Premium Member keithu Posted April 24, 2017 Premium Member Share Posted April 24, 2017 I'm in Los Angeles on business, so I rented a Triumph Tiger 800 XCX from Eaglerider for the weekend. I picked the Tiger because I felt it would be similarish to my FJ-09: light, comfortable, and powerful enough to get out of its own way. I picked up the bike near LAX Saturday afternoon, rode up PCH through Malibu to Port Hueneme for the evening, and then spent Sunday scratching around the Santa Monica mountains. It's LA, so I had to split lanes from LAX up I-405, I-10, and much of PCH from Santa Monica to almost the LA county line. The Tiger is great for lane splitting, narrow and upright. Traffic finally eased around Neptune's Net, but as I gassed it hard into a sweeper along the coast I got into a bad weave. The bike was set up for someone way smaller than me, but fortunately the suspension is easy to adjust. Fork preload was adjusted by hand with a knob, and shock preload with an Allen wrench from the toolkit. Nice! The Tiger handled much better with some preload dialed in and never did anything scary, but it was still too eager to drag the pegs. I spent a lot of time in twisties - Mulholland, Decker, Encinal, Stunt, Tuna, etc. - and I was grinding the peg feelers hard around almost every corner. I suspect the Tiger I rode had a lowering link in the rear shock or something. Whatever the cause, it was irritating. Speaking of Low, the bike also had Triumph's accessory low seat. It put me into a bucket that grew painful after just 30-40 miles. Fortunately I stopped a lot, but there's no way I could tour on that seat. I may just be spoiled by the Mr. Ed's Moto custom seat on my FJ. The most surprising thing to me though was the motor. An 800cc triple should be similar to an 850cc triple, right? Not at all. The Tiger has pep, but it is a far cry from the FJ. The Tiger is a willing travel partner, but the FJ-09 aims to misbehave. I don't know what is less exciting: the Triumph's power, or exhaust note. The Tiger has some nice features: the cruise control is handy, the transmission is butter smooth, and suspension adjustment is easy. And I can overlook the horrible seat, since it's obviously not designed for me. But if I spent $13,700 on a Tiger 800 XCX and then rode an FJ-09, I'd have some serious buyer's remorse. It shouldn't be all about the motor. But it is, it so is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angrygirafe Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 I sold my Tiger to get an FJ. One of the better decisions I've made. The Tiger is capable, reliable, predictable, but it was never really fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duhs10 Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 I sold my Tiger to get an FJ. One of the better decisions I've made. The Tiger is capable, reliable, predictable, but it was never really fun. That is the same way I felt about my Versys when I decided to upgrade. '15 FJ-09 w/ lots of extras... Fayetteville, GA, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member keithu Posted April 24, 2017 Author Premium Member Share Posted April 24, 2017 A Versys 650 I assume? I can't imagine anyone being bored by the Versys 1000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duhs10 Posted April 24, 2017 Share Posted April 24, 2017 Yes 650.. great bike, but just lacked excitement. I looked at the Versys 1000 when I bought the FJ and thought the FJ had more character and felt quicker. '15 FJ-09 w/ lots of extras... Fayetteville, GA, USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jo1000 Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 My buddy has a Tiger, I like it it's a fun bike to ride. But his bike burns oil ALOT, almost 2qts every 4k miles, it's a known trait of these machines. Sad thing is the bike did it right out of the crate, he only has 7k miles on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koth442 Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 Some Triumph's burn, some don't. My Daytona had 60k+ miles when I sold her, never burnt oil. My buddies Tiger XC doesn't burn oil either. '15 FJ09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivabign Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 I took a long look at the Tiger XRX before I bought the FJ. Nice bike, comfortable with a smooth engine, but I thought it lacked power down low and the engine really puts out a lot of heat (not good in SoCal) and would have been around 3K more than the FJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angrygirafe Posted May 2, 2017 Share Posted May 2, 2017 I took a long look at the Tiger XRX before I bought the FJ. Nice bike, comfortable with a smooth engine, but I thought it lacked power down low and the engine really puts out a lot of heat (not good in SoCal) and would have been around 3K more than the FJ. You're not kidding about the heat. That thing kept me warm all winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.