NBD - Roary the Red...

[KungFooBob]

I've got four and I reckon I've managed just over 2,000 miles... Most of it on a single trip to Fronch.

I'll try harder next year now I've got my new BSA to plod about on.

[mangocrazy]

I've got four and I reckon I've managed just over 2,000 miles... Most of it on a single trip to Fronch.

I'll try harder next year now I've got my new BSA to plod about on.

I've got four running bikes and I'd say my annual mileage is very similar to KFB's and most of those miles were done in France.

[Rockburner]

Maybe it's me that's odd, I do 9000 miles a year on a bike and I only ride for fun, I don't commute on a bike, my car is cheaper to run and takes less time if you take into account getting motorcycle gear on and off, it's only 15 minutes in the car.

Motorcycle commuting definitely depends on various factors that are of varied importance to each rider.

Personally I enjoyed the mental stimulus of riding and the freedom from traffic-caused delays.

But if I was only travelling a few miles, then I could live without that for the convenience of the car.

Poor weather only really stopped me doing a really long commute when it got below freezing (and only then if a reasonable alternative was available).

If I can do a fun morning and evening bike ride over X miles in less time than it takes colleagues to travel X/3 or X/4 miles by public transport, then why wouldn't I.

[mangocrazy]

Back in the 1990s I was doing round trip commutes of 90-100 miles per day through very congested areas (Birmingham, Manchester, Warrington) and the only way to make sense of it was by bike. I put 80k miles on a brand new VFR in less than 6 years doing that. When I stopped contracting, went permie and lived a lot closer to work it actually took longer to get the bike out and get all the clobber on and off than it did to use the car, so from that point motorcycling went back to being a leisure/fun activity.

I really don't miss the commuting.

[Beancounter]

Back in the 1990s I was doing round trip commutes of 90-100 miles per day through very congested areas (Birmingham, Manchester, Warrington) and the only way to make sense of it was by bike. I put 80k miles on a brand new VFR in less than 6 years doing that. When I stopped contracting, went permie and lived a lot closer to work it actually took longer to get the bike out and get all the clobber on and off than it did to use the car, so from that point motorcycling went back to being a leisure/fun activity.

I really don't miss the commuting.

Prior to Covid I was doing 80 miles a day at least 4 days a week. The other day was in the car going to site. Then Covid hit and WFH became normal. I have more bikes now but less of a reason to use them. I miss the commute for similar reasons to what @Rockburner said - I find I sleep better if I've commuted home on the bike. No matter how much ACF50 you use, almost-daily commuting does muller your bike.

[mangocrazy]

The commute certainly got me bike-fit but unfortunately nearly all of the roads I was travelling were very uninspiring - lots of motorway with no real alternative if you wanted a realistic journey time. When I was travelling to Knutsford I did find some good A and B roads to cover, but that was about it. But back then at the weekend I was out with mates on the bike so it didn't matter too much.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I think the last time I regularly commuted by bike was in 1987 on a 350LC, the grand mileage of 4 miles each way, then I passed my car test and bought a Hillman Imp for £100, from there onwards I only used bikes for fun.

[Tricky]

As a few know, my Capo was stolen a few weeks back from outside of work. Insurance were quick to deal with it and made a very reasonable opening offer which I accepted.

Must-haves for a replacement bike were:

• 1. ULEZ compliant
  2. Upright riding position, nothing sporty even if the bike had risers.
  3. Reasonably light - I have an 1150GSA which is fine on the move but the weight and height are considerations for my dodgy knees. The Capo was fine as it was relatively low seat.
  4. Reasonably narrow - the Capo wasn't too bad but that's compared to the GSA and my 1200RT.
  5. Desirable (to me) - plenty of excellent commuting machines but a lot of them don't inspire. Maccecht is always raving about his Burgman but I'd rather take the train.

Budget was £6k at the top end but I really only wanted to spend £4.5k on something which is going to be ridden in all weathers. The short/almost bought list:

• 1. Ducati Multistrada DS1000 - always liked the first gen Multi but not ULEZ compliant.
  2. Yamaha Tracer 900 - like the engine but felt it was too samey as my MT09. The seat is also a torture device and even I notice the dodgy rear shock.
  3. Yamaha FZ1 - not nearly as upright a riding position as I thought, most of them not ULEZ compliant apparently.
  4. Triumph Tiger 800 - really like these and a good few in the price range but then I've already got a large adventure bike. Ditto for an early Honda AT with the added concern of seat height.
  5. Yamaha FJR1300 - quite a few around with desirable extras such as luggage and heated grips. I've only ever slung a leg over one, never actually test ridden but I remember the seat being quite wide and me only being on tiptoes.

What I really wanted was a modern TDM850 that wasn't a TDM850. I've had two. The first one, a 1996 mkII in silver and yellow, gave me some of my fondest biking memories. It was full of character and once the wet-weather misfire was sorted it never let me down. The second one, a later 1998 mkII, was at the opposite of the scale. Bought from a reputable private seller it looked in very good condition but was a lemon. The wet weather misfire was usually resolved using some self-amalgamating tape to reinforce the HT lead/plug cap connection. Not on TDM2, it was an ever-so-slightly loose connection on the ignition coil only found by spraying the running bike in water and watching for the spark to arc. an exhaust valve burned out 3k miles after the valves had supposedly been checked (24k mile intervals, FSH) and the rear shock mount snapped off. There were other more minor issues but those above are the headlines. Suffice to say I'm not going back to a TDM of any era.

So, looking for TDM ergonomics without a Yamaha badge I have bought this - Roary the Red Tiger (yes, all of our bikes and cars have a name):

Roary - IMG_20241201_125420_782 (Small).jpg

Roary - IMG_20241201_125406_464 (Small).jpg

Roary - IMG_20241201_125354_730 (Small).jpg

It's a 2014 Tiger 1050 Sport with 21.5k miles on it, FSH and whilst not perfect it does appear to have been well looked after.

No real plans to change anything on it. Maybe add panniers. It does have a cut-out on the dash trim for genuine Triumph heated grips so I'll either buy the grips or a new dash trim (the latter most likely as I have heated gloves). It already has a Delkevic titanium race can which isn't too loud and is way quieter than the road legal Remus which were on the Capo.

First impressions, I'm very pleased with it, it feels like getting on my first TDM. The engine is a cracker IMO and nicer than the MT09. Filtering is as I expected and TDM like though my filtering skills are not as good as they were 20 years ago.

I like the look of these- I've never ridden one, but read loads on them and know the motor.
When I bought the Multistrada 4 or so years back it was a toss up between it and one of these- if my particular spec Multi hadn't come up at the price and location it did, I am almost certain I'd have ended up on a Tiger 1050- will be interested to hear what you think of it knowing what you've had before (or maybe even still have? )

[Beancounter]

I like the look of these- I've never ridden one, but read loads on them and know the motor.
When I bought the Multistrada 4 or so years back it was a toss up between it and one of these- if my particular spec Multi hadn't come up at the price and location it did, I am almost certain I'd have ended up on a Tiger 1050- will be interested to hear what you think of it knowing what you've had before (or maybe even still have? )

Hi Tricky, still have the MT09. I prefer the Tiger, the engine is a bit less frantic/revvy and I'm better acquainted with the more upright riding position. No plans to sell the MT09 and it doesn't owe me anything, it's just a nice to have toy.



I've made a couple of changes to the Tiger recently - front and rear suspension. The stock suspension was okay, a little bouncy but even with the preload would up I was using 50-60% of the available travel. The rear shock had rebound adjustment but I couldn't feel any difference whereas the rebound adjustment on the front was more like an on/off switch.

First was to fit a Shock Factory M-shock. At £390 I guess this is at the budget end of after-market shocks based on the price and the fact it is combined rebound/compression adjustment. I opted to do without ride height adjustment given the Tiger is tall enough for me - I know that's not what ride height is primarily for but I'm happy to sacrifice a bit of weight over the front in return for actually being able to swing my leg over the seat. Fitting the shock was a doddle, took about 30 minutes and didn't require any special tools.

Shock Factory.jpg (34.75 KiB) Viewed 237 times

For the front I was toying with the idea of fitting a K-Tech SSK fork piston kit but whilst these are a cheaper upgrade at circa £200 they are not a DIY fitment so you have to pay for the labour charges at an approved fitting centre. I spoke with Brook Suspension for the best part of half an hour and decided to go with an Andreani Misano cartridge kit. At £571 it was only slightly more expensive than the K-Tech with fitting. One cartridge does rebound damping and the other does compression damping.

Andreani Misano Cartridges.jpg (32 KiB) Viewed 237 times

I was advised the job would be easier with some tools:

• a syringe for setting the air gap - fill the fork leg with oil, set the rod to what the air gap should and suck out the excess, no need to mess around with a ruler.
  a damper rod bleed tool - this screws on to the top of the damper rod so that you can extend/compress it until it's filled with fork oil. You can use a pair of pliers instead but this works better and makes the job quicker and cleaner.
  Spring compressor tool - this collar fits around the fork leg with a 'finger' on each side to hold the fork spacer allowing you to put pressure on the spring and accessing the lock nut securing the fork top in place. In theory it's supposed to allow one-man operation but I wasn't working alone (thanks @maccecht)

Oldbones - Fork Oil tool.jpg (39.49 KiB) Viewed 237 times

The Misano cartridge is pretty much a straight replacement for whatever's in the fork leg and fitting is therefore quite straightforward, the only real problem being the threaded inserts at the bottom of the cartridge are an M10 x 1.25 pitch whereas the bolt from my fork leg is an M8 x 1.25. Brook Suspension sent out the correct insert quickly and FOC. Swapping the insert on the rebound cartridge was easy enough because you could get a screwdriver through the cartridge so as to hold the cartridge in place. The compression cartridge was slightly more difficult because you could use the screwdriver method. Instead some heat was needed to break the blue thread lock on the insert.

The instructions from Andreani aren't the best either but that didn't hinder progress.

Both the shock and front springs are weight-appropriate. The difference with both fitted is quite literally night and day. I'm not riding any quicker and I still don't really know what the suspension is doing but the bike feels more stable, more confidence inspiring particularly in corners with the bike holding its line better, more comfortable over rougher surfaces.

Not cheap upgrades but I plan on keeping the bike and having replaced the suspension on my other bikes I know it's worth it.