all time, LOVED IT.

Now at that time all the Triumph range was modular so the Tiger has the same frame, engine etc. Peach of an engine pulls really hard everywhere, and very smooth but lots and lots of character. Good gearbox as well

Also the 900 triple is incredibly overengineered, so they go on for ever.

Good choice i reckon

[africajim]

Well, happy days, apart from name-calling my 955i Tiger, as I'm not a vindictive person, here's a link to the Tiger site I frequent.

http://www.triumph-tiger.com/phpBB2/

[scorch]

Been hunting around to find a new big trailie/adventure bike that would make a nice rebuild project and stumbled across a an early tigger in a salvage yard thats an easy repair. Uptil now i discounted a tigger thinking it was going to be too expensive but this bike is on the same lines as a clean transalp or tatty @ so its a viable option

Has anyone had a Mk1 tigger (that the 885cc) pre plastic cr*p model... if so how did you get on with it?.. I'm also trying to track down the tigger owners club as the website seams to have vanished, any links would be helpful.

I had a 98 tiger, 885cc. It was a nice bike. at 12k, i had to get the engine rebuild because a sparkplug head fell inside the motor. The bike had 30k miles when I sold it.

Its badly designed i think. You need to remove the carbs to service the air filter. Removing the front sprocket means you need to drain the oil. Putting on exhausts has you removing the swingarm.

The 955i's are way better. have a speed triple with 70k miles and its riding great!

[magwa]

Well Ive had on of those early ones.
A GR8 Bike the only thing to watch for is crap brakes ( seals perish) and NEVER START IT WITH A WEAK BATTERY!
The bike can ( and will backfire) it will sheer the spragg/ starter clutch and break a £35 small cog
RESULT in a major and full bike engine strip down.

Also as the above mentioned exhaust.......what was that about? Changing/ removing/ installing the exhaust does NOT involve taking the swing arm off... ( you see reading silly Haynes mannuals gives you silly idea's )

But the AT is a FAR FAR BETTER BIKE
It pains me to say that being a British bike fan

Good luck

Magwa

[Jenna]

thanks guys..

the bike is a T4 (T400) (colour coded clutch cover and bare trailing arm) and is very low miles for its year, read a few reports that all say the same thing Magwa about the spragg so thats some thing to watch for i guess

Although i do like the @ its only the RD03's, as the later are way too 'plastic fantastic' for my liking but finding a good 03 for £500-£800 is not going happen plus the tigger has much better off-road manners and there is no way if i buy it its going to stay on tarmac!!



oh and i also like the look of this..
Cagiva 900ie

[icenian]

I really like the style of the early Tigers, and being a 'modular' Triumph there should be loads of parts easily available (any part that doesn't need to be specific to the Tiger - like suspension - should be idential to any other Triumph of the era). General build quality of the older Triumphs is also far higher than later models, by all accounts.

Engines seem to be solid apart from the starter clutch problem, but if you're lucky that already broke (and the upgraded one won't break again). Daytona/Speed Triple cams and carbs go straight in to give you 100bhp (if you're mad?).

Brakes will be cr*p and rot, just like an AT. The Triumph 4 pot brakes are superb but I can't see any way you could get them onto a Tiger (you need a Daytona/Speed Triple front end, which will go straight on any early Triumph except the Tiger).

You probably already know about Sprint Manufacturing? Loads of parts and vast knowledge of Hinckley Triumphs. Dreadful web site, don't judge them on it! http://www.triumphparts.gbr.cc/

[Jenna]

lol yer did look at Sprints site and found sfa on tiggers so pretty well ignored it .. and the idea of Daytona top end sounds right up my street... thats a must do mod!!!

all the forums seam to be moaning the front end brakes are not that good so looks like mod 2 would be uprated discs and calipers, presumably the 4 pots are a larger disc so i can just machine up new adapters to match the 2 pot fork mounts to the 4 pot calipers the re do the disk mounts and fit bigger discs, also a good excuse to change to stainless hoses too....

[icenian]

lol yer did look at Sprints site and found sfa on tiggers so pretty well ignored it

They seem to have tigger stuff - from naughty stuff like race cans, to mundane stuff klike centre stand kits, to trivia like mirrors and bar end weights. Spares prices are good - e.g. seals for the 4 pot calipers (complete set) for 14 quid. They also break Hinkley Triumphs.

and the idea of Daytona top end sounds right up my street... thats a must do mod!!!

The 100bhp version of the 900 triple has a fair amount of grunt too, so it should suit the bike.

Of course, being a modular Triumph, you ought to be able to slot the 4 pot Daytona 1200 motor in. 147bhp. 115Nm.

all the forums seam to be moaning the front end brakes are not that good so looks like mod 2 would be uprated discs and calipers, presumably the 4 pots are a larger disc so i can just machine up new adapters to match the 2 pot fork mounts to the 4 pot calipers the re do the disk mounts and fit bigger discs, also a good excuse to change to stainless hoses too....

The original brakes are just like the AT. But a heavier bike

The 4 pot brakes are awesome. Some come with "Triumph" written on them, and some with "Nissin". Legend has it some of them were Brembo - I guess that would be the ones with Triumph on them??? I don't really know if that's true, but it would be worth checking. Sprint would know.

They fit floating 310mm discs.

[robelst]

A friend of mine owned one. He really liked it, although moaned about high servicing costs (valve clearances) and also the starter-clutch (or whatever it's called) failed and was very expensive to replace. At 45k it started to use more and more oil and decided to trade it in for a Super Tenere. If you're good at DIY go for it, otherwise it may proove an bottomless money-pit.

Personally I found it a bit too soft and heavy, also the engine's character (silky turbine-like rather than chunky and characterful) never gives you the impression you're actualy riding a traillie. However, I had a BMW R100GS at the time and had trouble enough keeping up with him on the road. Brakes were good too, although the subsequent dive could be quite scary.