Hello from a Brit expat deep in the Swedish countryside. Lived many years in Leicestershire, not that far from Hinckley and always liked Triumph's styling. Then after some years without a bike whilst the kids were small, I took the plunge and bought myself a 2001 Trophy last winter. Got it for a good price and took a chance on the fact that the service history was virtually non-existent, and one lady owner from new, thinking "it's not unusual for people to do the servicing themselves". Have since found out that in fact she just hadn't done any servicing, and am slowly working my way through the COMPLETE service list in the Haynes manual which has been invaluable! Only the swing arm greasing and valve clearances to go thought I and then noticed the block is wet from the head gasket downwards... sigh.. had to change the fan switch at the beginning of last summer amongst a few other things, as I noticed it getting very hot but the fan wasn't cutting in, and thought I'd got away with not cooking it but apparently not . Tested the sender for the temperature warning light yesterday, as I realised I don't remember it coming on either, and yes that also needs replacing. At least I have something to do while it's garaged during the Swedish winter! I've been a little confused when ordering spares for the Trophy, with there being a model change from VIN# 29155. I have VIN# SMTTC345CW1127235 and initially thought this was before 29155 (thinking it was just the last 5 digits), but that didn't correlate with the images of the bikes and parts. In the process of writing this the penny has finally dropped that it's not so and mine is actually #1127235, and the model change must therefore have been in 1996 to the black engine! That must mean they built 220,000 bikes a year on average between 1996 and 2001, can that be right?
lol I would doubt that they built anywhere near that number. I dont know why the numbering changed but glad you found out before buying loads of the wrong bits. As you have found I guess, the WOT site shows pics of the bike next to the numbers so it is easy to see which is yours, easy that is if you know it is there.'The WOT site does not however use triumph part numbers, Fowlers however do, but they dont have the pics of the bike next to the serial numbers. Great bike, love the older 3 and 4 pots, they have soul. Enjoy.
Hi Imark the Swede welcome aboard,not a good thing to find the overheating may have caused damage to engine is wetness oil or water is it just a old stain or fresh wet one you will need to clean area and pin point leak to decide your next step sorry cannot help with VIN but i am sure help with this will be on its way.
Cheers Dave, I thought 220,000 a year seemed like a lot! Okay so they just changed the sequence, thank makes a bit more sense.. Thanks for the tip about Fowlers, had come across WOT but not them. Hi Peter. Thanks for the reply. Looks fresh, and the pretty much the whole of the front side is wet from the head gasket downwards and perfectly dry above. Looks to me like a clear cut case of blown head gasket.. I rode it last summer almost 1000 km after the overheating incident and didn't notice anything else untoward so don't think (touch wood) more extensive damage was done. Going to order a head gasket kit as soon as I've finished measuring what valve shims I need. Here's a piccy from when I did "Dalsland" last summer
When head is off use a straight edge across it to check for warping you may what to leave shim ordering till head is off.
Thanks, good point, will check that. Or should maybe get it skimmed anyway to be safe. Think the oil may be the slightest bit cloudy so was going to do oil/filter change anyway.. did a coolant flush and change at the start of last summer though, and haven't topped it up since then so can see that it hasn't lost much at least.
Okay, thanks for the tips Peter! Am keeping my fingers crossed.. in the words of Oddball form the old classic Kelly's Heroes, "positive waves Moriarty, it's a mother beautiful bridge!"
Positive thinking straight forward head gasket and a set up on valve clearances, I use wellseal on headgaskets, good luck and keep us posted.
Here's a link to Triumph parts listing http://www.worldoftriumph.com/triumph_motorcycle_parts_catalogue.php?model_id=132279 you may have this already but is very useful if you have not
Cheers, will post an update when I've had time to strip down and check. Minus 15, ice and snow outside just now so not in a rush.. mid April here before the roads are bike friendly! Just as well really that I have some garage work to keep me occupied during the long wait!
Yep, garage is in the basement of the house and heated, though I normally just have the heating on the lowest / frost protection setting to be economical (tends to be about 10 degrees) if I'm not working in it.. also handy for chilling beer if tight for space in the fridge
Hi imark. Sorry to read about your troubles, the good news is that theres loads of help and advice around the site so I'm sure help won't be too far away.
Finally got it apart. Bores look fine, and head is n't warped. The Haynes manual says you should always remove and re-seal the liners when the head has been disturbed, using only hand force to remove them. But I can't get any of them to budge at all, which makes me wonder whether to bother. ..If they're sat so tight, surely the seal against block can't have been disturbed? Didn't have to tap the head particularly hard to break it's seal either, so can't have exerted much force on the liners. Also came across this discussion on the subject, apparently weeping head gasket is a fairly common issue on this model. Think I'll be adding a bit of Blue Hylomar Sealant with the new gasket..
I would use wellseal jointing compound, please research uses of jointing compounds and there uses, liners can be a problem if disturbed I don't like them.