Dirt_Dad
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2.... seems like it would be hard to get by with only 2.
It is. That was just the last photo I had taken of all the bikes together. The blue Tenere has since moved on to a good home about 15 miles away.Arhhh, isn't that picture a little outdatet.
I guess you ONLY have 4 now?
The real truth is, that's exactly what we've done. There are two riders in our house. We each have a touring bike, and a dirty bike.Makes a LOT of sense!!! (2 bike solution, light dirt bike plus more hiway bike.)
I'm with you!!Go with the 2 bikes option, worked for me:
I think the Triumphs are getting overpriced now. I got a 2012 Road ABS with engine bars new for £7400 . At the time the 660 Tenere which i had were £7300 ! . I know Japan was struggling with exchange rates at the time but it was a bargain. I think people are right about the 2 bike deal especially in your case !I have kind of been following the new tiger 900's. I had 15' tiger 800 XCX for a couple years. I liked it a lot, but even though that was the "off road" model (XC), It felt like the weight was too high up. Since it shared the garage with a well set up DR650, I ALWAYS took the DR650 on trips where I expected anything more difficult than a gravel road. The DR just felt so much better when the going got rough, It was also not worried about damaging it or difficulty fixing things that could get damaged. The tiger was super fun everywhere else. I loved the triple engine. In the end it I felt I should have bought the tiger XR (street) version instead.
They claim to have fixed the most of the things I that I didn't like with my '15, on these new 900's. However, to truly know if you they did, I would have to actually own one for a long period of time.
My issues with the Tiger XCX were few, but annoying. When the bike was unloaded and it was just me, the suspension would hop at certain speeds. Triumph even ordered me a new front wheel to attempt to fix it. They thought it was just enough out of round, but after the replacement wheel did the same thing, I started playing with the suspension settings and was able to minimize most of the bounce. It would bounce the worst around 40mph, but sometimes you could feel it freeway speeds too. The few times I got into some rough stuff on it, the suspension actually seemed good, but the weight up high didn't inspire confidence.
My particular Tiger was also very warm to ride. The warmest bike I have owned by far. According to the forums some bikes are worse than others and some people are more sensitive to this than others. I just know that mine was the only bike to give me this trouble. I would get hot riding the bike in any weather above 85F. On one trip, I had a long day about 850 miles in high 90's heat. I was wearing a camelbak and drinking plenty of water and stopping often and I still got mild heatstroke. The new 900s have a split radiator and I think I read that they adjusted the airflow to keep that heat off the rider, so the new ones should be much better.
My generation Tiger also had the tall 1st gear and seemingly low 6th gear. 1st was a little too tall for slow off road work, and 6th seemed too low for freeway work. I was disappointed that I only averaged around 40mpg at freeway speeds. Again the 900 version is supposed to have addresses this. I don't know how much though.
All that being said I really wanted to love the bike. Loved the engine. It had plenty of power, was very smooth.
I would love to try one of the 900's someday, but after my previous experience I would probably be looking at the Road version. Maybe the new one is much better. I am sure I will miss something, but the newer one is supposed to have slightly lower weight and the weight is supposed to feel lower, removable passenger pegs, and a different firing order that might actually be less smooth. It sounds very interesting, but I am lucky to be very happy with my one year old ST.
Sorry reply a bit late..... I did not have the 790 R, I had the more street version, 790 S. It is an amazing bike. It just did not fit me, it belongs with a younger person who likes to "hooligan" more than I do! It was amazingly lightning quick when you revved it a bit. The front end would get light and feel like it wanted to wheelie. Not my style, I like to just putter more and feel like my bike is comfy just puttering along, not anxiously awaiting for me to rev it way up to show off it's stuff. Now, yes, I did that a few times and the adrenaline rush is kind of fun for sure. But, I just figgered out that with my style of riding, that 790 deserved someone who could more appreciate and utilize it's amazing talents! It was quite an improvement over heavier bikes I have owned, riding it in Colorado on some pretty rocky roads. It is not a real tall bike, so that was a big plus also.What was the good and bad of the KTM 790 R?