So I’ve got this Tiger 800 XC (which I'm now going to keep) with knobbly tires and legs that fit Levis with a 30” inside leg – it’s not good
Pushing the bastard up off the side-stand when the camber is really steep is almost as bad as sitting in crosswinds at the lights with a pillion and luggage (though they do compress the suspension a bit)
So I tried most of the regular remedies
1. Take half the foam out of the seat (and put up with the wrinkled look and numb bum) – up to an inch or more in seat height reduction available
2. Buy an aftermarket Low Rider seat (same as the above but more conservative and looks better) – maybe get 10 mm reduction or thereabouts
3. Aftermarket dog bones (rear suspension drop links) – approximately an inch but you can go silly with the bottle jack type (of course then you need another side stand)
4. Less Pre-Load or softer springs – don’t forget to do something with the other end and the World’s your Oyster though the handling might become a little weird
5. Smaller wheels
6. Thicker heels (and soles if you’re sensible) – could get you ½ inch or so
7. Lower profile tires – yes you can save 10mm of so provided you change both front and rear
8. Cut off the nobbly bits (the tire’s height is the same as a road tire’s with the same profile height even though it has regular tread depth – who knew ?) – OK you wouldn’t try this one
So I thought “#$@!-][” I’ll make my own solution and I have. It works well and comprises two steps:
Take the standard seat and replicate the function of the accessory Low Rider seat (but by lowering the seat base rather than removing some of the foam)
And then add air
When I raised the subject on a general forum I variously got told to learn to ride and/or live with it, so I’m simply raising it here as there may be others who don’t fit the envelope and can’t understand why something can’t be done about it without ruining other of the bike’s characteristics.
Bonus : by choosing how long to inject air into the seat I can determine the firmness of it (which is good during a long ride as a change is as good as a rest)
Anyone interested but not wanting to make one themselves can send me a private message
Bookmarks