Featured What you been doing with your TRIUMPH today??

Will do @Eldon
Be good to meet you

 

Went for a ride out today with my younger son, set off from my house, headed up to Milnthorpe and then through the Lyth Valley, on through Bowness and then Windermere, on to Ambleside and then to Grasmere, up over Dunmail Raise great views of Helm Cragg and Helvellyn, then continued along the side of Thirlmere and on to Keswick, and on to Bowder Stone, Rosthwaite, Seatoller and on to Honister Pass, called at the cafe at the junction just before Whinlatter Pass for a spot of lunch, then over Whinlatter Pass and on into Braithwaite, then a reverse route back home.

 

Great ride today after the bike's first 600 mile service - 115miles over the Campsie Hills, through Doune to Comrie and St.Fillans. This bench was my lunch stop looking down Loch Earn.

Came back along the loch, down past Loch Lubnaig, along the Duke's Pass and home. The Speed 400 is loosening up nicely, hit some decent speeds (within the national speed limit of course ).

 

Last Saturday Steve and I were prepped to ride over to our local Harley dealership for him to have a new part installed. My Triumph needed some "exercise" so after checking tire pressure and gearing up, I backed out of the garage into the driveway and tried to start up my bike. It felt like I had a battery or starter issue on the first go so I tried again and THIS happened! Gasoline (petrol to most of you) spewed out all over the driveway. Yikes! So back the bike went into the garage and off Steve went to H-D. I called my local dealership and they sadly no longer do any trailering. But the service manager recommended a transport company who came that day to get my bike over to the shop. They're closed on Sundays and Mondays but the service manager said they'd get to my bike first thing on Tuesday. They did and I picked it up and rode back home before noon. All's well that end's well! A significantly easier fix that the "Utah Wheel Debacle". Any guesses among you as to the nature of the problem???

 

Fuel feed hose became detached?

 

Perished hose or tank connector snapped.

 

Surely it’s not old enough for a perished hose - got to be that something was disconnected

 

You guys are all on the right track. An O-ring failed.

 

That’s not very good IMHO - the bike is what 4 maybe 5 years old and an o ring in the fuel system wouldn’t be exposed to the atmosphere. Petrol shouldn’t be an issue in that time so mustn’t have been a good one/fitted correctly originally (or do you top it up with moonshine ?)

Anyways, glad you got it sorted @Sandi T

 

Well yes and no.
If you look under some of the Triumph tanks the fuel line routing is bizarre. Sometimes like on a 675 the plastic port connectors appear to point in strange directions putting unnecessary, or easily avoided by design, kinks and tight bends in it. Stress, vibration and heat all add up to increase the chance of perishing.
I once had a fuel starvation issue on a street triple and it turned out the owner had lifted the tank then left the fuel line compressed on a bend when refitting it.

 

What percentage of Ethanol are you running over there @Sandi T ?

Maybe the O ring was fitted in error and was the wrong material, hard to tell once mixed in with some others.

Standing about hardly used, think like petrol lawnmower over winter or a chainsaw, this E10 fuel over here soon damages seals and diaphragms. It swells seals then they go out of shape. I think I saw a sign on the internet once, could've been America, where it was E85 or something like.... yikes!

Diluting fuel with Ethanol to save the planet is just running round in circles and kiddology, a bit like charging your EV with fossil fuel generated electricity

For the reasons above, when the winter storage period arrives, I put all my stored bikes away with a tankful of super unleaded as that is the best, lowest, available here with an ethanol rating of E5.

 

@Eldon, I did start with IMHO as I’m unaware of any of the facts and I only use E5 in both the Tiger and Fireblade and I store over winter with a full tank with added stabiliser. However (and I accept all your points) I still think it’s a poor show from the o ring in question

 

Yes I agree poor show on the o ring but was it the correct specification? ... look at what caused the rocket/spacecraft failure?

An o ring shrinking due to the operational temperature and using it outside it's intended design spec.

I had a conversation about all these fuel issues with the local garden machinery supplier/repairer.
He said you wouldn't believe how many seal and diaphragm kits we get through due to this ethanol diluted fuel.

@Boothman
"Petrol shouldn't be an issue" is what I was disagreeing with on your post, modern fuel is rubbish.

 

Fuel feed hose became detached?

In future I will make a point of inspecting that o-ring at each service when the tank needs to be removed. According to the service schedule the fuel hose should be replaced every 4 years but it is an overly expensive part and nobody seems to do this (myself and dealers included).

 

The fuel hose on a street twin is about £80 and I managed to damage one of the plastic fittings as it simply would not release.
Triumph only offer the end fittings as a complete assembly.
I found and purchased x3 very similar fittings for £12 problem solved.
If you speak to a bearing and seal supplier explaining what the o ring is for, they will advise best material for the application i.e. viton over buna etc.
I'm sure you'll find them for not a lot i.e. 50p

 

Today I received a nice big box from Royal Mail so this evening I've changed seats to the Triumph Comfort seat.
I do love the look, however wasn’t keen on the gap at the back, so did a little mod to hide said gap and also give me the Triumph logo at the back again.

Also added the tank pad I picked up from Triumph at the weekend in prep for the new seats arrival.

Can’t wait to drag it out the garage and see how it looks and feels like properly… oh and of course get better pics!

 

Thanks for the info, @Eldon. I’m not positive but I think we run around 10% ethanol around here. I will make it a point to look on the pump next time I get gas. We do try to find stations that have what is known as Top Tier gasoline. Fortunately, most of the stations that we meet up for rides at in Tucson are QT stations and they on the top tier list. Google Top Tier gasoline for info if you’ve not heard of that designation in your neck of the woods.

 

my brother's Tiger 900 ....

he reached and asked if I could take a look at his brakes as he felt them vibrate, he works, and I am retired

I've never seem pads with so little friction material!

Photo of the used pad vs new one

 

He certainly got his money's worth out of those brake pads!

 

Lucky escape and just in time from an expense perspective, a new set of discs aren't cheap!

I have seen them a hell of a lot worse than that and it does make me wonder what credibility the rider has to run their vehicle in such poor shape. People who are not mechanically minded may not know what the problem is, but they can surely sense the bike isn't right.

Cleaning, once into a good routine, should provide early warning of issues like this and chain tension etc. and may be something you could show him for future knowledge

A 2 minute walk around with a torch takes nothing out of your day and provides peace of mind.