Thruxton Clunk, Chip, every trip

Now, right up front,let me state I love my Thruxton 12.........well, with an engine that performs like that I could forgive it (almost) anything......but the stupid niggly things pee me off!......there, that's positioned my views.

OK, after yesterdays short but oh so nice squirt in the sun and the dry......I was wiping the bike down to get any salt off when I noticed a chip of paint on each side of the tank, front end , on the seams just about in line with the bottom edge of the top yoke.......uuummmm, I thought, and yes, on waggling the forks left and right onto full lock the bleedin' yoke is catching the tank and chipping the paint off!........anybody else experienced this fault?

Anyway, first job, see if the tank can wriggle back a bit on its mounting bolt.....no, full back as far as it will go.

So, now how to limit the steering lock a bit?........firstly I wrapped and fitted a cable tie around the central lug of the steering stem......that put about 1mm extra width on the lug each side, but on full lock the yoke was still touching the tank.

Next addition was a 2mm thick brass washer Super glued to each of the two steering bump stops that are part of the bottom yoke casting and job sorted.....now I have about a 2mm gap at full lock each side between the yoke and the tank.

Finally, degreased the damaged areas of the tank and a small dab of Humbros best white gloss each side put that right.

Now the steering bump stops have a machined face so clearly somebody (designer or milling machine setter operator) had their vernier set wrongly.....I will be calling the Factories Warranty and or Quality Departments to discuss this with them.......on second thought maybe it could even be the tank makers who have made the tank a bit longer than spec? .

Cheers

dickydido

 

Hi Dougie,

If you check out the attached piccys you can see how I sorted it.....by adding thickness to the machined faces of the steering bump stops and also the central steering lug.

If the Factory were to do it it would be bottom yoke replaced with steering bump stops that are not so deeply machined.....thereby limiting the amount of steering lock so the yoke does not hit the tank........

Still waiting for a call back from the Factory......that's from an hour ago......sat on the bog having a dump at the moment so when I finish my paper work I'll give them another call and see what 'sh one t' they give me and see if theirs is as satisfying as mine was!!!

Cheers,

dickydido

 

Hi Mr Orange,

.....indeed, in a perfect world!.......

I'll see how interested/co-operative the Factory is about this.......probably say that I have invalidated my warranty by fixing it myself!....

Cheers,

dickydido

 

Pete in Warranty Department at the Factory has called me back, asked for all my photos and has gone off to check out some Thruxton 12's he's got access to to compare and check them out.......he committed to keep me posted.......if a fault is found he'll be flagging it up......I warned him that the cable runs from the handlebar controls can be preventing the forks from reaching full lock, make sure you clear the cables out of the way to get a true test.

.....if it's flagged up I'll be persueing a formal Factory fix to this issue.

....keep you posted.

Cheers,

dickydido

 

Hi andyc1,

Thanks for the comparison piccys......did you have the flash on?......sadly too dark for me to really see how close your yoke/tank interface is.

As for the height of my tank......the front U brackets on the inside of the tank are located onto the front rubber grommets on the frame and the rear attachment point is located and bolted through the bracket on the frame so I can only assume it's located correctly.........maybe the tank is bigger/longer than it should be?

Just check that it is not the cable runs from the handlebar controls that is keeping your yokes from hitting the tank......the cable runs on mine did stop full lock.....when the cable runs were moved........clunk!.......

.....guessing you are a musician........I haven't played for ages but years ago Mrs dickydido bought me an alto sax for my birthday, I was 35, could not read music and had never blown a note before.........after 10 years I could knock out a tune........sadly, for one reason or another I have not blown a note for over 16 years now.....61st birthday tomorrow......perhaps I ought to get it out and give it a blow!.....

Cheers,

dickydido

 

Hi andyc1,

....thanks for the extra photos......WOW!........you could drive a coach and horses through the clearance between the yoke and the tank......even with my mods it is only a 2mm clearance on mine!....

.....but looking at your tank relative to the engine, mine looks the same......weird.....

....hoping 'Pete from Warranty' will get back to me tomorrow with some insight into my dilemma.........something funny is going on.

Cheers,

dickydido

 

I've always believed that self criticism can be a powerful motivational tool but it can also leave you with negative emotions......

.....'you stupid daft blind wanker!......why did you do that?......take more care next time OK?.......you won't do that again in a hurry will you?........you should have gone to SpecSavers!.......wanker!'.......

.......but now I feel bad about myself!......


Yes....it was me that cocked up....and I was being so careful putting it back on as well.....when I looked down to verify that the front frame rubbers were in the U brackets on the insides of the tank I could see what I thought was the top run of the U bracket on top of the rubber...so it had to be in did'nt it?.....

.....went back to the garage this morning and not only looked down but bent right down so I could peek right into the front end of the tank and then I saw that what I thought I saw as the top of the U bracket was actually the bottom of the U bracket sat on top of the frame rubber!!!.......looking just straight down onto the job the real top run of the U bracket was completely hidden from me..........DOH!......so problem is now fixed......many thanks to Pete in Warranty at the Factory for guessing what I'd done wrong.

.....anyway, one last time.......'....YOU WANKER......'

Cheers,

....very humbly, dickydido

 

Hi Mr Orange,

I bought a brand new perforated tank strap off of EBay at a cheap(er) price......had to lift the nose of the tank to attach the front fitting to the two threaded studs on the underside of the tank.

Honestly, I was so aware about the U brackets and the rubber grommets and was trying to be so careful to put the bugger back on correctly.....but.......I f'd up big time.

....owning up for cocking up?........just shows I made the right choice about not going into politics!.......

Cheers,

dickydido



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