r/MotasPortugal

Por acaso até me deito nas curvas bastante mas acabo por nunca usar o pneu todo a 100%, como estão as vossas? Partilhem grande abraço

Comprei uma r6 RJ05 de 2005 esta semana e estou a pensar em por-lhe cogumelos de lado, trocar os espelhos e por um escape novo, alguém sabe que marcas são as melhores, por exemplo para o escape estava a pensar meter um Sc project ou akaprovic. Vale a pena meter escape ou dá muitos problemas com a polícia?

Bons dias caros Redditors motard. Estava a pensar tirar essa carenagem com vidro desta mota e notei que apenas está presa com esses parafusos (um de cada lado), não sei é que chave devo usar. Alguém me sabe dizer a mais indicada para a situação?

Nota: O parafuso diz 8.8.

Muito obrigado desde já.

Falta uns ajustes na haste 3D do refletor porque no suporte original não vem com nada para meter o refletor.

Acho que ficou bem melhor que o rabo de peixe.

Que dizem? 😍😁😁

Boas curvas 😎🏍️

Olá! Faço parte de um grupo de malta que gosta de rolar de forma pacata e descobrir bons miradouros e estradas cénicas, com boas curvas suaves. A minha favorita é a Estrada da Peninha, entre sintra e cascais - conheces alguma estrada parecida – mais "under the radar", pouco conhecida – que valha a pena explorar na zona (tipo num raio de 150km ou assim…)? instagram: @busca_vistas

Well, there it is. 250.000 kilometers! on the Tiger 800. Time for another write-up and maintence summary + costs breakdown!

The Tiger is my do-everything bike used year-round, though relatively less in summer when I ride my other bikes more. It was a replacement for my old Transalp, and I have a Speed Triple and an SMT on the side and I occasionally ride an Africa Twin and a few other bikes as well.

Why the Tiger in the first place?

During the winter of 2019/2020 I was looking at several bikes as possible upgrade for the aforementioned Transalp: The Africa Twin (2019 model didn't have cruise control, 2020 models weren't available yet), the Vstrom 1050 (cheap build quality, bad suspension), KTM SA (too expensive and high mileage performance far from certain), and the Versys 1000 (too road-oriented, boring inline-4). The BMW's I sort of discarded offhandedly because they are crazy expensive around here (at the time: easy 25k for a decently kitted 1250GS, nowadays almost 35k for a 1300GS or 25k for a 900GS). A friend of mine pointed me to a Tiger for sale at a Triumph dealer just south of Amsterdam and after a test ride I was sold on the three-cylinder block, the excellent TFT screen and the snappy controls. Much to my luck the dealer was keen to get rid of it so I got a good deal on it. It was less than a year old and had just 4k on the odo. This was before the 'rona and inflation drove up prices, and I only paid €14.500 for it. List price for new was €17.900 + the panniers and a bunch of other stuff, so it was almost 5k or a quarter down from new.

2019 Tiger 800 XCA features:

• 95HP/79Nm 3-cylinder 800cc
• Switchable ABS and TCS, cruise control
• Six ride modes including a fully configurable one
• LED lighting and fog lights
• Heated grips, heated seats
• Backlit controls, various USB charging ports
• Monokey alu panniers and top case
• Alu belly pan, lower crash bars, center stand
• WP fully adjustable suspension
• Brembo calipers with steel brake lines front and rear

I added numerous things like a RAM mount, Garmin mount, rear hugger, lower screen, bobbins, oil filter protector, upper crash bars, Denali horn, barkbusters, second set of wheels and a bunch of other stuff for about €1.500 total.

After 250.000km...

After 72 months the bike still looks OK from a little distance, even though it has seen six winters, several deserts, and has been kept outside rain or shine for most of its life. Up close however it is certainly well-worn. There's a lot of superficial rust and especially the crash bars have taken a beating. Brake calipers, rims and lower parts of the chassis have collected nearly impossible to remove dirt and grime.

By now I can confidently say that the Tiger is a decent if somewhat underpowered and overweight jack-of-all-trades. I've been impressed with the long-distance comfort, general reliability, and ease of maintenance. It does great in the dirt: one, two, three, four, five, although it's too heavy for serious offroading. It's not a terrible pick for track days either: one, two, three, four, five, though it won't win anything of course and the 21" front is a bitch to corner at speed.

Before I get into the maintenance and all the bits that broke over time, here's a list of things that didn't break and are still working perfectly:

• It still starts easily, and maintains the lovely wide torque band of a triple
• It's still on the original battery (lmao)
• All the bells and whistles still work, the buttons show a little wear but respond perfectly and all the lighting and button backlight LEDs are still bright and well
• The screen is bright and clear as new, with only some very minor scratches and no discoloration

Maintenance (figures in kilometers)

The funny thing about doing 40-50k a year on a bike is that you really need to adjust your schedule, and some of the conventional wisdom goes right out the window. For example my chain/sprockets and tires last a long time because commute puts very little stress on these parts. Combined with the engine characteristics (smooth triple with decent torque throughout the range) and my riding habits (looking far ahead, using engine braking a lot) this means that my brake pads last a long time, and the rear wears faster than the front. I'm also still on the original battery for example, but I've gone through a dozen wheel bearings already (because of the offroading I guess, and I rough it around town a lot up and down stairs and kerbs). I keep an excel sheet with all my fuel-ups and maintenance which makes it easy to plan ahead, order parts, and book garage time. I tend to go to the local Triumph dealer only for the major service and for ordering specific parts, but I also have a (far cheaper) local mechanic that helps with tire changes and other things like fork services. I use Baboon.EU to buy second hand parts: I've got a huge box of parts and consumables ready at all time and order a bunch of stuff a few times a year to make sure I'm always stocked up in case something comes up. Parts commonality with the other Tiger 800's and even with the new 900's and the Speed/Street Triple is high, so second-hand availability is great.

Oil and filter: I used to change both every 10k as Triumph wants, or every 3-4 months in winter and a bit more often in summer. Ever since around 150.000km I've increased the oil interval to 15k and change the filter only every other oil change, with no noticable performance difference. I've gone from using Castrol 10W40 initially to making a bit of a blend of 10W40 and 20W50 from whatever brand is on sale at the time because it reduces oil consumption somewhat. The only annoying part of changing the oil is the fact that the belly plate needs to come off to change the filter, and the mounting system is absolute ass. Oil consuption has been slow and steady since the beginning (Triumph called it 'within limits'), but has increased notably since about 200.000km. By now it uses almost 1L every 2000km.

Brake pads and discs: Front brake pads last me 50 - 60k, rear 15 - 25k. Swapping them out is easy, and a good opportunity to check the wheel bearings and the brake calipers. The rear disc was replaced around 90k and again at 180k and 249k. Front discs were replaced around 90k and again at 249k. For brake pads I usually buy Brembo CC but have also tried some AliExpress replacements on the rear at a fraction of the cost, and the performance is identical. The rear brake caliper had gotten quite grimy and instead of servicing it I replaced it with an as-new second hand unit around 177k and again at 245k. An excellent second hand unit is less than the cost of a revision kit. The front brake still works fine but it has lost its 'bite' over time even with Brembo pads and discs, so at the moment of writing I have two new front calipers lying on my desk which I'll probably replace for the old ones at some point.

Tires: I've run Bridgestone A41 a number of times except for my trip to the Middle East when I used a pair of Karoo Street 3. Front usually lasts 30-50k, the rear 20-30k. The A41 are quite durable and decent in the rain and cold, even in snow. Perfect for gravel and packed sand, too. In 2021 I obtained an extra set of wheels that I use for offroading with a pair of AX41 knobbies on it. My next rear knobby is going to be a bit more agressive cause I still get stuck far too often. In more than ten years of riding I've only ever had two flat tires and both were in spring 2024, talk about random. The first time it was due for replacement any way and the second time we just replaced the tube.

Chain and sprocket: I grease the chain every week, sometimes more often, but never really clean it except after offroading and even then I only rinse it off. No brushes, no scrubbing, this'd only destroy the X rings. Most of the time I use 80w90 gear oil and a little brush, but when I'm lazy chain spray will do. I installed an automatic chain oiler at some point but removed it again after a few weeks because oil was spraying everywhere and it was more of a hassle than doing it manually. Chains last about 50k and I change the front sprocket 20-25k into it, before it goes fully shark-toothed and starts eating the chain, which really helps to extend the life of the chain saving money and a lot of effort. The rear sprocket usually goes two chains or 100 - 120k, they wear really slowly. When you know what you're doing the whole 'replace them as a set becomes' meaningless. I usually buy the DID gold plated kit, I made the mistake of cheaping out on an IRIS chain once and it only lasted half as long. Initially I had the chain done by a garage but after a while I got me some tools and switched to doing it myself.

Major service: fluids, filters, spark plugs, valves: Triumph wants it done every 20k which is nonsense of course. You can easily stretch this to 50-60k or longer with this kind of use. I did the first major service at 30k, then again at 96k, 173k, and 216k. Apart from a dirty air filter and complaints by the mechanic about dust and grime everywhere there was nothing wrong with the block even after the 85k interval.

Key and locks: I wore out the first key around 190.000km, it will still open all the locks but turning the ignition is a bit rough with it. I clean the ignition about once a year by applying a bit of light oil then blowing it through with an air compressor.

Repairs and nonscheduled maintenance

Suspension: Triumph wants this serviced every 40k, but the XCA model has quite a durable setup so I just service it when it starts leaking. Twice the rear shock started leaking, around 70k and again around 150k and I had it rebuilt both times. The front fork oil was changed around 140k and they were completely rebuilt after a leak around 190k and serviced again at 219k. I tend to ride sporty when I'm not commuting, so I run the suspension quite stiff. It's also easily adjusted for offroading.

Wheel bearings: Every time I take out the wheels for new tires or to swap for the offroad knobbies I check the wheel bearings and I've gotten quite good at replacing them. Triumph wants almost €40 a piece but I found excellent SKF replacements for about €7 a piece.

Starter relay housing Early 2022 the bike suddenly died on me, all electronics flat. Culprit was the starter relay housing, a bad contact had corroded around the main fuse and then melted the plastic somehow. Easy replacement, and it happened again around 210k and around 230k, after which I designed a custom cable extender and moved the relay to sit high and dry above the battery rather than under it.

Seat: Around 150k the seat had lost a good bit of comfort and started sagging somewhat, so I had it reupholstered by a specialist. They replaced the existing padding and added an extra layer on top of the heated seat arrangement, which made it a good half inch taller and also much more comfortable. This also means the heat comes through more gradually on the highest setting which is lovely in winter.

Cam chain: Triumph wanted this done around 80k but at the 96k major service the mechanic told me there was nothing to worry about, so it was instead replaced around 173k. Even then he wasn't quite sure whether it was necessary but of course you only hear that aftwards.

Clutch: The clutch plates and springs were replaced around 177k, Triumph also wanted to replace the clutch basket (€700 lmao) but I opted out of that. It's interesting how gradual a clutch will wear over the years and how big of a leap it is after having it replaced. Around 195k I noticed how the clutch cable was on its last strands so I replaced that myself.

Steering head bearing: Around 140k I discovered drag in the bearing while it was on the centerstand, but interestingly it was barely noticable while driving. I had my local mechanic replace it not long after.

ABS Sensor: In spring 2024 the whole christmas tree of warning lights lit up, and after toying around with the ride modes a bit I isolated the problem to the front ABS sensor. I ordered a second-hand one and replaced it myself.

Here's the timeline with all of the major service and repairs done so far:

ODO KM	When	What	Approx cost (€)
18.000	Summer 2020	New tires (Bridgestone A41)	300
30.000	Summer 2020	Major service	600
46.000	Fall 2020	New tires and tubes (Bridgestone A41), new chain	550
70.000	Summer 2021	Rear shock started leaking, rebuilt	250
74.000	Summer 2021	New tires (Bridgestone A41)	350
90.000	Winter 2021	New brake discs front and rear	170
96.000	Spring 2022	Major service	650
107.000	Spring 2022	New chain	150
110.000	Summer 2022	Starter relay burned through, replaced	40
116.000	Summer 2022	New tires and tubes (Karoo Street 3)	350
141.000	Spring 2023	New rear tire (Bridgestone A41)	150
144.000	Spring 2023	Front fork oil changed, steering head bearing replaced, rear suspension linkage bearings replaced	350
150.000	Spring 2023	Seat re-upholstered, rear shock started leaking, rebuilt	420
161.000	Summer 2023	New chain (cheaped out on an IRIS one, bad choice), new front tire (Bridgestone A41)	290
173.000	Fall 2023	Major service, cam chain, reed valves, secondary air system replaced (and lots of internal cleaning)	1600
177.000	Fall 2023	Clutch rebuilt, new rear tire (Bridgestone A41), rear brake caliper replaced	650
179.000	Winter 2023	Front fork started leaking, rebuilt	150
182.000	Winter 2023	New chain, new brake disc rear	200
184.000	Spring 2024	Front ABS sensor failed, replaced with a second hand one	30
190.000	Spring 2024	New rear tire (Bridgestone BT23), new front tire (Bridgestone A41)	170
195.000	Spring 2024	Clutch cable started fraying, replaced	15
197.000	Spring 2024	Exhaust header developed a crack, quick and dirty welding job	75
201.000	Summer 2024	Replaced center strand as it was rusting a bit	75
210.000	Summer 2024	Starter relay burned through, replaced	40
216.000	Fall 2024	Major service, new rear tire (Bridgestone A41)	750
219.000	Winter 2024	Front forks serviced, muffler seal replaced	180
228.000	Spring 2025	New front tire (Pirelli Scorpion)	220
230.000	Summer 2025	Replaced left handlebar grip cause it was worn through	30
243000	Fall 2025	Replaced rear brake caliper, bolt got stuck and it was grimy as hell	50
249500	Spring 2026	New brake discs front and rear	200

Wear items (brake pads/discs, tires etc) have been remarkably consistent over time, but as you can see the frequency of nonscheduled maintenance and repairs has increased over the lifetime of the bike, which seems perfectly logical to me.

Financial side of things

Depreciation: I reckon it's worth a few k still if I were to sell it, but for the sake of simplicity I've considered it a complete write-off since about 150k km. The total for the bike and accessories/upgrades is around €16.000.

Fuel: For the first 100k I used Euro 98 E0/E5 'premium' fuel whenever available, but since then I moved to just using 95E10, the cheapest here in Europe. I fueled up nearly 600 times for a total of 9969 liters giving an average consumption of 1L in 24.7km or 46MPG (US) / 52MPG (UK). Here in Western Europe petrol fluctuated between €1.20/L (early 'rona) up to a peak of almost double that recently. The cheapest I ever got was 5ct/L during my stay in Iran (the other Gulf states are somehow far more expensive at about €1/L). The Tiger is significantly more efficient on longer rides: there's a tipping point around 15 to 20 km after a cold start where it goes from 1 in 15 average to about 1 in 25+, which probably has to do with the temperature of the block. One time on the autobahn with a slight tail wind I managed to empty an entire tank in one sitting at no less than 1 in 28.5 (524km with a little gas left). Altogether, fuel cost is €18.642, so more than the cost of the entire bike by now :)

Road tax and insurance: Road tax for a motorbike in the Netherlands is approximately €11 per month. For the first year I had it insured all-risk which was a tad expensive (€60/month), since then I've only had basic coverage + a few things like vandalism and theft, at a cost of about €8/month. Grand total comes to €2.571.

Maintenance and repairs: The total sum of all maintenance, repairs and consumables is €10.866.

Category	Total	€ per km
Depreciation to zero	€ 16.000	€ 0,065
Fuel	€ 18.642	€ 0,076
Road tax and insurance	€ 2.571	€ 0,010
Maintenance and repairs	€ 10.866	€ 0,044
Total over 250k km	€ 46.936	€ 0,195

Motorcycles can be a rather economical choice in the Netherlands, compared to cars. Road tax is about one-quarter that of an economy car (€11 vs. €50 a month) and a fraction of that of a large truck (upwards of €150 a month). Insurance is similarly cheap, about one half to one fifth of that of a typical car depending on experience and location. Gasoline on the other hand is expensive, which means that the fuel efficiency of a motorcycle pays off quickly. Filtering and lane splitting are legal, and most municipalities allow you to park pretty much anywhere on the kerb as long as you don't block the passage entirely. As such riding a bike around the Netherlands is not only economical, but also very practical. Except for the weather maybe, but there's Goretex(tm) for that.

With the work I do as cover teacher I get to commute a lot to different places, and depending on the contract I get between €0,19 and €0,35 in travel compensation per km, which pays for the entire bike and then some.

Final notes

I plan to continue using it the way I have for at least another year or two, assuming it doesn't break catastrophically. There's a map on the wall of my study with my bike trips from the last ten years, and I'm looking forward to expanding it together with my gf who got into riding just last year. As for a replacement or upgrade, I've always been a fan of the Africa Twin but it might well be a Tiger 900 or even a Transalp 750 after all when Honda finally gets their shit together and adds cruise control. I must've tested over a dozen bikes in the last year alone, and I'm still not quite sure what to get next.

See you at 300k, in about a year and a half ;)

Bonus pic: I had /u/monkeysays_art commission a drawing based on how it looked during my trip through the Middle East.

Podemos só parar um scroll por uns segundos para apreciar a Suzuki GSX-8T? 😲

Boa noite a todos, alguém me sabe dizer o que é aqueles dois tubos pendurados debaixo da mota?

Eles parecem estar cortados