The Joys Of Owning An Old Triumph

I've put it on the forum before, but I'll repeat it to let you know you're not the only one that's not smitten with nostalgia.
I had a Triumph Daytona 500 which was crap and unreliable after my Honda CB250 K2
Worst mistake ever trading my Honda in for that pile of shite when I passed my test.
No pictures, can't even remember what year it was, just glad to get shut!

 

Looks very nice, unfortunately the never ending fettling and filthy hands are part of the overall deal !
Sounds like your patience is running thin though?
I think I'd be inclined to either sell or store for a year or so until the yearning returns, which it almost certainly will.

Curly

 

Yes, I totally agree with Curly, it is part of owning and maintaining an older nostalgic bike.
The bike looks beautiful and it is only fairly minor issues,if you were to sell it some enthusiast could well have sorted in an afternoon.
Decision time Neil, think long and hard, you may regret letting it go in a year or two.
I hated my Daytona because it was my only source of transport back then and was unreliable.
If I had it now things may well be different.

 

A modern reg/recs are cheap and will sort out 90% of your problems clean all the earthing points should help
then she'll be ok for a fortnight at least

 

It reads like a pretty succinct description of why they went out of business. The thread on crap bikes could equally include any with 60s/70s Lucas electrics.
Tinkering can be fun and frustrating in equal measure but if you need a reliable bike it becomes part of the purchase decision. For the restorer originality is the enemy of operational!

 

This the best place for the old ones

 

This all sounds pretty standard. Don't forget that the wiring will now be over 40 years old so the earth tags will have corrosion on them, the wire that the loom is made from will not last forever. A lot of cheap connectors may well have been used by people fixing little problems in the past life of your bike. At least it's not 1970s Italian now they are an electrical nightmare. As DD says a new loom is easy enough to get and fit and you may find the earth problems are obvious when you strip the old loom off.

 

Don't worry! Nostalgia whatever has got me too, I've a 58 thunderbird I've had for 18 years, hasn't run for 7 but I keep telling myself I'll get it going again to ride or sell, for some reason I can't bring myself to sell a non runner and I would like to go for one last ride on her! Sigh!!
I know how much flak I'm going to get for this but you can all go and swivel!!

 

lol buy a Hinckley bike if you want a little bit of reliability. Jeez, the 70s bikes are 40 yrs old.......so, ok do you perform like ya used to 40 yrs ago????? I know i fukkin dont, lol. ps I love the old stuff too, just fed up seeing 59 and 60 Bonnies at classic shows