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Any Triumph Tiger owners around?

3K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  ThunderBlue 
#1 ·
Saw this post on a Bandit site. Are they really this bad, or he just got a lemon? Glad I resisted getting one a few years ago, altho' if resale is that bad, maybe that's why I had considered it? lol

Copy/Paste:

"My '13 Triumph Tiger is on its way to a new home and a new owner.
THANK GOD.
Paid $12,800 for it. Added $3,000 in accessories. Stopped riding it in '16.
Sold it today with 50,450 miles for $2,200.
What a POS. Bad bike, bad dealer. Bad manufacturer.

Then today when the guy came back from the test ride the battery was literally smoking. What a nightmare. I replaced the voltage regulator on it last summer. Now this. Unreal! I had a spare on hand so I threw that in on the deal (as well as probably $400-$500 of other miscellaneous spare parts, software, etc).

The new owner is a mechanic so I hope he has the patience, money and skills to deal with everything. This bike should have been better, MUCH better.
 
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#2 ·
#4 ·
follow up post......and he's a Versys owner too.

"I had the worst dealer in the world. They refused to warranty the oil consumption because I self-serviced it. I was somewhat hopeful after speaking to Triumph North America but they had to speak to me dealer. Naturally they lied and claimed I hadn't been in there since the 600 mile service and had never issued a complaint about oil consumption! Boom, just like that, no warranty.

When I sent proof that they did my 24k service, Triumph North America responded with: "This is between you and your dealer".

I didn't have the return spring issue. My shift shaft failed. This was recalled on the Daytona's but not on the Tigers. Go figure. Took six weeks for that to come in. Then 2,000 miles later the shifter pawl quit working. This was followed by another 6 week wait.

Got to pull the clutch out twice during the third summer I owned it.

It was always something with it. I have 60k miles between my DR650 and my Versys. ZERO failures. My Tiger was nearly worn out by 44k miles."
 
#5 ·
Beautiful bike all the way. The Triumph name, British muscle. I agree with dmer, the reason I like Japanese bikes is their reliability. And especially Kawis no-nonsense approach to engineering and performance. For me,this is the real juice and it trumps all other considerations. You have to love the look of your bike but it wont help if the guts of the bike are gonna let you down. Especially an "Adventure" bike if you have to fix it in the middle of nowhere..
 
#6 · (Edited)
This isn't REALLY topical, but I had TWO Triumph 650s, a '62 Thunderbird and a '62 Bonneville, back from about '63 to '67.

EVERY ride I'd spend time AFTER, either tightening or REPLACING FASTENERS THAT'D FALLEN OFF, and BOTH had their alternators break apart while riding, taking out the primary chaincases, the Bonneville doing it near the Grand Coulee Dam in WA - luckily I found a near-by welder to weld the hole closed (after taking all the alternator bits out and "chucking" them [LUCKILY the 'Bonny' had a magneto, so I was able to ride it back home by avoiding riding at night!]

I turned the '62 into a fuel-drag-bike using the twin-carb Bonneville head (sold the Bonneville as a single-carb bike), and then sold it, piece-by-piece just before joining the RCAF in summer '67.

*WildThing4 by Ed Copeman, on Flickr

Does any part of ME miss them...?

NO 'flaming way'....

:thumbdown: - :thumbdown:
 
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#8 ·
This isn't REALLY topical, but I had TWO Triumph 650s, a '62 Thunderbird and a '62 Bonneville, back from about '63 to '67.



*WildThing4 by Ed Copeman, on Flickr

Does any part of ME miss them...?

NO 'flaming way'....

:thumbdown: - :thumbdown:


Lock Up Your Daughters.....:grin2::grin2:
 
#7 ·
The stigma of Triumphs from that era are what kept me from buying a Tiger, or Sprint ST. I always had the reliability factor firmly entrenched in my tiny brain. :grin2: I knew they surely had progressed in quality since those days, but I just couldn't force myself to take the plunge. It's a shame, cuz they "look" great.I had the same bias against BMW's......fair or not, I just couldn't shake it, altho' I considered a 1200LT or RT occasionally. I've had over 40 different bikes, and all were from the big four Japanese makers. Kawasaki has been my favorite since my 73 Z1. That bike was a game changer! Pokey by today's standards, but a superbike in the 70's.

BTW, great pic!! You got started a little before me. I turned 16 in '71, and started out with a 350 honda street scrambler.
 
#9 ·
The Tiger XCX is a sexy machine. I wouldn't mind having one in the garage. I've heard the horror stories but also have a friend who has had years of trouble-free ownership.

I would guess the percentage of trouble-free Versys miles is higher than that of the Tiger...
 
#10 ·
My riding buddy has a Tiger. Think he has around 45k miles on it.

He bought it new and the engine was rebuilt under warranty when it had around 5k miles. Don't remember the reason for the rebuild.

Then about a year ago the counter sprocket fell off on a ride. He had never turned a wrench on it, only the dealership.

I rode it a couple of years ago. Was not too impressed compared to my KTM 1190 at the time.

Just my 2 cents.
 
#11 ·
I had a Tiger (Steamer)... good bike, no problems. and back in the day I had Triumph 650 & 750 twins (and a couple singles, but they were re-badged BSAs). I had BSAs aplenty. all those old bikes needed more maintenance. none of them had a balancer shaft, so ya, stuff shakes off
 
#13 ·
i always wanted the big tiger. they just look nice. i imagine i'd go s10 first. i have a 2015 aprilia caponord 1200 that i put 87,000 miles on in just over 3 years. not a single issue except a piece of lube turned to snot in the water pump and and caused it to weep a little. warranty fix. plenty of other riders had plenty of problems though. you never know what you'll get. i'm happy with the v650. great commuter. i don't plan on more than 22,000 miles per year. :grin2:
 
#14 ·
The triumph tiger is a good looking bike. I really thought I wanted one a couple of years ago, then I remembered. I had a 06 triumph daytona that would run like a spotted ape, but it always seemed to have electrical problems. The charging system was garbage. Went through a couple of regulators. Then switched to mosfet regulator. Better but still had problems. I also owned a bonneville in the early 70s and had electrical problems with it.

When i was a very young kid in the 50s my best friends older brother had a bonneville. beautiful bike, but it leaked oil. The oil would actually leak through the engine covers. I can remember him taking the covers off cleaning them real good then put them in the oven, and bake them to get the oil out of the pores. After they cooled he would clean the inside of the covers with alcohol, and paint the inside with (best I can remember) some type of lacquer.This would stop them from leaking for about a year, then he would have to do it all over again. I can also remember him cursing about damn lucas electrical parts.
As I stated earlier the Tiger is a good looking bike, but I don't think I want to own another triumph.
 
#15 ·
...When i was a very young kid in the 50s my best friends older brother had a bonneville. beautiful bike, but it leaked oil. The oil would actually leak through the engine covers....
My Triumphs leaked oil thru the primary chaincases until I "squared" them, then made a 'string' gasket* and put them back together. (On the drag-bike I just ran the clutch dry.)

*for a 'string' gasket you just loop string, held w/ some Permatex, along one side of the INNER chaincase (the WHOLE "circle"), then let it sit till it 'sets-up' and then GENTLY re-install the OUTER w/out disturbing the string.

A bit of a PITA, but at least THEN you'd have a non-leaky Triumph, which was ...quite unusual...!

;)
 
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