Soon to be new owner of a Trident 900 (1994) so in the coming months i will be a pain looking to get the bike back to standard (currently has a trophy fairing) . will know more when i get the bike on saturday bike has around 6 months mot, will see if any advisories later was thinking of getting a haynes manual to start with then oil and filter / coolant / plugs / air filter change possibly change battery to a motobatt one (personnel preference) any advice will be grateful Dave
Hi Dave, sorry I can't offer you any specific advice on your model as I've never worked on that one, but welcome in to the Triumph playground anyway.
Hi and welcome from one of the reprobates. I bought a 93 Trident 900 earlier this year and can honestly recommend one. It's been said that they pull like a train and handle like one but I think that's a tad unkind. That 900 triple is a gem with amazing torque and mid range punch - on a recent Bikesafe course it happily kept up with a Ducati Multistrada 1200 and an Aprilia 1000. Things to watch: the notorious sprag clutch. If these go then it's big problems - early bikes with grey engine casings like mine have an access panel to help replacement but later models with black engines do not and the whole lump has to come out. That's £1200.00 at a Triumph dealership. Avoid this by never starting the bike on a weak battery - if it struggles to start,stop at once and charge the battery up - if you persist it will wreck the sprag clutch simple as that. Always start the bike with lights off and the clutch pulled in to give the battery it's best chance. Check to see if the sprag has been replaced at all (mine had at 24,000 miles). Check coolant level and condition - easy job to flush through and replace but these bikes run cool - my fan has never come on and the temp gauge barely moves up past the first quarter. Middle plug is a bugger to get to (frames in the way). Changing airbox/filter is a bugger also as the carbs need to come off if going for a full replacement (see my earlier thread on this under the Trident section). It's a complete unit but it can be split and a K&N filter installed in place of the original. However, once done it becomes easier and if you do attempt it then I recommend taking your time - over two or three evenings if necessary - and when re-assemblimg, lubricate the carb bodies with washing up liquid and heat up the rubbers with a hair dryer. The benefits will be well worth it if it hasn't been changed before - smoother running at low revs - and even better acceleration. Check the fork seals as these seem to go quite often for some reason. Good luck and enjoy - you won't be disappointed.
I agree with all (well, most!) of the above - my fork oil seals are still the original ones and my starter sprag clutch is still ok (says he touching vast quantities of forestry products!!!) after 20 years and 49,000 miles. If you lay the bike up for any great period of time then feed it Redex or similar to keep the insides of the carbs clean. Only time mine silted up was when I forgot over winter a few years ago. A small £1 bottle of Redex (single application) soon had it singing again! These bikes are basically bullet proof if given a bit of tlc. Oh ... changing the gearbox sprocket is a pain in the botty! Done it twice, so next time I'll pay someone to do it. Thankfully Tridents are not heavy on chains, though I do use industrial quantities of chain lube!
I think my fork seals only went because the bike had been stood for over a year with little or no use. Other Trident owners have reported having to replace seals fairly often compared to other bikes but it just shows you could be lucky!
Lucky??? Me???? If I fell into a bucketful of tits I would come out sucking my thumbs!!! As for my fork seals ... there's time yet!!