With the Kawasaki Versys, I always had doubts in my mind about its city capabilities, parking and all – but no second thoughts needed for taking the Tiger Sport.
BHPian CrAzY dRiVeR recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Happy 1st birthday!
My Tiger Sport 660 turns one today. 7/11/2022 was when the original owner took delivery of the bike, even though I bought it 6 months later in May.
I was reminded of this by the nice folks at Oriental Insurance and the PUC board. So yes, happy birthday to my Tiger Sport 660!
Service booking
One year mark also brings up the annual service and since I have an AMC with Keerthi till the next year end – booked with them only with all the apprehension. Slot received for next Monday, fingers crossed.
I had a decent experience with them the last time and Jaydev especially has been excellent in his interactions so far – so will try to take his help and not any of the other famous names that give Keerthi the reputation it has.
MAP sensor recall
Triumph Motorcycles has initiated a recall for the Trident 660 and the Tiger Sport 660 for malfunctioning Manifold Air Pressure (MAP) sensor. This issue could further lead to the ECU receiving incorrect reading data and thereby stalling the engine – although I haven’t been affected by this issue in any way.
Replacing the map hose seems to be half a day’s work. The tank, airbox, throttle body and all need to be removed to replace the map hose and sensor. So it’s unlikely that I’ll be getting the bike on the same day, with Service also completed.
In other news – Keerthi Triumph seems to have opened a separate center for the 400s right opposite the current facility. So that reduces some volumes from the existing overcrowded facility.
Insurance Renewal
Checked with my usual guy on the insurance renewal and got a quote of 13,793 for an IDV of 7.72L. In addition to the IDV of the vehicle, accessories have been included too – as these OEM accessories are very expensive if they need to be replaced. 1.52L worth of non-electrical accessories plus 27k of electrical accessories were added to the policy.
I was on the way to the office when he asked for pics to be submitted. Here are some quick snaps taken for submission to Oriental Insurance.
Small yet valuable items
Shoe protectors – For the occasional situations where I have to take it out for local runs. Usually, I do wear my Woodlands for those scenarios, but even those get discoloured (not eaten!) by the gear lever in the long run.
Helmets Action cam mounts – Didn’t want to do permanent glue fixtures on the Shoei as I had done on my earlier MT Revenge. Hence got these from Amazon and they seem to be very sturdy – yet to try them out on a ride though!
How the mount looks on my primary helmet – The Shoei GT Air 2:
And the city helmet – the MT Thunder3 SV:
Riding Gear Update – Forma Adventure Low
Better half picked up these boots for herself – the Forma Adventure Low.
Damage to the wallet – 20,250/- after some club discounts she got through a riding group she had recently joined. Not bad – that’s a cool 2k off compared to the pricing on most websites currently.
I had the full-sized Forma Adventure boots for the past five years and they did a very good job indeed. Hence the repeat purchase, albeit this time for her.
Next up – time to replace her old HJC CS14 with something better! Looking for options now.
Office Duties – A wonderful daily ride!
One of the best aspects of the Tiger Sport 660 is how easy and nimble it is to manage in city traffic – I use it as my daily to office more often than not now. The Jeep comes in handy whenever there is a chance of rain in the morning – can’t wear raincoats while going to the office, return is ok. With the Versys, I always had doubts in my mind about its city capabilities, parking and all – but no second thoughts needed for taking the Tiger Sport.
IMHO – this would probably be one of the easiest-to-manage ADVs priced north of the KTM 390 Adventure.
The Triumph showroom experience and the Speed Triple 1200RS
Meanwhile, visited Keerthi Triumph to check out the Streetfighter triples for a friend. He is looking for a fun bike to join his practical CB500X. I also took the opportunity to take a short city TD of the Speed Triple 1200 RS and the Katana (no pics from that encounter). He eventually ended up booking the Street Triple 765RS though- after test riding options like the Suzuki Katana, Kawasaki Z900, Ducati Monster 821 etc.
The scene at Keerthi Triumph these days! Thankfully at least the top floor is dedicated to the big bikes.
TD of the Speed Triple 1200RS: I just had a short spin around MG road and the acceleration was just impossible to experience even with minimal traffic on a Sunday morning. Felt flickable and very well balanced in weight – for what is a bike from well above litre class displacement class.
The biggest pain point I noticed was the heat – but not the usual wave of heat as with most big bikes. In the Speed Triple, that portion of the metal frame below the tank gets very very hot and for me – that’s exactly where my knee was rubbing when trying to hold the tank. Felt like a hot rod in constant contact with the leg.
Biggest reason for not opting for it was the low sales. The bike sold 4-5 units, pan India, for the entire year. My friend thought it was too much of a risk – he already was taking a huge leap of faith with Triumph India.
Street Triple 765RS in yellow that he ended up booking finally:
Exhaust Mod?
Almost everyone who has seen or heard the bike asked when the exhaust is getting purchased, a question I never used to get on the characterless parallel twin sound of the Versys.
After KarthikK also suggested it above, I did some research and finally landed on this VFM product. Seems like they have quite a reputation and popularity among the Trident / Tiger Sport 660 riders abroad.
Sounds really good too – and is supposed to bring a 3hp gain.
But then I contacted Tec Bike Parts UK and came to know they don’t ship to India because Speedmonks is the distributor for India. And upon contacting Speedmonks – I’m looking at a 76k quote for the TEC Fang 3-1 Full Stainless / Carbon Exhaust System for the Triumph Tiger Sport 660 with the DB killer/ Quiet baffle.
Not very happy with how £340 is becoming 76k INR, but this is still much cheaper than most options available in the market.
Not decided if an exhaust mod is worth it – never ridden a bike with a loud (with DB killers only I mean) exhaust before. So not sure if it’s worth the pain and hassle. Suggestions welcome.
Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
