Triumph, in their infinite, wisdom decided to go and change the front forks for VIN # 34525 and newer bikes.

Why?

Well let's just say they are not any better, but they are cheaper for Triumph to put on the newer Tigers.

So who cares?

I do!

Because unbeknownst to me when I got the BRG (British Racing Green) beasty the normally available front heavy duty springs wont go into the girl! This really sucks since I have already installed 0.75" preload spacers and they have helped a whole bunch, but the front is still to mushy for my liking.

The preload spacer that I made were 36mm (1.417") in diameter. And machined from some 6061-T6 stock that was lying around. One can also make a totally new preload spacer tube from some PVC tubing of similar diameter, and cut it 0.75" longer than the stock steel tubing preload spacer.

I've gotten boned by getting the newer bike, oh well..... I have preloaded the snot out of the fronts and I still not happy with it....... Grrrrrrr.....

Now what?

The information faxed to me from Triumph here should contain enough data on the current design to overhaul the existing units or manufacture a new design from.

Well, it would but the information is incorrect from Triumph!!!

There is a error in the rate information!!! Opps, "Challenger, go with throttle-up....."

The reported rate of 4.5kg/mm is incorrect. It should read 0.45kg/mm, and this is a big difference!

Lucky for me, Jason Lewis was the contact person at Race-Tech who was helping me with this project and noticed this error before any metal was wound into springs.

So with my initial calculations and his recommendation a set of springs were made with a rate of 0.60kg/mm and a free length of 500mm. This gave a big improvement over the stock units, while still allowing the full travel of the fork for off-road fun.

In my opinion, the new springs are a tad on the stiff side but not horribly so. I let four unsuspecting people drive the bike and three stated that the front and rear seemed to be well balanced. The last person said that the rear shock felt like it needed a bit more preload!

But I think that I will want a bit softer feel on the front. All is not lost! Jason said no problem, just drop a small mini-spring section on top of the installed spring. Since the new spring was 60mm shorter than stock at 500mm free length, you can fiddle around and make a unit that responds like a progressively wound spring. (No, I don't think Racetech does progressive springs)

So if you like it harder, stay with just the new spring form RaceTech. If you want to modify it for a bit softer riding just add a shorty spring on top of that and you are done!

BTW, you will have to make a new preload spacer when you change to any new spring(s). These can be made form standard PVC water piping. You are looking for 1-2cm of squish when you thread the caps back on. Of course, this is with the front end of the bike being jacked up off the ground!!!

Conclusion:

It is one of the best things I have done to the bike. It doesn't wallow anymore, is quicker steering and handles the S-curves with much more authority. Get the new springs!

You will need to talk to Jason Lewis at RaceTech and tell him that you want the springs for the newer Tigers that he and I worked on. There is no stock number yet on them so they are considered custom orders for now. But if enough people call up it would become a stocked number and the price would fall.