Clearing Away the Cobwebs
Have you noticed the tumbleweeds around here lately? We just spent a week bumming around northern California on a pair of rented Triumph Tigers and ignoring the blog.
BUT… Photos and posts are on the way. Don’t forget about me, ‘k? 🙂
Triumph Tigers? 2011 models? I want to hear about that. Tapping my foot with anticipation…tap…tap…tap…
Hiya T-
My Tiger was an ’09, I believe. The 1050 ABS model (which you’ll see in subsequent posts 🙂 )
Like you – I am a Triumph lover. I tend to tread lightly when it comes to professing any sort of brand loyalty, but… the Triumphs really do make my heart sing.
This particular bike felt like my Speed Triple went from a punk kid to being a grown-up; a little kinder & gentler. It did everything well and I really came away wondering why it isn’t more popular in the sport-touring market. With a suite of luggage on it – you can rock out in the canyons all day while still lugging a boatload of stuff along with you. A true sporty tourer. All of the fun of a sporty bike – without the pain of being folded up like origami on it.
Gas mileage was good – and actually seemed to do best when you were giving it the what-for out on the backroads. Once you started putt-putting around town the mileage suffered. We were seeing over 200 miles per tank on several occasions.
I’m not sure if it was the tires or running a much higher pressure than i am used to – but I felt at times that the front end was a little vague and the rear shock was set waaaaay soft. But I could chalk that up to a rental company trying to get a lot of miles out of a set of tires and setting the suspension for all around use.
My one true complaint… DEAFENING wind buffeting, even with ear plugs in.
Kenny my other half is on the lookout to put a Tiger in the garage, so I guess that is probably a testament to how much he enjoyed it.
I need something rugged to stable next to the R3. Gotta hop on a Tiger sometime and try it out.
The R3 will be useless when the Zombie Apocalypse manifests; I’ll need something to ride off-rode while Robin and I are fleeing the lepers, plus we can get the pit bull and the Belgian sheep dog in the saddle bags.
I figure the American Mastiff will stay behind and have a life time supply of fresh Zombie meat to keep her happy, and we’ll leave the pool full of water for her.
Waiting patiently. I hope you had a fabulous trip. Can’t wait to see all of the pics!
We really did. It was so beautiful out there. I even managed to relax.
Now I need to put my game face on and write these posts!