When Poor Circulation was my own personal adventure, my bike of choice was the Yamaha XT600E. It's reliable, simple, robust,light and amazingly cheap to buy and run. I'd gone so far as to research and source all of the necessary modification to make this already capable dirt bike into a real World Tourer. Then along came the towering hulk that is Alan Kelly.

Alan is 6'6" tall, .... and I'm not. We went along to our local Yamaha dealership to introduce him to his transport for the next year but unfortunately, ...... they didn't have one in Alan's size. To give him credit, he gritted his teeth during a short test-ride and returned to echo my praise of the single cylinder 600cc funster. However,... the bruises on his knees told a lightly different story. Alan already owned a perfectly unsuitable bike for Poor Circulation in the form of an almost new Triumph Tiger 955i, but then one man's 'Unsuitable' is another man's 'Perfection'. Not for the last time in Poor Circulation a compromise would be required. As responsible adults, we decided the issue in the only mutually acceptable way.

If I'd not changed my mind at the very last minute and stuck with 'Scissors', we'd now be the proud owners of Yamaha XT600's. Sadly I chose 'Rock' and the rest as they say, ...... is history.

Following a rather butt clenching auction on eBay, we acquired a rather loud older brother to Alan's black Triumph Tiger and set about preparing them for Poor Circulation. Thankfully both bikes came with factory fitted panniers, 23L fuel tanks, centre stands and the ability to carry a lot more weight than my original Yamaha option.

The basic specification of the bikes is as follows:

Model: Triumph Tiger 955i (2004/2006)
Engine: 3 Cylinder 12 Valve DOHC 955cc
Power: 105 Bhp @ 9500 RPM
Torque: 92Nm @ 4400 RPM
Fuel: 23 Litres
Dry Weight: 215 kg

Modifications

Lights: Courtesy of triumph-online.co.uk, we fitted Excelite Halogen Bulbs and added relays that allow us to run both headlights at the same time. This modification does improve night vision, but it also makes the bikes look a little less 'bog-eyed' during the day, .. always a benefit. We considered converting all of the other lights to ever lasting LED's, .. but then we glanced at the budget and decided otherwise.

With the lights now working and looking as they should, we were worried about flying stones from the unpaved roads across Eastern Russia. MotoHaus.com jumped to our rescue with a pair of clear Ventura Light Guards which fitted perfectly. If anybody hasn't fitted these guards to their own bikes (whatever make and model) then I suggest taking a look at the cost of a replacement sealed headlight unit, ... ouch.

Final Drive: We decided to run with the existing chain and sprockets and thus the original factory gearing. Personally i think that 1st gear is a little too high for dirt riding, but then it's always going to be a compromise between economy and practicality. As back-up, again courtesy of triumph-online.co.uk we have spare DiD Gold X Ring Chain and Sproket kits that we'll simply change as and when the OE equipment raises the white flag.

A colleague from Boxertrix.com is donating a pair of 17T front sprocket options which we can use to lower the gearing if things start to get a little messy through Russia.

Courtesy of Acument-Electronics.co.uk we'll be running with electronic oilers which should increase the life of our chain and sprockets. Hopefully, we'll complete Poor Circulation by running the OE equipment to the bitter end, fitting the DiD replacements and eking out as many miles as possible. Our budget dosn't include any further replacements, ...... so we'll just have to be gentle.

Brakes: It amazes me that bikes are still produced today without stainless braided hoses. The brakes on the Tiger are perfectly fine, .... but the long travel front suspension does make them feel a little 'odd' in comparison to my more usual road bikes. Unfortunately our budget won't stretch to new hoses, ... but the generosity of WeMoto.com did stretch to several sets of Koyoto Semi Metalic brake pads that should see us right through the journey. We wont fit them until the existing pads are begging for mercy, .... but reports of the Koyoto's performance from other users seems positive so far. We'll keep you posted.

Protection: Most engine bar systems for the Tiger seem to anchor to the sump of the bike. This may work well in the event of a minor spill, but neither of us felt comfortable about having a major 'off' and testing the strength of the anchor points. The only protection system that we found that bolted only to the engine pivot points were through triumph-online.co.uk. I guess you can sense a pattern developing here, ... but everything that we have seen from this company just seems to do the job slightly better than the available alternates. The bars fitted in 20 minutes and provided additional hanging points for the front panniers and homemade sump guard.

The OE sump guard on the Tiger is attached to the exhaust downpipes. It's quite small and leaves an awful lot of exposed pipework and engine casings. The twin spar steel frame of the Tiger using the engine as a stress member and no frame tubes run beneath the bike. This leaves very few anchor points for a more robust sump guard. However, the engine bars use a cross brace from which we will hang a home fabricated item that is not ideal, ... but every little helps.

The only other modification in this area was the addition of a larger foot for the sidestand. We simply took a standard angle bracket and braced it onto the existing foot of the stand. Hopefully this will allow us to stand the bikes securely on soft grouhnd or sand without having to rely on 'pucks', ...... which we always forget to collect when ride away. It may still be necessary to bend the sidestand outwards to increase the lean angle of the bike, .... but we have a fine selection of hammers in the Poor Circulation shed.

Comfort: Fortunately the Orange Tiger came complete with both rider and pillion gel seats. I've ridden a Tiger with the OE seat and it does amaze me how Triumph can make such a great touring bike and then fail adequately accommodate the average riders arse. The difference that the gel seat makes is amazing and makes 'Big Miles' a breeze on the buttocks. I let Alan test the difference between the two bike, ....... but not for too long obviously.

Following a little research, Alan contacted MotoHaus.com and inquired about the 'Airhawk Seat'. Three days later, courtesy of BykeBitz.co.uk, an AirHawk seat arrived at Poor Circulation HQ. Now it's my turn to be a little envious. Once you have the air adjusted to the correct level, the AirHawk seat is more comfortable than the gel option. the only drawback is possibly a slightly raised seat height, .. but that really is a small price to pay for day-long comfort.

The Tiger comes as standard with hand guards which deflect the wind and rain from the hands and upper arms and heated grips that could roast your Sunday joint. Even on the lowest setting, I actually find the grips a little too warm, .. though I may change my opinion once we reach Siberia.

Luggage: Both bikes come with standard issue Triumph Panniers and Alan's Tiger has the OE topbox. Thankfully Triumph saw fit to provide all Tigers with a perfectly robust rear rack/grab rail which will take baseplates for most luggage systems. I recognised the beauty in a Krauser 45L topbox on eBay which was thankfully missed by and thus acquired at a Poor Circulation kind of price. The beauty of the Krauser is that it is a 'top-loader', ....... your crap remains securely in the box when you open the lid.

As Alan is the heavier member of Poor Circulation, he gets to carry the food and I get to carry the tools and spares. I don't actually remember that particular deal being struck, ... but it does make sense. To deal with the 'weight distribution' issue we've fitted a second case beneath the Krauser topbox and forward panniers fashioned from army surplus burgen pouches mounted on the engine bars. This will hopefully keep the weight as low and central as possible, .. not ideal but a good cheap compromise.

To the panniers of the Orange Tiger we've added fixing points to carry lightweight bulky items such as the camera tripod, stove fuel and poncho awning. The tents and sleeping bags/mats should strap securely to the top of each pannier without causing too much inconvenience.

We still have to workout how to carry the 10L of water and 10L of petrol that we'll need through Russia, .... but I'm surewe'll find a workable and free solution.

Power Supply: We'll need to run various systems at different times using the power of the bikes batteries. I'm sure Ted Simon didn't have the problems of where to recharge his MP3 Player, Laptop, DVD Camera, Stills Camera and Cell Phone. Lets just that for Poor Circualtion, this area is still 'A work in progress'. ;-)