Please help me sort out my suspension

[YellowDog]

So I have a Tiger 1050 ABS and I was looking at a technology refresh. I agreed a price to trade for a new Tiger 1050 Sport, subject to a test ride.

Oh dear. It seems that 10hp more equates to 30hp less performance than my modded thumper. The new bike did however have some refinements to offer, one of those being better road handling.

So my choices are, either take a new Tiger 1050 sport and take a gamble on it being as good or better than mine after the same mods are transferred over, or just upgrading the suspension on my trusty steed.

I am located North of Auckland, so any recommendations would be very much appreciated.

Robert Taylor recommended establishments would certainly be a plus; 'cos he's da man in da know'

[Maha]

Why spend upwards of 3K on your current bike when you seem rightly taken with the new Tiger Sport?
If a deal can be done, and you are in the position to trade up/in, I know what I would be doing. I wanted the new Tiger Sport but my position said otherwise.

[Sable]

Oh dear. It seems that 10hp more equates to 30hp less performance than my modded thumper.

What do you mean by 'thumper'?

[YellowDog]

Why spend upwards of 3K on your current bike when you seem rightly taken with the new Tiger Sport?
If a deal can be done, and you are in the position to trade up/in, I know what I would be doing. I wanted the new Tiger Sport but my position said otherwise.

Well lucky me I found some cash I'd written off from my professional gambling days (share trading). The Tiger Sport is basically an S3 on stilts and I was well up for the technology refresh. I was just totally shocked with the lack of power, when compared to my modded bike and I am certainly not interested in upgrading to a slower bike. Before I would consider modding a new Tiger, I want to talk to someone whom has already done it, just to make sure it can be done and there's no 'gotchas' Triumph have put in place to make it impossible.

I'm now exploring the cost options of keeping my bike. $$$ suspension + $$$ Major Service + $$$ Tyres.

One thing that has swung the balance back in favour of a new bike is the fact that the Krauts at TuneECU have produced downloadable Race performance tunes for the new ECU. I had always assumed that user access to the ECU would not be possible. It's a Power Commander for FREE

[Robert Taylor]

Why spend upwards of 3K on your current bike when you seem rightly taken with the new Tiger Sport?
If a deal can be done, and you are in the position to trade up/in, I know what I would be doing. I wanted the new Tiger Sport but my position said otherwise.

That is making an assumption that a newer bike has improved suspension......................All too often that is very far from the truth when bike manufacturers are actively engaged in finding cheaper and cheaper ways to make suspension. That doesnt mean better function, unless you naively believe all the marketing spin.

Anyway, I will reply in detail re options for this bike

[Maha]

That is making an assumption that a newer bike has improved suspension......................All too often that is very far from the truth when bike manufacturers are actively engaged in finding cheaper and cheaper ways to make suspension. That doesnt mean better function, unless you naively believe all the marketing spin.

Anyway, I will reply in detail re options for this bike

Dentists work the same way, they would have your wisdom teeth out at great cost, when they are not even bothering you...
Attend to a problem when it is necessary.

It's entirely up to Y/Dog what he does, it's his money/bike.

[YellowDog]

That is making an assumption that a newer bike has improved suspension......................All too often that is very far from the truth when bike manufacturers are actively engaged in finding cheaper and cheaper ways to make suspension. That doesnt mean better function, unless you naively believe all the marketing spin.

Anyway, I will reply in detail re options for this bike

Thanks Robert. FYI: The new Tiger Sport does have consideraby better suspension than the previous model, so I guess that could be set up for me, but I do also relaise that it would not be as good as an RaceTech/Ohlins bespoke solution.

[Robert Taylor]

Dentists work the same way, they would have your wisdom teeth out at great cost, when they are not even bothering you...
Attend to a problem when it is necessary.

Thats why we are so busy, attending to neccessary problem solutions. There are those that are very happy with the mediocrity that is so often rammed down our throats, aka ''thats as good as it gets''. Personally ( and Im very much not alone ) I prefer engineering solutions that WORK, by engineers. Not by bean counters. There is a wide gulf between the two.

[Robert Taylor]

Thanks Robert. FYI: The new Tiger Sport does have consideraby better suspension than the previous model, so I guess that could be set up for me, but I do also relaise that it would not be as good as an RaceTech/Ohlins bespoke solution.

I would hope so because the forks especially in previous models were notoriously bad in their inability to absorb even mildly abrupt bumps. Ive had a quick look but there is no ''aftermarket'' research info that I have yet come across. There are of course initial road test reports but I would have to cynically say that I rate journalsits somewhere with politicians. The reality is if journalists said what really was the truth manufacturers would withdraw the advertising revenue that they so depend on.
You may be ahead of me on research info. For example are the forks still a totally seperated system i.e rebound totally in one leg and compression totally in the other leg? If that is the case theyd have to be making some very major changes to make the damn things actually work to an acceptable standard.

[YellowDog]

Hey Robert, yes indeed the fork configuration is still a totally separated system. Probably best that I send you an email. Cheers

[nzspokes]

Dentists work the same way, they would have your wisdom teeth out at great cost, when they are not even bothering you...
Attend to a problem when it is necessary.

It's entirely up to Y/Dog what he does, it's his money/bike.

Speaking of which, have you put a Busa shock in ya Bandit yet?

[Maha]

Speaking of which, have you put a Busa shock in ya Bandit yet?

Just waiting for that to be a problem area for me.

[Robert Taylor]

Just waiting for that to be a problem area for me.

It is better to say nothing at all and be thought of as a fool than to actually say something and remove all doubt.

[nzspokes]

Just waiting for that to be a problem area for me.

Busa shock and some fork springs to suit ya weight. Cheap nice upgrade. Fork springs are cheap if you look about and it would seem the major brands all come out of the Eibach factory.

Or just ride it and love it.

[Robert Taylor]

Busa shock and some fork springs to suit ya weight. Cheap nice upgrade. Fork springs are cheap if you look about and it would seem the major brands all come out of the Eibach factory.

Or just ride it and love it.

Wrong again, there are quite a number of different fork spring manufacturers. The cheap ones you aspire to are so not Eibach and the high standards they achieve. Poor surface polishing, bad end conditions. Sharp unfinished edges and very poor rate tolerancing. Given that we have a fork spring rate tester and upspec a LOT of forks we can verify that, rather than making blanket assumptions