Finally...another bike for DenArnold

Looks great

I'm glad you are enjoying your new bike, and you can get in off-road practice for when you come see my part of the world! Try taking out the rubbers on the footpegs. You will have much better control in the wet and muddy conditions when your feet can grip the pegs. I doubt you will even notice any extra vibration.
 
TKC 80's.

I always put them on my GSA, great in the dry, wet, mud and cornering but the Beemer was a heavy bike.

Read bad things about the Heidenau in the wet.
 
K-60's vs TKC-80

Allroad tires choice advise sought here: Heidenau K60 Scout or Continental TKC80?

Heidenau!

TKC 80's.

I always put them on my GSA, great in the dry, wet, mud and cornering but the Beemer was a heavy bike.

Read bad things about the Heidenau in the wet.

I have run both theses tires on my 990. I really like the TKC-80's, both front and rear. They were fine in all conditions but they both wear quickly on the street, and face it we ride dual sports on the street at least 50% of the time. The rear TKC would last about 8000 km before it was BALD. The front could be stretched to about 9000, or even 10,000 if you could stand the vibration from the worn tire. The TKC-80 front has a knobby pattern that goes 2-1-2-1 around the center of the tire. The dual knobs wear faster than the single, so after about 4000 km you will see a distinctive scalloping of those duals. After about 7000 km it is very noticible at city road speeds.

The Heidenau K-60 rear by comparison has given me 18,000 kms for the last 2 rear tires. It does square off with a lot of street miles, but takes a long time and is not annoying at all. They are fine in All conditions, and I ride them in the wet a lot. I ride rain or shine every day during our 6-7 month season here. They can be leaned over in the corners every bit as far as the TKC's and have much less road vibration (Hell I dragged a boot on the pavement, running these).

The Heidenau front I have only used on a fellow-riders bike, so have limited experience with it. My first impressions in gravel were not great, but I was a green (gravel) rider at the time. I would not hesitate to use it now. I have used a combination of a K-60 rear and a TKC-80 front for over 40,000 kms and liked the combination. Recently I have found a better combination of a K-60 rear and a T-63 (MIchellin) front. It has a 2-2-2-2 patern around the center of the tire and gives nice even wear, allowing over 10,000 kms per tire.

In the Mud they are both very similar (not great) with the TKC holding a slight edge in side-slip grip. They both clear mud about the same. I have yet to find a dual-sport tire good in mud.

In Gravel the Heidenau will break loose slightly quicker than the TKC-80 which is no surprise, but holds a line just as well in the deep loose stuff. The Heidenau's also take heavy handed throttle in the loose much better, not tearing off chunks as fast. I like to spin the rear and drift in the gravel and the TKC's were fun but the knobbies tend to start tearing off when you do that. The design of the Heidenau keeps that tearing to just the corners of the outside knobs.

On the Street the Heidenau is the better tire hands down! It is also the better value by far, being cheaper to buy, and giving consistently MUCH better mileage.

If money was no object I would still by the Heidenau.
 
Very cool ride Arnold! Now Brad has some company here!

I'd love to have one of these and think I'd actually use it for commuting instead of the FZ1... more practical and economic.
 
That's really messed up considering where you are living Pete. So much for global warming, eh? LOL!

I havent been in the garage either. It costs a fortune to heat the garage. Once it is below 25 it isn't worth it. Currently 19, expecting little snow.

But we digress get the H's. :)

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
 
being 1m88 cm tall, I do get a lot of turbulence noise on my helmet from the Tigress windscreen. I bought myself a second hand windscreen which I'll cut a few inches shorter and try it out.
Another option is to get the larger and adjustable windscreen from Triumph, but as my friend experienced the same turbulence noise on his F800GS, he cut short his screen and really helped, so I'll try first this cheaper option.

On order is also a set of adjustable and short brake-clutch levers.
 
being 1m88 cm tall, I do get a lot of turbulence noise on my helmet from the Tigress windscreen. I bought myself a second hand windscreen which I'll cut a few inches shorter and try it out.
Another option is to get the larger and adjustable windscreen from Triumph, but as my friend experienced the same turbulence noise on his F800GS, he cut short his screen and really helped, so I'll try first this cheaper option.

On order is also a set of adjustable and short brake-clutch levers.

Don't buy any of the OEM Triumph screens. I bought the Puig adjustable touring screen and I am pretty happy with it. The vast majority of Tiger owners seem to favor the Madstad screen for functionality. I just can't get past the looks and price of them though as they look like a giant cruiser screen to me. They may be your best option at your height though.
 
just bought an OEM Triumph Tiger taller screen for half of the price, brandnew, so I reckon this I could not miss. Still need to find a timewindow to collect it as it not in my region...but it is spoken for...

Next I have moved up my front mudguard to enable a wider space between wheel and mudguard. Had some Aluminium 3mm thick plates cut such the mudguard is raised 42mm.
Behold the result



 
a little play in the dirt

I had a little first play in the dirt on a local industrial development area, lots of gravel terrain. Experiencing locking up the rear brike and trying to skid steer. Also almost lost the bike making a too sharp turn :angel: Lesson learned, put more weight on the front while making turn and loose gravel IS.NOT.THE.SAME.AS.PAVEMENT

A little vid is being processed. Here some pics after. It must said: I'M LOVIN IT!! :Rockon:


 
Dirt riding is addictive. Having the ability to keep going when the road turns from pavement to gravel / dirt opens up so many possibilities for exploration and is what excites me about riding.

It's fun getting dirty.

Good idea to raise the front fender if you plan on playing in the mud. I have had my front wheel nearly locked after getting clogged with mud, and I have the high fender on mine. I have yet to see a Tiger with a dirt bike style fender kit. There must be one out there with that done.
 
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I had a little first play in the dirt on a local industrial development area, lots of gravel terrain. Experiencing locking up the rear brike and trying to skid steer. Also almost lost the bike making a too sharp turn :angel: Lesson learned, put more weight on the front while making turn and loose gravel IS.NOT.THE.SAME.AS.PAVEMENT

A little vid is being processed. Here some pics after. It must said: I'M LOVIN IT!! :Rockon:



Now I am impressed. That's the way your bike should look-very nice!
 
Dirt riding is addictive. Having the ability to keep going when the road turns from pavement to gravel / dirt opens up so many possibilities for exploration and is what excites me about riding.

It's fun getting dirty.

Good idea to raise the front fender if you plan on playing in the mud. I have had my front wheel nearly locked after getting clogged with mud, and I have the high fender on mine. I have yet to see a Tiger with a dirt bike style fender kit. There must be one out there with that done.


Lots of folks are doing mods to raise the front fender on the tiger 3/4 to 1"
 
Did you shoot any video during the course? Where was this held (geographically)?

It's nice that you got pictures. When I did my course we had a company photographer on site which was nice. I just wish she had got some of my more hooligan moments on film.
 
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