Featured What you been doing with your TRIUMPH today??

I've been buying oil, but not just any old oil, see pics







Triumph specific oil. And how much was this miracle of modern tribology? 7.50 euros (about £5) for 4 ltrs. So I bought 2 !!!!!!!

 

The simple answer is nothing, well not with my Triumph. Visited my daughter in Sturgeonberg, formerly known as Scotland. My daughters partner has got his sticky mitts on a real Bonnie which is currently in dire need of intensive care and maintenance, so got down 'n dirty with that instead and I mean DIRTY. He says 'he found it' at the back of someone's workshop and offered a 'fair price'. After a couple of hours gently steam cleaning some 25+ years of accumulated crap and cobwebs off. Took the plugs out, dribbled a bit of oil in the cylinders and gently turned it over a few times then 'hoo feckin' rah!!!!!', we managed to spark it up with some help from a full battery, new sparkle plugs, replacement fuel hoses and a pint or two of draught Esso. Rough as the bum end of badger, no chance of finding any gears, either clutch and / or gear box snag who knows, but its very early days yet anyway. All the bits seem to be there. Frame and swing arm look OK, no leaks from the tank, chrome work and suspension fooked, electrics don't work (no lights anyway), 'kin big holes in the pipes, wheels and tyres rotten, but at least IT STARTED. Now the real fun starts trying to get the b'stard thing to bits without breaking too many things along the way.

 

Funny that, I also bought some oil today. Putoline Nanotech, fully synthetic, 10W-40. Only it cost me nearly 5 times more, an insane 42€.

 

Went to triumph world for a look at the nice shining bikes and bought a sweatshirt, came home and gave my exhaust downpipes a good polish and noticed each downpipe halfway down has a bolt in it, what are these for anyone know

 

debz, that's probably for your Lamba, O2, sensors which obviously weren't on your original pipes so had been removed at some point.

 

Gave my rear caliper a good thorough scrub, and changed the brake pads.

(everything a man needs: a motorcycle, a dog, a toolbox, and a Haynes guide)​

It was my first time doing the job, so I spent a few hours watching Delboy's antics in YouTube beforehand. All went fairly well, but I had a seriously hard time getting the pistons down enough to make space for the new pads, as the old ones were used up to the metal (I know, I know... )

(shiny clean calliper, and those damn pistons finally back up where they belong)​

All in all it took me 2h30, including exhaust removal. 1h alone to get those pistons back, so I reckon I can do better than that for the front calliper!

(sinny new synthered copper!)​

 

Got my Tiger Explorer MOT'd today, now three ears old so first MOT Got a couple of advisories: - Front tyre at 2.3mm and rear disc pads low with possible warp on the disc but still passed MOT.
New pads already fitted this afternoon after a good clean up of the calliper, disc seems fine to me think it was down to sticky calliper and almost worn out pads. Tyre is good just to keep an eye on it to make sure it does not get too low. Really needs a good clean as i commute on it regularly and weather has been really poor lately.

 

Shot over to Addenbrookes in Cambridge on my Bonnie for a cardio check up (nowt wrong with me, but son has Marfans and new aorta fitted, so they insist on monitoring me cuz it's usually genetic). Rotten drizzle. Went the back way, stuck behind trucks and sh!t all over the road. Got there too late, grrrr! So rescheduled for Thursday, when I'll have my new Sprint ST, so will give that a run out. It was clearly fated

 

Thank

Thanks
I don't think it was low and will keep an eye on it. Service booked in between christmas sow will be interesting if they mention the disc since I cleaned everything up and replaced the pads for new ones so all clean and operating nicely.

 

Haha just seen the bad spelling mistake. "now three ears old" How old is that! lol

 

There's a coat stand by the door and a taxi waiting outside!

 

Fitted case savers and frame slider to my RX...fingers crossed for a dry day tomorrow so I can get some more miles in.

 

Picked up my Ebay-sourced go-faster-Tornado Red Sprint ST from the Isle of Dogs today, and rode it round the North Circular looking for petrol, where I got to practice my slow speed riding, and up the M1 where I got to practice my filtering through a major traffic jam. Came off at J11 after a loooong time crawling/filtering, then through the back twisties to my mate's in Westoning (nr Flitwick) for a happy jar in front of the back-to-back Bargain Hunt type tv shows and later the Soton vs Scousers footie (boo! says I as a ManU fan). Then home in the dark where I experienced how rubbish the headlights are on this bike. Enjoyed getting used to riding it though - not quite as confidence inspiring as my Bonnie, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. That triple is some engine, even in this Gen 1 guise, though more gear changing needed than on the Bonnie (6 vs 5), and def a bike that wants to go quicker.

 

Thought I'd been neglecting Doris lately in favour of the tiger, but was feeling slightly apprehensive about the riding position compared to the tiger, but still decided to take her out for a quick blast. Good Grief! after only a week of tiger riding it felt like I was hugging the tank. Took her through some twisties and my knees felt like they were going to scrape the road, I had forgotten how gritty the thruxton ride was, having not ridden anything else til quite recently, I loved it! Riding experience between the 2: different but still great, the main difference: on the Tiger you think your doing 60, you look down and your doing 80. The Thruxton: you think your doing 80, you look down and your doing 60!! comfort+old=sedate, uncomfortable+old=thinks it isn't, but still is, sedate!

 

Took the words out of the ends of my typing fingers there crispey. I rode the Sprint over to Addenbrookes in Cambridge today. Admittedly I was running late so pushing it a little bit. After a frustrating few minutes following lorries on the single lane A14 I opened it up a little on dual carriageway section. I thought, hm! it's just as windy as behind my Dart screen on the Bonnie. Looked down and saw 110 on the clock. Blimey, where'd that come from?

 

Put new rear brake pads in to match the new disc, cheap skate last owner put front & rear discs on for MOT but put back old pads!
By co-incidence I had a set of new rear pads in stock as they are the same as the Royal Enfield's front, result!!
Front ones on order, waiting for oil. filter & plugs, probably here tomorrow but doubtful if they will get fitted with the weather that's expected.
Do I need to remove that tube next to the plug or can I get a socket on the plug without removal?
Ta,
Terry