My Tiger X-road 250 has arrived - pictures and first impression

[mbox999]

Hi , YESSSSSS my X-road arrived yesterday ...of course i am extremely happy to have received it (also on time of my Birthday) ...more reason to celebrate .Having spend 100km's on it yesterday and today...it runs all fine and has this great sound too.I find the best acceleration best in the lower mid rpm's-just as thumpers do .Vibrations are thumper alike it feels smoother than my tuned Boxer250 before (which did not disturb me).... I did not go faster than 108kp but the x-road is presumably going up to 120-130kph ...i will do some crosschecking with the gps in the coming days and weeks.
The gear seems easy to change and neutral is easily found too...of course lets see how that goes over time...for now i am happy with my x-road which also had to survive some light offroad ( and did pretty well)

here some pictures i done yesterday...they are randomly made but pretty much cover the bike all around...(if you have any quests for particular pics let me know and i will do)

and finally all the picture in hi-res here: https://picasaweb.google.com/110453917545204291146/MyNewTigerXRoad250?authkey=Gv1sRgCLyrpt6J-JW1aw&feat=directlink

happy trails ,

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[KZ]

Congrats! It's always a great feeling to have a new bike (or a new used one) sitting in the garage!
Thanks for the close-ups, one pic shows the emission control stuff, once that goes the bike should run better.
How is the suspension? Like a street bike or like an Enduro? Have you ever ridden the Tracker, how does it compare?
Interestingly it says "SACHS" on the top triple clamp...
Enjoy and keep us updated!

 

[mbox999]

Thx KZ, you are right it is pure happiness to have the xroad in the garage now
I keep it Stock for the time being as i like to see what it "can" without working on it. Not everybody is up for modifying the bike me thinks.

The x-road feels great in curves...even when the road is straight i wanna do curves
About the suspension, it swallows potholes pretty well and but it also feels firm. If there are bigger bumps it will,however, forward it....not sure if the d-tracker would forward the bumps as much. I have ridden a stock d-tracker about 2 year back and my memory is kind of fading( but i may be able to make a side by side comparism on both "unmodified" bikes)...i hated the seat (on d-tracker -which i am sure can be resolved without too much work) i like the seat on the x-road a lot ....would be suitable to go distance too.
I have only done to-date 150km on it and i really like it but it would be too early making a "review" already...so far i can say it starts easy , gearing including finding neutral is fine ( on the prior tested x-road gear was a bit firm ), the clutch was yesterday a bit hard to press ...today it felt easier. it has a good bite in low-mid range but the top-end is weak ( thumper alike).
I need to point out that nice sound it gives...noone ever mentioned this before...maybe others don't like it....anyways i like it
The max speed i did today on flat with my xxx kg's was 122kph indicated(not gps verified as yet).
The frontbrake is awesome the rearbrake i hardly ever use ...but i checked , it works fine also.

The topic "Vibrations" should also be touched....maybe it gives as much viration as a 250 thumper is expected to give i should say?...i think it is less than on my Boxer 250 . Having done the 150kms i never felt discomfort or alike, i will try to make a longer trip and will post back.

You're right it still has Sachs mentioned on few places ( even the pillion footpegs) topped with a Tiger sticker on the headlight.... fits perfect to "TigerSachsClub" now

cheers, mbox

 

[mbox999]

Thank you Colin, i am currently already checking on fuel-useage but since i am in break-in it may not be all that accurate .
Whatever you see on my x-road now is stock, i ordered it Stock without any special request ....i think they still work on a few things and i see already the rear rack changed a little but came out quite nice ..it also seems the engine mount is black "stock" (used to be silver)....will keep you updated,
happy trails, mbox

 

[alexbrouwer1]

Congrats with your X-road Mbox.
Lots of small changes on your bike compared to the one i got.

 

[monsterman]

I really like the look of this 250 from tiger and will look forward to trying onoe out as a possible trail bike for myself

 

[TonyBKK]

Congratulations on the new bike and Happy Birthday!!! :happy1:

 

[mbox999]

Hi, I made some time available today and did a little ride on my x-road ...had not planned a particular route but i ended up doing a road which is one of my favorites in my place...
the distance covered was 110km
total travel time 1hr 40min (including refuelling plus 2 stops for pics )
The x-road was doing pretty well and with an average speed of about 90kph i am pretty happy too . I find it doing well up to 100kph but going over this takes a bit and largely depends on the wind . The x-road feels a bit restricted and at later stage i will try to get more horses and speed from it by looking into possibilites of fuel/airsupply as well as carb jetting and perhaps also better exhaust flow .
the suspension while firm but it takes potholes well and it does very well on gravel roads. The vibration was pretty normal as much as you'd expect from single cyl...no sore or numb feeling.

While I refilled fuel I also had a chance to have a first look at fuel usage . It used 3,8 ltr/100km or 26km/ltr. This figures are 70% Town traffic and on Gasohol 91 (E10).
So far I am very happy with my Xroad and when time allows I will take her to petchabun and back for a appr. 5-600km day roundtrip .

Happy trails,

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[gobs]

Congrats for the "brand new bike" mbox!
I do understand your happiness: we are all like big kids with their big toys!

And thanks for your report and pics.
As I would like to get a "slim-light-funny" bike to quick comute here and there in Chiang Mai city, it could be a good choice IMHO...
I was looking a bit about scooters (Vespa or Honda), but it's defenitely not "my world" (just my own feeling ;-).
Sure I shall stay tune xith your thread.

Thanks and good luck with this nice thai bike!
Cheese,
Gobs

 

[mbox999]

Hi Gobs, thanks and will keep an update about my x-road here. it sure is a nice toy for around town too. i use it almost every morning to go to town for my exercising. still looking for some luggage options as the tankbag is a bit too big and limits the steering and makes the turning radius wider , which ain't so good for town use. i may get a givi topbox which i can remove, as desired...

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[mbox999]

Here is some more detailed review from the first 560km on my x-road :http://www.thaimc.com/Tiger_Xroad250_Owners_Review

happy trails, mbox

 

[mbox999]

Soundcheck on my x-road 250


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(umm how to embed the youtube video??? i am sure it's possible just can't figure it right now.)

 

[mbox999]

I have done 1700km on my x-road- and really enjoy riding it . I added the Acerbis Hanguards which i found at our local Kawa dealer. I also added a Givi Topbox (removable) which i got from Thaimotorbox for 1680 THB(Alvin from thaimotorbox writes proper english and responded really quick- great service and fast shipping) . Need to say that Topboxes don't really make bikes look better but this model fits pretty well to the bike and is just so convenient .I also went into some muddy dirty road and made these pics ...
Sorry for the picture quality but i only had my mobile phone with me.

happy trails,

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[mbox999]

So here is mine again with handguards and topbox after washing it this morning.

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[mbox999]

here the x-road 250 owners manual download : https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B783G0SVulaYN2NiYjEwZDItODczNS00ZTZlLWExOWYtZDk3OTNhZWUwYWZi&hl=en_US
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[TonyBKK]

Looking great mbox! I'm envious of all the riding you've been doing! Happy Trails! Tony

 

[Tom Forde]

G'day mate,
Checked out xroad in Oz, selling very well and good reports.
Oz has so many bikes in this market it is good to see favourable riding reports.
You may soon have another customer, after market kits will be available soon.
Check out http://www.sachsbikes.com.au/news.php?catID=&newsID=95&action=view

Cheers
Tom

 

[mbox999]

Hi Tom,

The only one thing i really like to have now is a proper fitting tankbag...my cortech supermini isn't doing too well. Other than that the bike runs fine. Need to point out it ain't a very fast one but i am sure some increase in flow will make it a bit faster as well....at the time being i think 110kph is a good cruising speed on it...the topspeed i have seen was 125kph this was on the flat road and with no winds....if there are winds your topspeed will reduce quite a bit .

I am about to reach 2000km on my x-road. And while it is a motard it makes me feel a bit more being on a naked bike ( nice and wide seat and seating position is comfy too IMO) ....a naked bike that does pretty good in light offroad too.

Believe mid August the x-road 250 will be available again as it was sold out .

happy trails,

mbox

 

[mbox999]

Ok, my x-road got some LED indicators too .....here some pics

Front:
before:

after

Rear:
before

after:

here how they look when blinking:

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Attached files

 

[mbox999]

Well, my x-road, as much as i loved it , i had perhaps given it too much of a hard time :roll: .
So recently i discovered some very soft front and rear shocks and the final drive finally through out the chain while i was riding it ...lucky that was only 2 km from home .
Tiger took the Bike to factory and checked .... so they offered me to either fix it with new parts but said they don't know if the Bike is keeping up if kept ridden as i did (well they didnt say it in that way but was merely between lines) - which in a way was probably really a bit too bumpy / hard and too deep-water But generally said i would have expected it to "survive" my riding .And as we (Khun Pariya,Khun Piti & myself) spoke about this ,as well as my needs have somewhat changed i will get now a Gmax 150......
so bye bye my beloved x-road 250 :cry: looking forward to the new Auto-Scooter,

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[Ian Bungy]

Wow, I thought they would have been Tougher than that? The Gmax 150 is a cool looking Scooter though! Enjoy!

 

[mbox999]

Ian, i thought so too specially the shocks seem to be pretty weak for a motard .... but they maybe sufficient for light bumpy town riding ...but this i can do with a Gmax too .One thing i did realise , i will not buy a Motard again , but may find myself on an small offroader such as KLX to play "dirty" ..... the ktm freeride 350 would be great

Yes the Gmax 150 is a nice Scooter ...i tested it before and suits me well...will open another thread about my Gmax 150 .

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[KZ25]

So after six months and a few thousand km the bike is in a condition that it's a good idea to trade it in for a scooter?

I don't want to sound mean but a dealer telling me that their product can't take my riding style seems like BS to me!

Don't take it personal, I've bought a cheap Malaysian JRD which gave me lots of trouble and I was glad to be rid of it after one year/10,000 km.

At the moment I'm helping my friend to get rid of his dead Platinum 175. That reinforced my position of never again buying anything non-Japanese.
You may pay more but you get way better quality.

Chinese products look quite good on the showroom floor but don't compare with known brand products - yet.

Thanks for posting your experience with this Tiger/Sachs model - I hope you fare better with the scooter!

Interestingly both the X-Road and the Platinum are Enduros with 175/230cc for 50 to 60,000 THB - unfortunately no comparable Japanese products available. Kawasaki's Boss chopper has a spunky little engine; I'd buy a KLX 175 for 85,000 THB. But that would take sales away from their overpriced KLX125.

A Honda CRF250L for 100,000 THB would be a winner!

 

[mbox999]

KZ25;274870 wrote: So after six months and a few thousand km the bike is in a condition that it's a good idea to trade it in for a scooter?

I don't want to sound mean but a dealer telling me that their product can't take my riding style seems like BS to me!

Don't take it personal, I've bought a cheap Malaysian JRD which gave me lots of trouble and I was glad to be rid of it after one year/10,000 km.

At the moment I'm helping my friend to get rid of his dead Platinum 175. That reinforced my position of never again buying anything non-Japanese.
You may pay more but you get way better quality.

Chinese products look quite good on the showroom floor but don't compare with known brand products - yet.

Thanks for posting your experience with this Tiger/Sachs model - I hope you fare better with the scooter!

Interestingly both the X-Road and the Platinum are Enduros with 175/230cc for 50 to 60,000 THB - unfortunately no comparable Japanese products available. Kawasaki's Boss chopper has a spunky little engine; I'd buy a KLX 175 for 85,000 THB. But that would take sales away from their overpriced KLX125.

A Honda CRF250L for 100,000 THB would be a winner!

umm maybe i didn't really post all of things here because i mainly posting on tiger/sachs forum ...but my use of bikes has changed and thus the change from x-road to gmax was more than welcome....actually i just sold yesterday my virago 750 for the same reason.....and the Manufacturer did not mention about my riding style , or did i write that? But it was merely mentioned that they can not guarantee recurance of the same problem( having seperated the shocks and looked inside they must have found "misery inside" ) as they only assemble the parts sent from sachs manufacturer in china.....so generally said its not very convincing for the Brandname Sachs.

i think your position really sucks when you think of buying only japanese.....i would and still will buy non japanese brands ( and japanese as well), after all ducati,ktm,bmw,aprilia,harley, triumph are not japanese and these manufacturers have the one or other interesting bike , no?

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[KZ25]

mbox999;274883 wrote: umm maybe i didn't really post all of things here because i mainly posting on tiger/sachs forum ...but my use of bikes has changed and thus the change from x-road to gmax was more than welcome....actually i just sold yesterday my virago 750 for the same reason.....and the Manufacturer did not mention about my riding style , or did i write that? But it was merely mentioned that they can not guarantee recurance of the same problem( having seperated the shocks and looked inside they must have found "misery inside" ) as they only assemble the parts sent from sachs manufacturer in china.....so generally said its not very convincing for the Brandname Sachs.

i think your position really sucks when you think of buying only japanese.....i would and still will buy non japanese brands ( and japanese as well), after all ducati,ktm,bmw,aprilia,harley, triumph are not japanese and these manufacturers have the one or other interesting bike , no?

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I understood that the suspension sort of gave up on you and the dealer couldn't guarantee that the replacement parts would hold up any better.
"...generally said i would have expected it to "survive" my riding..." - I would expect the same, any bike which suspension and chain/sprocket is shot after half a year is not acceptable. The KLX250 is more expensive but it's almost impossible to ride it to pieces!
"...its not very convincing for the Brandname Sachs..." - I thought Sachs pulled out and it's a Tiger?
When I mentioned non-Japanese brands I was talking about Platinum, JRD, Lifan and so on. There may be some Korean products that are better than Chinese but for me a bike has to work and be fun, and I pay a bit more for that. I don't want to be at the dealer once a month and waste my time with repairs or upgrades.
Of course European bikes are even more expensive than the Japanese and hold up the same or better.
But that's up to each buyer, if you don't mind things breaking or falling off or not working and waiting for parts and haggling over warranty issues, fine. At least you saved some money when you bought it.
My motto is: "buy the best and only cry once" - and the Japanese have the best price/quality ratio.
If I ever win the lottery I may buy a KTM or a Triumph...
Good luck with your new scooter, I hope it holds up alright, keep us posted!
I've never owned one but just got me a used Yamaha Nouvo 135. Takes a bit getting used to, no footpegs, two hand brakes and the automatic, but I'm happy and won't buy a Wave again!