ImNoSaint's Tiger Explorer 1200XC Build
- Thread starter Imnosaint
- Start date
Todd780
OverCamper
Nothing planned for trips yet. It takes till April / May for the streetcleaners to be done getting rid of the gravel / salt that is on the roads from winter. Looking at a few day trips. The Iron Horse trail looks interesting. As does Forestry trunk road. Trouble here is I need to ride a couple hours to get to some nice off pavement areas.
Iron horse trail:
Forestry trunk road:
Imnosaint
Gone Microcamping
She's cool with anything like that. She doesn't even tell me to change out of my good clothes when I'm on my way out to the barn.
Imnosaint
Gone Microcamping
Cylinder Head Replacement
If you’ve ever worked on the top end of an internal combustion engine you know there are certain signs and indications that are cringeworthy, evidence of mechanical malfeasance that warrant holding one’s breath, only to exhale in an explicative or two.
I usually have this same type of wonky mechanical hypervigilance when the machine is working, audio and tactile tell-tale signs of something amiss; a backfire, a sudden loss of power, sounding like a detuned Subaru, chugging, all of which the Tiger Explorer demonstrated throughout last Summer’s rides to the Eastern Sierras and Glacier National Park, five thousand miles of riding powered by, come to find out, only one cylinder.
It gets better. I dropped the Tiger off at Eurosports Utah, my trusted Triumph shop and dealer, for a routine valve adjustment, hoping that might take care of the audio and tactile signs of something wrong, but as the technician dug into the Explorer’s heart, some malpractice was discovered, a crack in one of the head’s breather tube seats with evidence of a slipshod repair attempt with something that looks an awful lot like JB Kwikweld.
I’ve been riding this bike for the last four years and over thirty thousand miles with a cracked cylinder head.
But wait, there’s more. Pandora would’ve loved this. There are three intake boots where the intake manifold mates with the head, all of which compromised, disintegrating over time, miles and, I’m suspecting, Ethanol. These are imperative to keep intake air pressure in spec.
Were this Tiger Explorer a four-wheeled vehicle, I have a feeling that Jeremy, James and Richard would have drowned it in the channel, dropped it from a crane and flung it from a trebuchet only to right the bike, hit the starter and ride it off to the nearest pub.
My great thanks (and life’s savings) to the crew at Eurosports Utah for taking great care of the bike and me.
(Photo credits: Gaven Schlosser)
If you’ve ever worked on the top end of an internal combustion engine you know there are certain signs and indications that are cringeworthy, evidence of mechanical malfeasance that warrant holding one’s breath, only to exhale in an explicative or two.
I usually have this same type of wonky mechanical hypervigilance when the machine is working, audio and tactile tell-tale signs of something amiss; a backfire, a sudden loss of power, sounding like a detuned Subaru, chugging, all of which the Tiger Explorer demonstrated throughout last Summer’s rides to the Eastern Sierras and Glacier National Park, five thousand miles of riding powered by, come to find out, only one cylinder.
It gets better. I dropped the Tiger off at Eurosports Utah, my trusted Triumph shop and dealer, for a routine valve adjustment, hoping that might take care of the audio and tactile signs of something wrong, but as the technician dug into the Explorer’s heart, some malpractice was discovered, a crack in one of the head’s breather tube seats with evidence of a slipshod repair attempt with something that looks an awful lot like JB Kwikweld.
I’ve been riding this bike for the last four years and over thirty thousand miles with a cracked cylinder head.
But wait, there’s more. Pandora would’ve loved this. There are three intake boots where the intake manifold mates with the head, all of which compromised, disintegrating over time, miles and, I’m suspecting, Ethanol. These are imperative to keep intake air pressure in spec.
Were this Tiger Explorer a four-wheeled vehicle, I have a feeling that Jeremy, James and Richard would have drowned it in the channel, dropped it from a crane and flung it from a trebuchet only to right the bike, hit the starter and ride it off to the nearest pub.
My great thanks (and life’s savings) to the crew at Eurosports Utah for taking great care of the bike and me.
(Photo credits: Gaven Schlosser)
Imnosaint
Gone Microcamping
Explorer Tool Roll
My $15 tool roll finally disintegrated along with the Triumph factory tool roll, and I had made enough changes to the kit to warrant a redo, always using the tools on board to do roadside and garage fixes, to remove, fix and replace fairings and gas tank, brake calipers and battery, wheels and controls. RadioHead would approve of this current set up with everything in its right place.
In the righthand pannier are two rubber clamps that hold a sixteen inch 3/8″ drive torque wrench with a six inch 3/8″ extension. This is used to remove and torque rear wheel lug nuts.
Also in the pannier is a tire repair kit that also contains a 15mm socket for the rear lugs and a hex axle tool – 17mm, 19mm, 22mm, 24mm – to remove the front wheel axle (LH side of pouch below). These are the three most overlooked tools needed for tire change/repair and brake maintenance.
An air compressor rounds out the kit kept in the pannier, made by MotoPumps. It inflates up to 50 pounds, has a built-in pressure gauge and flashlight and a handy coiled air tube with a threaded brass valve fitting. I’ve used this dozens of times and it has always done the job without generating a lot of heat.
Under the seat I keep three items, a Leatherman multi-tool, a Milwaukee multi-driver and the Lochby tool roll.
The Lochby roll is a waxed canvas, sixteen inch roll with a zippered pouch that stays closed with an aluminum hook. It’s large enough to hold the rest of the tools I need for the Explorer and still small enough to fit under the seat with room for the multi-tool and driver.
Contents:
The pouch: Circuit tester, 1/4″ drive extension, 8mm boxed end wrench and 1/4″ sockets – 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, and 14mm with a hex socket for the Torx and Allen bits.
The roll (L to R): 10, 8, 7, 6, 5.5, 5, 4.5, and 4mm Allen wrenches, Gerber Ambar Slim Drive knife, 4″ Vice Grip pliers, extendable magnetic wand, JB Kwikweld, 1/4″ driver, 1/4″ and 5/16″ drive 4, 5, and 6mm Rexbeti Allen bits, and T25, T27 and T40 Rexbeti Torx bits. Rounding out the kit is a 14mm box wrench to adjust fork rebound and dampening.
My $15 tool roll finally disintegrated along with the Triumph factory tool roll, and I had made enough changes to the kit to warrant a redo, always using the tools on board to do roadside and garage fixes, to remove, fix and replace fairings and gas tank, brake calipers and battery, wheels and controls. RadioHead would approve of this current set up with everything in its right place.
In the righthand pannier are two rubber clamps that hold a sixteen inch 3/8″ drive torque wrench with a six inch 3/8″ extension. This is used to remove and torque rear wheel lug nuts.
Also in the pannier is a tire repair kit that also contains a 15mm socket for the rear lugs and a hex axle tool – 17mm, 19mm, 22mm, 24mm – to remove the front wheel axle (LH side of pouch below). These are the three most overlooked tools needed for tire change/repair and brake maintenance.
An air compressor rounds out the kit kept in the pannier, made by MotoPumps. It inflates up to 50 pounds, has a built-in pressure gauge and flashlight and a handy coiled air tube with a threaded brass valve fitting. I’ve used this dozens of times and it has always done the job without generating a lot of heat.
Under the seat I keep three items, a Leatherman multi-tool, a Milwaukee multi-driver and the Lochby tool roll.
The Lochby roll is a waxed canvas, sixteen inch roll with a zippered pouch that stays closed with an aluminum hook. It’s large enough to hold the rest of the tools I need for the Explorer and still small enough to fit under the seat with room for the multi-tool and driver.
Contents:
The pouch: Circuit tester, 1/4″ drive extension, 8mm boxed end wrench and 1/4″ sockets – 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, and 14mm with a hex socket for the Torx and Allen bits.
The roll (L to R): 10, 8, 7, 6, 5.5, 5, 4.5, and 4mm Allen wrenches, Gerber Ambar Slim Drive knife, 4″ Vice Grip pliers, extendable magnetic wand, JB Kwikweld, 1/4″ driver, 1/4″ and 5/16″ drive 4, 5, and 6mm Rexbeti Allen bits, and T25, T27 and T40 Rexbeti Torx bits. Rounding out the kit is a 14mm box wrench to adjust fork rebound and dampening.
Imnosaint
Gone Microcamping
Done with the DIN
One of many appreciated tweaks to the Explorer on my C2C trek was replacing the DIN auxiliary power socket just above the tank with a 12V USB socket.
The stock DIN plug ran its course with me over the years and eventually corroded despite its cover, blowing the fuse. I ran a DIN to USB adapter for awhile, but the connection was too iffy to be reliable. A fellow Tiger Explorer rider switched his to a 12V cigarette light socket giving me the inspiration.
The new socket required a wider diameter for installation, so I carefully rasped the stock hole into the needed dimension, as careful as one can with a rasp.
The replacement has two 3A USB ports constantly supplying 36 watts. An voltmeter keeps me apprised of the Explorer’s charging system, and there’s a power switch enabling me to shut it down while I may still have items connected.
And it has a “waterproof” cover that seals over the top with two plugs that insert into the USB ports, but we all know that nothing is waterproof on a bike.
Besides my phone, I use this to charge a Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD power brick I keep in my tank bag to charge my Cardo and other accessories in my tent overnight.
One of many appreciated tweaks to the Explorer on my C2C trek was replacing the DIN auxiliary power socket just above the tank with a 12V USB socket.
The stock DIN plug ran its course with me over the years and eventually corroded despite its cover, blowing the fuse. I ran a DIN to USB adapter for awhile, but the connection was too iffy to be reliable. A fellow Tiger Explorer rider switched his to a 12V cigarette light socket giving me the inspiration.
The new socket required a wider diameter for installation, so I carefully rasped the stock hole into the needed dimension, as careful as one can with a rasp.
The replacement has two 3A USB ports constantly supplying 36 watts. An voltmeter keeps me apprised of the Explorer’s charging system, and there’s a power switch enabling me to shut it down while I may still have items connected.
And it has a “waterproof” cover that seals over the top with two plugs that insert into the USB ports, but we all know that nothing is waterproof on a bike.
Besides my phone, I use this to charge a Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD power brick I keep in my tank bag to charge my Cardo and other accessories in my tent overnight.
Imnosaint
Gone Microcamping
I’ve come to depend on the Givi Crash Bags to stash items I might not mind getting crunched if the Tiger tips over and while they’ve become indispensable in my packing, they were a pain to install and remove, having to weave the top and bottom straps through the bars of the crash bars and then through the friction buckles to keep everything in place.
Then it dawned on me that I had a bunch of tent pole clips left over from a tent mod I did on the WRōV and that they might fit well on the crash bags’ straps.
Well, they did. Now the bags pop on and off in seconds and yet ride solid without any shifting or response to vibration.
They worked out great over the 6500 mile coast-to-coast ride, making stowing and mounting the bags much easier and keeping them away from pilferers.
