wordsmith Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 (edited) Two, actually, way back just after Columbus! First in 2000 was a 900cc triple Thunderbird Sport, with twin zorsts. Don't remember a thing about it, but had no issues with it that I can recall. Looked quite tasty in bright yellow and black, with wire-spoke wheels and lots of chrome. Wouldn't mind still having it. Pic below is only fair, taken long before days when cell-phones had a camera in them. I fact, long before cell-phones... Later a 1050cc triple Tiger SE, the SE referring to the fact that it came with colour-matched panniers - a good intro to later Tracers. Finished in a retina-searing Valencia Orange paint job, it kept me poor trying to get a half-decent seat, the OE being banana-shaped from side on - and about as comfortable as sitting on a banana - with absolutely no wriggle-room fore and aft. Sorry - no pix as it didn't last long. Similar in design, my Tracers and later GT were also triples of course, but until the GT also deficient in the perch department. Edited April 13, 2020 by wordsmith 1 2 Riding a fully-farkled 2019 MT-09 Tracer 900 GT from my bayside home in South East Queensland, Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member keithu Posted April 13, 2020 Premium Member Share Posted April 13, 2020 4 hours ago, wordsmith said: I had one of these as a loaner for about a month back in 1998, same colors and equipment. It really was beautiful and had probably the best brakes ever on a spoked wheel bike up to that time. The details were strange though. It had lovely hand-painted pinstripes and steel fenders, but then it also had those weird plastic fake air cleaners covering the airbox. I rode it from San Francisco to my home in Oregon, about 500 miles / 800 KMs. It wasn't much of a touring bike, but it was a lot of fun anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candave650 Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 Thruxton One of the best looking bikes I have had Sold it to go to a Tiger Explorer 1200 A decision I still regret!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbob2000 Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 I rented one! A Tiger 800 Xr in Barcelona which I rode into the Pyrenees in March of 2018. The roads were more remarkable than the bike although I was grateful for the heated grips in the mountains. It was comfortable but I was longing for something more sporty. But seriously, those roads were fantastic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member keithu Posted April 13, 2020 Premium Member Share Posted April 13, 2020 1 hour ago, kbob2000 said: I rented one! A Tiger 800 Xr in Barcelona which I rode into the Pyrenees in March of 2018. The roads were more remarkable than the bike although I was grateful for the heated grips in the mountains. It was comfortable but I was longing for something more sporty. But seriously, those roads were fantastic. In 2017 I rented a Tiger 800XR during a work trip in Los Angeles. I rode it around my old stomping grounds in the Santa Monica mountains. The bike was basically fine, but the pegs scraped too easily and the motor was on the verge of boring. It certainly made me glad I bought a FJ-09. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wintersdark Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 On 3/24/2020 at 5:50 PM, metallion said: Yes, i owned 2 of them actually. I had a 2008 Tiger 1050 and a 2011 Sprint GT 1050. Interesting! I've never ridden either, how do they compare with the 900GT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammer Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 2008 Bonneville 1968 Bonneville '73 Daytona 2x 1971 Trailblazers.... But no Triumph triples. I really miss the Bonnevilles. So much fun, and a true biking experience. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member fjray Posted April 18, 2020 Premium Member Share Posted April 18, 2020 My second bike ever was a Triumph 500 Trophy or Tiger, I forget which, back in the '60s. It almost never made it back home after I took it out. Swore I'd never own another Trumpet. But, in 2018 I bought a 2015 Trophy SE 3 cylinder. Nice enough bike but I only bought it because it was so cheap. I was looking for something lighter than my Wing. But it wasn't much lighter to be honest. So I traded it in on the FJ. Greatest decision ever. It's half the weight of my Wing and has the same hp. Yee haw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metallion Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 On 4/17/2020 at 11:03 PM, Wintersdark said: Interesting! I've never ridden either, how do they compare with the 900GT? The 2008 Tiger 1050 would probably be somewhat close to the Tracer in the sense of being a 3 cyl engine, upright comfy riding position and about the same performance. I think it was rated at 114 HP. It was a comfy ride but didn't care for the cushy soft suspension and didn't want to throw $12-1500 at upgrading it. The stock projector headlights were absolutely horrible also. The 2011 Sprint GT is in no way similar the the Tracer 900 GT. It was a beautiful blue great looking motorcycle with huge panniers and trunk but it was extremely uncomfortable for me and i never really bonded with it. The riding position was somewhat aggressive with pegs that were too high and a forward lean riding position. It put too much pressure on my wrists and i couldn't ride it more than 50 miles with out my wrists going numb. 2019 Tracer 900 GT. 2022 MT-09SP. 2002 Buell S3T Thunderbolt. 2016 FJ-09 SOLD. 2019 XSR900 SOLD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroggyWeenis Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 There might be one in my future Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jfundo Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 Just bought this yesterday for the wifey! 2013 Bonny T100. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member 2and3cylinders Posted May 5, 2020 Premium Member Share Posted May 5, 2020 Does a BSA Rocket 3 count, same same as Trident. Was almost as bad as my 72 Tiger. I recall when I bought the latter from a guy in Chula Vista, as I was warming it up, listening to its docile twin melody in his garage, the horn suddenly flew laterally about 7 feet and hit the wall with considerable force! The horn bracket had fractured due to vibration induced metal fatigue. And it only had one carb, so it wasn't out of sync! I was later told I should have bought one made on a Thursday. Who knew? Still not as much a POS as my 68 Norton Commando. Now fettled Camo can be a dream. Mine must have been made on a Monday.Then I got into AJS and Matchless (see my lil pic too left). Now if want a paint shaker, my 72 H2 Mach IV made the Tiger seem like a sewing machine, and the didn't call it the Widow Maker for nothin. Oh, And I think the FJ is comparatively easy to work on. Ever try to just get the front valve cover off VTR1000F. I dread it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvzman Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 (edited) Yup, had a black beauty '08 1050 Tiger back in 2010. Like I said in my new member intro last month, that triple mill was kickass and so far the Tracer 900 feels just about the same powerwise, but not as smooth as the Triumph. Edited July 8, 2020 by nvzman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WKE002 Posted July 9, 2020 Share Posted July 9, 2020 here is mine, before i trade in for Tracer. Intend to keep till kingdom come, but arrogant cartel sole importer/distributor in my country force me to dispose of it. My wife is happy though, now during the weekend i do not need to sit with my triumph hours polishing the blink blink as the Tracer has nothing chrome to polish ! and can start doing house hold chores 🙃 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobydoo Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 I have a 2001 triumph sprint ST in my garage now. Will be selling it now that I have the tracer though. I've had 3 buells, triumph and now the tracer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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