Going to buy my first speed triple on Saturday any advice

Hi Peter,welcome to the forum,great bike your'e getting I'm sure you will have a lot of fun on it

 

i don't know about that Ade

 

Check it had the shims/valve clearance checked at the last service.

 

+1 what crispey says, valve clearances should be checked every 12,000mls. It's expensive, so make sure it's been done (properly). Greasing of rear suspension linkage and rear hub eccentric are areas often neglected. Hub is a sod to fix if seized.
......and welcome to the nuthouse.

 

Advice you've been given above is all good. I'm new to the site, and this is my first post. I have had an 05 and an 06 Speed Triple. There are a couple of issues with those models, but easily rectifiable. The first is the front brakes. The nissins on the early 1050's are inclined to be a bit spongey and have a longer level travel, which can be a bit disconcerting. This issue was widely reported at the time. There is a fix and it involves fitting the ceramic coated pistons from the late 06 to 07 models (also fitted to the 675 models with the Nissin calipers) to the calipers. Triumph provided a good will fix at the time, you only had to ask for it. It is easy to check for.......if there is a good strong lever that doesn't come back toward the bars too far, then it may have been upgraded.
The second issue is the electrical charging system. The Regulator/Rectifiers on this model can fail. Good idea to replace this with a Mosfet type or series type such as a Compufire Series regulator. The stators on this model can also fail, and as a member of two other Speed triple forums I have heard many stories of failure, and repeated failures. I know one owner who has had six failures. Mid 08 Triumph changed to a different Stator/Rotor combination and that was the end of the failures. Strangely enough the 05-07 Sprint 1050 had a the same stator/rotor as fitted to the 08 and later speed triples. I know of a couple of Speed triple owners who have done this upgrade. One had one failure and the other had had 4 failures before the upgrade, and both have been trouble free since. One of them bought new parts and the other bought used parts from an 06 Sprint. You need the Stator, rotor and engine cover to make it work. New parts make it an expensive repair, but the used option could be economical.
I hope this doesn't put you off buying the bike. I loved both my 05 and 06. I currently have three Speedies, a 96, 04 and 2010. I had the brake upgrade done of both the 05 and 06, and had one stator failure on the 06. I had the stator rewound and had no further problems before I sold it. I had no electrical failures at all on the 05 in 40,000 km.

I hope all of this is helpful.

John.

 

As Above. Check its had the major service done with the swingarm/stub axle service, Gets overlooked and expensive to fix. Was with Clive Wood the other day and he had a sprint GT that was 6k 5 months old and it was seized already. Should be done every 2 years.

 

Hi n welcome, hope all goes well with the purchase

 

Welcome buddy. Seems like you have already been given the IMPORTANT pointers to look out for. All the best with the purchase. Ensure to check standard things like tires, brake pads life, Chain & Sprocket wear. If he allows you to take it for a test ride then check....clutch (to ensure it's not slipping), watch the clusters to ensure no warning lights are popping up, check the temp is operating normal, check for any tell tale signs for crash damage etc. You probably already know everything I am ranting about but thought might aswell shout it out as you might be excited and miss checking certain things

 

Hi Peter, change a torch with you (for general checks plus brake pads condition and coolant level), coins for checking tyre tread depth; surgical (or similar) gloves for checking the chain and sprockets; a tyre pressure gauge; a multi-meter so you can check the battery condition;

Make a list on an A4 pad of the things to check and tick them off as you go - this helps you to focus on the bike condition, rather than just thinking "New bike, new bike, new bike".

Be ready to negotiate on the price and the deal as a whole. Remember that VERY few bikes are being bought at this time of year and IF you are in a position to say "Yes", negotiate hard !!

 

As thebigone has already suggested try not to get over excited and be objective, may be take a friend to rein you in (good cop / bad cop works ).
I hope the seller isn't reading this thread.....
The words "I Might Be" are missing from the start of your title.

 

Hi Peter, this is just of the top of me head OK?

1. V5 and mot cert. VIN's match bike ?

2. Sellers paperwork matches what they promise? Written gttee?

3. How many keys/fobs? Do both work and start the engine, lock the steering lock?

4. Does the dashboard light up correctly? Showing all functions and no warning lights when the engine runs?

etc etc etc