Up to now I have done more than 300000 km on my Triumph Tigers. So I often get asked which modifications I have done to my Tiger. To answer that question I have created this list.
I am an average sized guy, but when looking into the standard rear mirrors all I can see are my shoulders. The
Triumph engineers designed the mirror arms, so that in case the bike falls over the mirrors won't hit the ground.
Instead the alloy handle bar end plugs will take the brunt of the impact. I personally fail to see the logic in it;
what good is it to save the inexpensive mirrors in case of a fall-down of the bike at the expense of hardly seeing
anything going on behind the bike?
Here is a picture of my extensions:
Any reasonably equipped workshop that has a lathe should be able to quickly produce these extensions. Mine are powder coated, but of course you could just spray-paint them as well.
This sounds easy, but is much more difficult than anticipated. I do a lot of mountain passes, and I need to know if that wet patch ahead is water or ice (or diesel fuel, but there a thermometer is useless...). I used a cheap thermometer, the important bit is that is has an external sensor:
The best location for the sensor I could find is here:
Even here the thermometer will give wrong readings while the bike is not moving. The hot air from the engine and radiator will cause the readings to be too high. But while driving the readings are absolut precise.
I believe a GPS must be positioned in direct view of the rider. One should not really have to take
one's eyes from viewing the road ahead in order to read the GPS screen. After checking on a variety of solutions,
I found the Touratech unit - but unfortunately they appear to have since ceased the production of the unit shown in below pictures.
For positioning the GPS in the correct upright position I had to drill two new bolt holes about 3 mm above the original holes. Otherwise
the GPS was facing too much downwards for my liking. I have contatced Touratec and they have promised to put these extra holes for
the Tiger 1050 in as standard in future, but if they haven't yet done this then I suggest you do the same.
Of course you will need to have the correct holder for you GPS type to fit onto the mounting.
I would not leave the GPS on the bike in Clichy-sous-Bois, but the mount is a strong deterrent for thieves as it is lockable and very solid.
About two thirds of all accidents involving motorbikes in my part of the world are caused by cage drivers. For this reason I have installed an HD video camera behind my windshield:
I am using camera equipment from this manufacturer. That thing consists of the
camera plus digital recorder unit. You could put the recorder into your pocket, but as mine is recording permanently I have placed it
in my tankbag. As you can see in the image it can be perfectly fitted onto the Touratech GPS holder. In this position it is impossible
to remove the camera without fist removing the windshield.
I have also installed a power outlet plug on the handlebar:
Into this plug I connect a 12 volt to 6 volt converter. Using that converter (which is also placed into my tankbag) I can now power the video recorder unit into which
I plug the camera directly from the
bike. I have routed the camera cable on the left side above the coolant expansion bottle. When not in use I put the camera cable into
a small bag which I have placed with a velcro strap onto the fuel tank above the expansion bottle. I suggest that you contact me in
case you need more details about the installation.
The recorder unit comes with a remote control which allows to start/stop the camera as well as "tag" any especially interesting moments to
allow quickly to find them later on your computer. I have placed the remote control here:
Please ignore the "warm/cold" control unit below the remote control. It belongs to my heated gloves. Those gloves are also a great add-on, but sadly they are no longer available from the manufacturer. The camera allows Full HD video to be recorded (1920 x 1080 px). I have it currently set to 1280 x 720 px. Here is an original recording as it came from the camera:
The recorder can use SD cards with up to 32 GB capacity. In 1280 x 720 px resolution an eight-hour biking trip will generate around 20 GB of video data. On longer trips I take an external harddrive with me (aside from my laptop) and in the evening transfer the data from the SD card to that external disk to have the SD card empty and ready for the next day.
The Triumph three-cylinder engines run so smooth that I frequently find that I am doing 120 kph in fifth gear. Like on my previous Tiger I have fitted a digital gear indicator to my current bike:
The model shown above contains a battery voltage indicator and is no longer available. But the standard model (with just the gear indicator) is still available from the manufacturer in England. I have written a detailed instruction page on how to fit the indicator. You find that page here.
I have an alarm fitted to the bike. Within about two to three weeks that alarm would empty the battery. For this reason I have an Optimate battery conditioner permanently installed in my garage. As I have replaced the fairly weak original battery type Yuasa YTX12-BS with the more powerfull (and significantly more expensive) type Yuasa YTZ14S I want my battery in top condition at all times. To enable a quick connection I have placed the connection cable that comes with the conditioner unit under the seat of my bike:
A seven Amp fuse is placed into the cable and you can see that the connector has a decent rubber cover to prevent water or dust to get in while the bike is out.
The original suspension is not bad, but certainly has its limitations in steep curves with uneven surfaces. If you ride two-up then the weight will quickly become a problem for the original suspension. There are several aftermarket suspension systems available. After a thorough investigation I have opted for the Wilbers 640 system. I selected the version with a hydraulic adjuster wheel. This makes corrections for different loads very easy. I can definitely say that the suspension (I replaced front and aft) is greatly improved by that investment.
Everyone that has a standard Triumph Tiger 1050 laments the poor performance of the headlight unit. In my opinion the weak headlight poses a severe safety hazard for the biker. So I took the liberty of converting my headlamps to HID. I have written a full documentation with all parts required and a step-by-step guide on how to do that. You can find it here. The result looks like this:
Another safety-relevant flaw is the tame original horn on the Tiger 1050. I have seen various solutions including truly monstrous compressed air horn solutions. However, why not keep it simple? I have replaced the original horn with a horn from a Landrover Defender, part number YEB10027 (Britpart number: GI76332). It is a straight fit and all I did was to place some wire mesh over it to prevent the big insects from getting inside:
The horn is far louder than the original, yet not infernally loud. So there is no need to put the original horn back on for the MOT, contrôle technique, TÜV, WOF or whatever inspections are carried out in your part of the world.