Morning all, I have just acquired a1956 Thunderbird. The bike is complete but needs some TLC. I am not unfamiliar with bikes having had several. Anyway, at the moment I am looking for basic servicing information. How do I check the oils levels, how to check the lubrication system is actually working. Any information ands literature would be most welcome. I am also looking for a Centre stand. Regards
Wotcha Have a look for your bike on here, great resource of manuals etc http://www.classicbike.biz/Triumph/Triumph.htm Click on repair manuals, click on 1956, that's your model's manual. Download, print off and read, learn, memorise - we'll be asking questions later. These bikes are 'dry sump', - they keep their oil in a separate tank. It should have a mark on it showing the required level of oil. A pump inside the engine draws oil from the tank and lubricates the engine under pressure. The oil drops into the sump and is then pumped back into the oil tank - there's an off shoot from the return line to deliver oil to the rocker boxes, which then drains down to the sump. When the bike is running you should be able to open the oil cap and see oil being pumped back into the oil tank from the engine. These engines are pretty simple to figure out and are just overall, well, just brilliant. Enjoy it, but you'll need some spanners Lots of experience on here, keep us up to date and photos are a requirement.
Thank you all for the welcome! The classic bike biz site is fantastic and just what I was looking for. Many thanks. In fact, they have changed their access rules and it’s not possible to print without a small payment… just waiting to find out what that is.
Here's the exploded view from the parts catalogue The oil pump is parts 35 to 42 and the pressure relief valve is parts 43 to 52 The parts catalogue is free to download here: https://partsbooks.britishonly.com/ Look down the page to find your year in the post war pre-unit Triumph Twins.