1998 Sprint 900 Drop Linkage And Shock Absorber Overhaul.

Hi Guys,

I saw a Triumph Sprint on Gumtree about 6 months ago that hadn't sold for £500 after a month, so I offered the guy £400 and I was quickly the new owner of a lovely old racing green Sprint. I can tell you it has been round the block a few times. I'm not a mechanical engineer by trade but have been building bike for 40 or so years now - mainly breaking them in the early years. So I couldn't resist a new project and the guy even offered to deliver it for free! At first I thought I would clean it up and get shot of it. But I soon realised they don't fetch a lot. I had seen a few Cafe Racer builds around so I decided to do something radical with the old girl. I don't have any photos of her as she was but you know what they look like. Anyway fast forward to today and this is how she looks on my bench.

 

So I've had a few covers powder coated and I've had to move my cleaning bench outdoors because of the dust! But hey, I came across this Triumph forum and couldn't find much in the way of detail of how to strip and overhaul the rear linkage. So I decided to try to document it myself. The first thing is it's a dirty job. The other thing to tell you if you don't have access to a bench press then you're going to have to improvise.

 

Having got it out I'm now going to have a go at getting the roller bearings out.

 

I went for the old school way - 30mm socket on one end and 25mm die on the other.

 

Stuck it in a vice and turned it out.

 

I've found a complete set of replacement bearings, shafts and seals on Sprint Manufacturing so will order that Monday and let you know how I get on.

 

Got a bit more done this weekend. Will post it up if I get a chance later!

 

So, putting it all back together is fairly straight forward, here's a pic by pic guide. Apart from being a bit careful pushing the rollers back in it wasn't too mach of a problem

 

Next thing is what am I going to do with the back end?

 

Hi there, sprint Manufacturing has them on the shelf £152 quid.

 

Yep, good service. Recommended.

 

A quick update.

 

Sure was

 

Hope this works.