By Joe Berk
I’ve always loved Triumphs and I always thought they were not only the coolest bikes around but also the best bang for the buck. I rode Triumphs in the ’60s and ’70s when they were air-cooled and I rode them when they were made by Hinckley. I always thought the ’65 Bonneville was the best looking motorcycle there could ever be until the Speed Triple came along and took that title. But the one that stole my heart was my ’06 Triumph Tiger in Caspian blue. I loved everything about that motorcycle. Seeing Bobbie Surber’s Tiger has me thinking about my Tiger again.
I wasn’t planning to buy a new motorcycle when I walked into Doug Douglas Motorcycles in 2006 and saw the one that would become mine. But none other than old Doug Douglas himself noticed how I reacted to it. Doug knew his business, and he told me he’d sell it to me for whatever the number was, which seemed like a reasonable deal. Reasonable, however, was not the adjective that was governing my thought process when I saw that motorcycle, and Doug recognized that. I gave Doug the only response I could think of at the time, which was: I’ll take it.
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Sue hit the roof when I came home and told her she needed to give me a ride back to Doug’s to pick up a new motorcycle. She stayed upset longer than usual when I told her how much it cost and that I would be taking the money out of the checking account. “What happened to the money you got from selling your Suzuki?” she demanded. It was more of an accusation then a question.
I had to think for a minute, and then I remembered. “That mother-of-pearl and onyx bracelet I bought for you…I used the money I got for the TL to buy it” I said, and Susie mellowed. Visibly. It was like de-arming an IED. “Oh,” was all she said, and then she was her usual cheery self.
When we arrived at Douglas Motorcycles, the tempest was over. I introduced Susie to Doug and she said, “You must be the world’s greatest motorcycle salesman…my husband told me he took your first offer, and he never does that…”
Doug smiled. “Oh, I’ve sold a few motorcycles,” he said, “but that’s not my real strength. My real strength is furniture. I am the world’s greatest furniture salesman.”
Sue was perplexed, as was I. Had I missed something? Did Doug Douglas Motorcycles have another wing that sold furniture?
“Yeah,” Doug continued, “there are a lot of couples who bought new bedroom furniture and new dining room sets when the husband came home and told the wife he bought a new motorcycle from me…”
Riding Baja? Insure with the best. We always do.
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Caspian Blue Tigers with bottles of Yoo-Hoo in the paniers…….then all is right with world.
Those bags had tons of capacity. You could also get a matching tail thingamabob, but I had so much capacity in the two panniers I never felt the need for more space.
My old boss had one of those. When he rode it to work one day I was looking at it and the seat height was incredible. You had to be very tall or put training wheels on it to ride it. Orange with tiger stripes. Really stood out.
I saw the orange one when it first came out at the Long Beach IMS and knew I had to have one. A few years later I bought the blue one from Doug. It was a tall bike. I had the seat at the lowest setting (there were three) and that made it a little better, but it shortened the seat to peg distance and that made it a little more uncomfortable. The two most comfortable bikes I ever owned were my KLR 650 and my RX3.
Nice bike!
Panniers ? Ugh.
But if you had to have them the Tiger looks way better than BMW.
The bike is gorgeous. I never considered one bcz of the seat height , but yours looks very inviting.
I almost bought a GS once. But I couldn’t get past the looks and the price.
The Triumph was a great motorcycle. It didn’t handle as well as my Chinese RX3, it wasn’t as much fun, and it cost three times as much, but it was still a good bike.
Then came Patel. Still laughing at that one.
So many bikes and so little time to ride them all, until you see the one and the others melt away. When I say the one that grabs you and translates to a “Infatuation” purchase. The feelings lasts each and every time you look at it but other bikes creep in and do the same to you as well even when your on the one that you had to have. My 2008 Moto Guzzi Sport 1200 did that to me as did the 99 Suzuki Bandit and the 74 Suzuki T500 Titan. Its fun as life is short and we must keep riding.
Amen, brother.
I believe that was the bike that you rode for a quick turnaround to my house in Baja. I think we rode down together, and then you left the next morning to return home by yourself after taking a picture of the sunrise. That may have been the picture that you submitted to the LA Times(?) for a photo contest. Or perhaps I have events from 3 separate rides blended into that memory. Trusting my memory less and less these days. Ha ha!!!
Your memory is not that bad, John. Indeed, those photos were from that trip! I remember sleeping on your roof in Bahia de Los Angeles. And I still have that sunrise photo looking east over the Sea of Cortez. Good times.