All Change in My Garage

Hi @NealH my first question is what are you riding now as that will influence my response?

I know you loved that Thruxton the critics all seem to love the Tiger, Happy New Bike Day.

Thanks James, I did but hey ho!

I currently have a Tiger 900 Rally Pro and a Speed Twin 1200. I also have a 400X scrambler on order.

When ordering the Scrambler I asked the dealer for a part ex figure for the Tiger and although I was just curious at the time, I’m now wondering whether to take it!

It would mean I get a cash lump sum back. I really like the Tiger but I find myself constantly struggling when it comes to moving it around as it’s tall and quite heavy - top heavy - the Rally Pro is a tall bike! This means I’m overly cautious about where I take it. I was thinking of something a bit smaller and lighter as a touring bike - like a Tiger Sport 660 or a Tracer 7.

My other option is just get some soft luggage for the Speed Twin and use that. I actually find it quite comfortable over distance apart from the wind blast post 70 mph!

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Have you looked at the Kriega bags? Great stuff, waterproof and really easy to fit.

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Yes, I have a Kriega rucksack and a small tail pack, both excellent bits of kit :+1:

I think I’d go with a Givi tail pack though as I already have the Givi mounting plate that will fit the Speed Twin so it would be quick and easy to fit and remove.

Mind you, I do seem to change my mind every day on whether to part with the Tiger :slightly_smiling_face:

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Congratulations on the new bike @Wessa!! I hope you have many happy miles on it.

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Nice swaps, enjoy your bigger Tiger!

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Ok. So the tiger 660 is a great smaller capacity bike. I found it particularly capable for ride outs and day to day use. It is easy to move around the garage and when parking while on the road.

It’s comfortable and the luggage is excellent, providing good capacity for touring.

On the down side first gear is very short, and my bike used a significantly more oil than I was comfortable with. Triumph have said this is normal?
Also when touring with mates on larger capacity bikes I needed to work the bike really hard to keep up. Whilst this should not be a deal breaker for you, it did lead me to its bigger brother.

Given the bikes you currently have in your garage and having had a speed twin myself, I would go with the speed twin and soft luggage option for touring as I think you will miss the performance if you go with the 660.

If you want to discuss on the phone pm with your number and I will give you a call.

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Thanks, that’s very helpful. I don’t think the relative lack of performance would bother me as the bike would be bought for a purpose (longer distances and tours) and either way I’m keeping the Speed Twin :slightly_smiling_face: I also don’t have any bike owning mates so always travel solo at my own pace and schedule, and don’t like riding in groups anyway.

Shame about the excessive oil consumption on yours. I’ve not heard anywhere that is a general issue on the 660 - in fact I’ve not heard of any common issues with the 660 engine. Do you think your oil consumption could have been related to having to rag it to keep up with more powerful bikes?

I would suggest you have a look on the triumph 660 forum. There are a few threads regarding oil consumption.

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Interesting…
As (I assume) the 660 is a development of the original 675 it seems they’ve “developed” a new problem that was never there. And I would have thought burning oil is not good for emissions/environment.
SWMBO’s had her Street 675 now for 9 years, in all that time I’ve never ever needed any top ups between services. Never seen a detectable drop in level, and she gives it the beans on occasion. :slightly_smiling_face:

That is interesting……

Of the various Triumph bikes I’ve owned over the past few years, I’ve never had to add any oil between services but I’ve never owned a 660.

As ever with the internet, you have to be careful as the same people posting multiple times about the same problem can make something appear more widespread than it actually is.

Like you I have owned many Triumphs over the years and none have used oil like the 660.

For me the response from triumph is the give way that there is a problem.

Anyway you have to make the decision on whether you will purchase a 660 or not.

Good luck on what ever decision you make.

It’ll be a few weeks before my Scrambler arrives, so I’ve plenty of time to change my mind back and forth on whether to keep the Tiger. If I do decide to part with it I’ll probably just stick with the Scrambler and Speed Twin to start with and see how that goes.

Thanks for the information on the Tiger 660, it’s been very helpful.

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A litre of oil in a thousand miles is not acceptable, it’s BS. Had to have a new back tyre on the Ducati on its first service due to a puncture.

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