Greetings - in search of advice

[wildcard996]

After 35 years of riding I think it may be time to try a triumph. I’ve been mostly a sports bike rider owning a mixture of YZFs, FZR, GSXRs, and several Fireblade. A few years ago I had a tdm900, which I enjoyed but sold to fund a replacement engine for my last Fireblade after spinning a bearing. In hindsight I should have parted out the blade and kept the tdm as shortly after the rebuild I sold the blade and bought my current bike, a 2008 aprilia shiver. The thought being I would be more likely to retain my license.

Of late I’ve found my self doing longer journeys so am looking for something with a screen. After the experience with the TDM I think the Tiger 1050 may be the next logical step, and the best place I’ve found to seek advice and experience, good, bad, and ugly, is the owners forums - so here I am.

[tiggersteve]

 

A very capable and underrated bike and pretty bulletproof,
Are you looking at a 1050 or Sport
can't comment on the Sport
1050:
buy the latest model you can as Triumph constantly tweaked it without shouting about the hidden updates,
Suspension is adequate, rear shocks particularly can get tiered,
when looking, chain should have plenty of slack (40-45mm) helps with gear changes (remember it's Triumph  )
calipers can stick, check pad retaining pins for butchery a sign if they've been looked after or not, normally a good clean will sort it,
Sump bolts can come loose so any sign of oil underneath is usually due to this,
just a few easy and quick observations which are really down to how the bike has been looked after than inherent problems
 

[Paullie]

Tiger 1050 - 2007 to 2012. Lovely motor, rev happy, likes owners who are tall and don't ride too much at night, and don't need to carry too much luggage. ABS was an option, but standard on the last of the line SE models. Lots of different colours.

Tiger Sport (I) - 2013 to 2015. Some important upgrades, most importantly much better headlights (now OK to ride at night), slightly larger luggage, slightly lower seat. Very different power characteristics - peak torque a clear hump in the 3k to 4k power band - quite handy for suburban riding. Also front fork springs uprated slightly. ABS standard. Colours red or white.

Tiger Sport (II) - 2016 on. First ride-by-wire model, more electronics, many small improvements over the first Sport. More controllable power delivery, peak torque now over much wider range. ABS standard. Most owners agree a slightly better model over the Sport I. No colours - various shades of black or grey ....      
(later, oh sorry, I forgot the silver - well that's a shade of grey really .....  ...).

You pays your money and takes your choice. All opinions my own ... !

[Casper2020]

Wildcard996, I have just purchased a 2013 Tiger Sport, bloody fantastic. In the past I have owned a Blackbird, 09 Tiger, GS and a Sprint ST.
I am 60 and 5’11, the riding position is brilliant, the bike appears to be able to do it all.
I am happy with my choice - good value for money in my opinion

Casper2020

[Paul2bikes]

Best bits: Headlights, low rpm grunt, build quality, lot of bike for price.

Worst bits: Rear caliper position, top heavy, luggage small on the inside.

[wildcard996]

Zombie thread Alert!!!

So a lot has happened since my initial post. I sold the Aprilia and went for a few months without a bike. I had been looking at custom bikes and the missus bought me a vTX1300s for my 50th Birthday

I love the bike and riding it most of the time, but:

Its long and heavy and it doesn't instill confidence especially in the wet
I want to do my IAM (tried a few years ago but was let down by the observer too many times)
I have been let down too many times by trains going to work so fancy something i can jump on, laptop in panniers, and carve through traffic (plus the VTX isn't ULEZ compliant)
I can't get tyres for the VTX! It was big inthe US market but in the UK the front tyre is a bit of a weird size and i ended up importing the last from Germany.

So i'm looking at a 1050 (Would love a sport but pennies wont stretch that far) and have seen a 2009 bike with a little over 20k on the clock within budget (as soon as I sell the VTX).

One question: are there different types of clocks for different years and when did they change? This is a 2009 bike with the idiot lights on the tacho and not on the left hand side of the clocks - is that normal and is this likely to be one of the years which suffer creacked pistons?