Vintage Tiger Steamer

I also have 93 steamer, I've had it since new, and I can't see me ever selling it.
We've had some issues over the years. Fuel starvation when she was brand new, a failed crank position sensor that left me stranded on the side of the motorway, the dreaded starter sprag problem which we changer for the newer larger sprag, and of course, the evil ethonal. Hopefully my fuel tank has stopped growing having switched to premium fuel some years ago.

I was 28 when I bought it, I'm now 53. That's got to be some kind of record!!

 

I'm hopefully soon buying a 94 Steamer from a friend to go with my 97 Speed Triple

Liked them for many years since seeing one up in Shetland at the Simmer Dim rally

 

Go for it....
Built like a brick outhouse. The only weakness I know of is the starter sprag, which can be sorted, and keep to premium fuel to avoid the ethonal issues.
Every spring I roll mine out of the shed, start her up, warm her up, turn left out of my drive, snap the throttle and she'll tear my arms out of my sockets, absolutely love it.

 

I am in need of help from Steamer owners, on my Tiger the gear linkage must be wrong as its up for 1st and down for rest, comparing my speed triple linkage to my Tiger and easy to see the linkage on the Tiger comes from above the shifter where as the speed triple comes from below, i was wondering if any owners would take a close up of their Tigers linkage so i can work out where mine is going wrong

 

Many thanks for the picture which is exactly the same as my Tiger even down to the wear on the footrest rubber, will have to investigate further, of course it could be my mate havering as i havent ridden the bike as yet still waiting for pension to come.
Also can you tell me about sprag problem and is there an upgrade ?

 

I'll go into more detail later, but yes, there is an upgrade.

 

First thing you need to look at is the removable cover above the clutch housing, because this is where you pull the sprag bearing out of. Does yours look like the image? That means to say, is there a bolt down top, or is it a solid casting?

 

Many thanks, Will have a look at weekend as bike is still at my mates

 

The starter sprag on the earlier models wasn't man enough and was changed on later models.

You'll soon know if the sprag is failing, it makes a horrific clatter when you hit the starter button, it sounds far worse than it is.

A sprag bearing is just a one way bearing, that means it spins freely in one direction and locks up in the other. This occurs because the rollers are elliptical as opposed to being round. The sprag bearing allows the starter moter to drive the engine but as soon as it starts and effectively drives the starter motor, it just spins.

The problem is the inner bearing track wears prematurely, fails to lock up properly and starts skipping, and that's the clatter you hear.

Replacing the earlier sprag for a later one isn't for the faint hearted but it does work very well.

The problem is the later sprag is physically larger and won't actually fit, so we need to remove a bit of engine casing, it's not a great deal but it frightens a lot of people, which is a shame because people scrap these machines because of this faulty sprag, and that is a crime in it's own right!!

I did do some video of mine, I'll see if I can find it.

 

Thank you Arudge for an extensive run down of the potential problem

 

I did this once a long time ago
I remember jamming a greased up rag in the hole to stop any swarf getting into the engine and then attacking it with die grinder
Not for the faint hearted but take your time and it’s easy really
Just do some research first

 

We are that research, aren't we.

I also packed the cavity, but I didn't use a die grinder. I made a mandral for an angle grinder cutting disc because I could, I work in a toolroom.

Die grinder, dremal, hammer and chisel if your careful.

The secret is not to be afraid of it.

I'll post those vids tomorrow.

 

Hardly Hollywood quality, but you get the jist of it. To get the access the clutch has been stripped out and carbs removed.

 

Short clip showing where we've removed the metal.

It was literally a 20 second burst with thehttps drill.

 

All back together.

 

I did this job 4 or 5 years ago and it hasn't missed a beat since, it's well worth doing.

 

Anybody suggesting that I come from Birmingham and I'll be sending the wife round.
She's far more violent than I am

 

Straight up my Tiger Steamer gearbox is opposite to my Speed Triple

No idea if this is normal or a previous owner has altered the box
Need to manufacture a shift shaft clamp that actuates from the bottom of the shift shaft to change orientation of the shift shaft

 

Post some images of what you have.