Tiger Is Coming Together

[iowarotax]

Well I finally got the paint close. After three colors of blue this is as close as I could get without painting the tank. The tank was in great shape, so I did'nt want to paint it. The swingarm and shroud are in primer, but I kind of like the color of them. I cant make up my mind on the swingarm. I dont want to paint it the same as the frame. Its either gonna be white or red. More pics later. The tank looks alot darker in person. The camera flash must really lightnen it up, more than the frame.

[blue27]

Looks good so far, I guess I need to start on my Tigers. lol I like the swinger in blue but go with red to be different with a red seat and bars would look cool.

[iowarotax]

Yeah my swingarm was red when I got it. Dont know if that was a factory color or not. Ive got a red seat and a blue one. Im going to use the red for sure. I still for some odd reason like the white swingarm.

[Orangecnty250r]

Looks good....Blue frame and white swinger doesnt look to bad on a tiger and came from the factory like that on this Tiger 4. All of the stuff on this machine has just received a fresh recoat as well and reassembly will begin

[iowarotax]

Yeah I like the contrast with the swingarm being white. My grab bar is white also. The tank was really hard to get a blue to somewhat match it!!

[Huffa]

Yeah I like the contrast with the swingarm being white. My grab bar is white also. The tank was really hard to get a blue to somewhat match it!!

Looks great!

White swinger for sure, no ? in my mind the minute I saw it. It will balance out great with the white schrouds.

What you could do possibly (just a thought) though is add just a touch of some sort of logo in red on the swinger and schroud. Plain looks great too though.

[pimtout]

looks great..i have my rearend all apart..getting rearend bearings put in and swingarm bushings.....

[iowarotax]

Well I didnt get anything done on the Tiger today!! I was at the sled drags,COLD!!! Anyway hopefully tommorow I will be able to get some parts on the tiger. Im going with a white swingarm, white grab bar, white or polished alluminum shroud, white 350x front fender, no rear yet. All the misc parts like foot pegs,handle bars,rear brake lever are powdercoated black. I didnt get the made in USA sticker in my decal set, so I might have to get one for the swingarm. I think the red sticker will look great against the white background. Ive been working on my forks, on and off for 2 weeks. I sanded down all the thousands of imperfections in the alluminum surface, and am polishing them instead of painting them. ALOT of work!!!! I will get pics of the progress daily.

[pimtout]

im getting all the stickers remade...and will have extra 'made in usa' ones if ya what one or two let me know...

[Orangecnty250r]

im getting all the stickers remade...and will have extra 'made in usa' ones if ya what one or two let me know...

FYI Entire reporoductions have been made with precision accuracy...4 hours of scanning and revision to make them Perf...Not saying you shouldnt do it but why reinvent the wheel.

[ATCwithdrawals]

Yeah I like the contrast with the swingarm being white. My grab bar is white also. The tank was really hard to get a blue to somewhat match it!!


Looks good so far. Most paint supply stores have a snanning machine that they can get the paint to match almost perfect , within a shade either way. Thats what I do anyways. Are you using single stage paint or what( uerethane or b/c).

[iowarotax]

Heres a couple of pics of the progress today. I didnt start assembly untill almost 8:00. Tigers are so simple it crazy!! Hopefully I'll get most of it done this week.

[Orangecnty250r]

Looking real good man!!!!! Yes VERY simple to build ....hard to find parts for. I brought tons of labeled zip lock bags to lowes today and I bought the fancy gold zinc hardware to replace the entire hardware on all the machines...They used standard hardware....doesnt get any easier than that to make the bolts look new

[iowarotax]

Yeah, some of the hardware I replaced, but some I got lazy and used what I had. I plan on replacing it all before its complete. Ive still got a day or two left on the axle and forks. Im ordering tires this week. Hopefully I'll finally get to light this thing up!!!

[iowarotax]

I have this aluminum shroud that this tiger came with. The pic didnt turn out great, but this thing is pretty nice. I dont know if I will use this one or the fiberglass one.

[350xBomb]

Good lookin shroud, but I think it kinda ruins the fung-shui of the bike. Doesnt flow with the lines and its the only thing thats shiny. But as I say that, Im thinkin maybe with some shiny wheels itll make a nice accent.

Can you take a good pic of the bike from behind for me? It looks like the shock in the back offset. Is that correct? I never noticed that before.

[iowarotax]

Yeah the shock is mounted on the side. There are two settings for the bottom mount. I dont know if you can see that or not.

[iowarotax]

I ordered a OEM front tire today, also two tires for the rear to stud up for the ice. Both my original front tires are Cheng Shin. On another note, my right front fork is really causing me grief. The aluminum is really crude. Ive been sanding for two nights. I should get the polishing done tonight and get the front together. Hopefully I can be riding the tiger by next week.

[Orangecnty250r]

Where did you order the cheng shins from?

[iowarotax]

Chaparral dirt 06 catalog

[iowarotax]

Finally got the front together! Gonna try and get the axle in tonight. This is the original front tire, it still holds air!!! I hope the red bearing carrier and the front axle housing red, will look ok. I dont know if Im gonna use the red or blue seat. More pics later.

[pimtout]

man that thing looks killer.......I almost want to paint my swingarm white...h,mmmm....now would be the time to do it.

[iowarotax]

Yeah when i had the swingarm in primer-white, I thought it really looked sharp. So I went with it. Red, white , blue, Patriotic , I am a ex-marine.

[Yamaha Tri-Moto]

Very cool. I love the look of the Tigers, cant wait to see it complete. Keep us posted.

[iowarotax]

Just got the axle assembly in. It went in pretty easy. Ive got alot of little things to do yet. I have next week off. My boss is going to Mexico. No work for me, so I should be able to get this project done.

[pimtout]

that looks really nice...i got a pic of my axel on the new handelbars thread a few under this one....did some red also but that looks great all red..

[Vealmonkey]

Can't wait to see it finished. Enjoy your week off. Are you going to pick up that parts Tiger????

[ATCR250R]

Looking real good, if they were easier and cheaper to come by I would get one! :)

[iowarotax]

I have tried to call about the other tiger parts and left a message. I will keep on bugging him till I get it in my garage.

[iowarotax]

Think this will go through that door??? I should be able to turn it sideways and man handle it out. Its 15 below outside, too cold in the garage!!!

[johnny's X]

It will fit and if i doesnt use your saws all to make the door bigger. How bad is you old lady ready for you to get that out of her laundry room
my wife hate projects in the houe. He is my frame on the kitchen table retaping the threads.

[iowarotax]

I was gonna install the brakes tonight, roadblock!!! First off, the bracket I have for the front brake will not work for the forks I have on. If someone has a close up picture of the one I need, please post it in this thread. Next the rear master is locked up. I got it soaking right now. Hopefully the caliper works. If I have too much trouble I will just order new stuff.

[Orangecnty250r]

Thats the longer bracket I have those forks but not that bracket

[iowarotax]

Ive been looking for a close up on some of the tigers I have in my photos, but none are close enough for me to get a good idea what I need to make. Any idea who I could pm to get a shot of one? This is is close as I can get. Who owns this tiger?

[blue27]

Hey thats my 200!!! I will get you some pics tomorrow.

[iowarotax]

I got a little further this afternoon. Ive got alot of little things to do!!! My seat has been sitting for so long off the tiger, that it is out of shape. Im going to try and heat the plastic underneath and get it to fit a little better. I need to make the front brake bracket, install rear brake, plumb the cooler lines, install carb and pipe. I did get the rear master cylinder fixed. I'll keep pics coming.

[skippy]

send me an email.. i have pic of what you need.. skip

david@kostiak.com

[iowarotax]

Skip, I have that bracket for my 200. The forks on this 250 are a little different. They only have one mount hole on the fork, the other mount area is the axle. The mount I need is longer. Thanks for trying!!!!!!!

[firefirefire90]

Lookin good!

Is it just me, or is that tiger tank freakin HUGE?

[Orangecnty250r]

Looking real nice!!!!

[blue27]

Here are some pics of the fronts brake mount, both my forks are a little different, I can get more pics if needed.

[iowarotax]

Hey, thanks alot for getting the pics together for me. I should be able to get something to work now. Thats a great shot of your two tigers sitting side by side. Hopefully I can get started on my 200 soon, and get my own double pic. Thanks again Blue.

[iowarotax]

Bummer, I got a email from Jon at Jemco Exhaust. He said that it would be two weeks before I get the new 250 pipe. I may have to do a quick sand and paint on the 200 pipe. Didnt get much done on the tiger today. Mounted carb and throttle. Also got my templates ready for brake mount and fender mount.

[iowarotax]

Hey, check out this rotax liquid cooled engine thats in this bike. They have the exhaust coming right out the back of the engine. I cant tell if the carb is mounted right there or is just hanging. The jug must have been one of rotax's first watercooled attempt to make a watercooled engine. This thing is really cool. I bid on it but I think its gonna go to high for me.

[grundlegrabber]

Cool looking motor. Never saw anything like it before. Looks like it came from Mars!

[Vealmonkey]

Kawasaki or Suzuki had a simialr engine that was a 250cc flat track engine.

[Orangecnty250r]

Some of those motors were in the tiger 4... Here is a tiger Super 4 that has the filter coming off in that area.

[iowarotax]

That bike is really going high. I bid 100.00 and its 15 times past that now. I ordered brake pads today. Got the cooling lines plumbed. Hopefully I can start this badboy up this week. Im going to get my 85R rear fender today and see how it looks on the tiger. Its a white rear so Im anxious to see how it looks. I also bought a rotax flywheel puller a couple of days ago. It was kinda spendy but was brand new in the box. Let me know if you guys ever need it.

[iowarotax]

Well I got my rear brake pads in and that system works perfect. Im pretty happy that the master and caliper cleaned up and worked good. Also got the R.A.V.E. valve cover installed. I got the cooling lines and carb installed. Also finally got my new rear tires. My front should be here any day. I got new dust protectors for my forks today. The only thing Im waiting for is my pipe from Jemco. Maybe next week.

[InPiEcEs]

That bike you were bidding on looks to me as though it might be rotary valved, with the carb sitting where it is. Question is......where is the ignition? The other side looks to have the water pump there.

[iowarotax]

Yeah it is a rotary valve engine. The ignition must be in the normal place, but they must have stuck the water pump in there also. The engine must have been one of Rotax's first try at liquid cooling.

[Dirtcrasher]

There is just something about the Rotax motor that I love - It has a "sleek" look to it.

BUT, I hate the rear master cylinder setup - it doesn't look so sleek!

[iowarotax]

I kinda like the simple in your face crude look of the rear brake setup. They didnt try to hide anything. Kinda the mechanical look that some of the Harley guys go for. Its simple, so I can at least fix it!!!

[viper]

thats a cool looking bike but i must say i have never seen or heard about them before ..what can you tell me about without writing a book lol ................looks like it will make a real nice bike

[iowarotax]

Its been awhile since I did any work on my Tiger. I am still waiting for my pipe from Jemco. Its been over a couple months now. I have been really busy with other things and have put the tiger on the backburner. I will update some new pics this weekend. Also have some new info from the factory Tiger rider that won the only national on a Tiger. Hopefully some old pics too. Also have not sold my other Tiger yet. I may just keep it and wait for my second wind and put it together.

[84honda200s]

i love rotax. it is the best pinger in my opinion. they are reliable and powerful. im kinda liking the tigers. i like the simple setup of them. its looking good man keep us posted.

[iowarotax]

Heres my latest pic of my project. Still waiting for the pipe from Jemco! All the talk about Tigers on the site has lit the fire again to get rolling again on this. More pics when 100%.

[scooterroo]

are those 350x rear fenders? you putting them on your tiger?

[iowarotax]

Yep, 350X fenders is the closest I have to tiger factory fenders. Out of the two tigers Ive got, one came with little un-restorable pieces. These will have to do untill I get lucky enough to find OEM Tiger fenders.

[Darius1502]

Iowarotax,

do you post on KTMtalk.com on the 550/440 thread big bore forum.

This is DariusKTM...

Nice Tiger!! When you mentioned the 350x fenders...I remember we talked about this!!

Don't neglect that KTM 500!! HE he!!

[iowarotax]

Yeah, thats me. Ive got that sickness "Anything 2-stroke I gotta have. I go look at trikes and motocross bikes, I end up buying something, I cant walk away!! Anyway nice to hear from you on this site. Any Tigers down in Texas?