Featured What you been doing with your TRIUMPH today??

lovely day and coz i have been a good boy the mrs said get yourself out on the bike for a good run. checked the tyre pressures and both slightly down which is usual for my bike. got the compressor out and using the new 90 degree angled valve extenders, pumped the tyres to 36 and 41 psi. Bike started first time , as usual, and ran real sweet,pulled away and thought how good she was handling, no whitelining or movement on ridges in the road. I had to stop for fuel so filled her up and pulled away again,still great,so smooth and perfect ( for a 95 Sprint) handling. Got about 8 miles and suddenly she felt kinda weird, top heavy and awkward. I was on a bendy country lane and it was hard work. I stopped and checked the tyres as best as I could, the front was very low. Grrrrrrrrr. the 8 miles back to the garage seemed a lot more, she kept wandering and was unpredictable. I went straight to the air lne and put my 50p in. Connected the line and noticed it had 21 psi in, I pumped it up to an indicated 38 as I didnt have my gauge with me. I rode towards home and the nearer I got the weirder the handling. I made it to my garage,just, and put the bike on he centre stand to see if I had a puncture. All was good so i looked at the 90 degree angled valve. it was loose so I turned it by hand to tighten it. Jeezus, the valve itself where it screws into the wheel was loose, the locknut took a good full turn to get even close to tight.mmmmm
Got spanner out and nipped it up, compressor out and pumped up to 36 psi again and left it for 20 mins before rechecking. Phew it was ok. Think I will just carry the angled valve with me in case it is needed, not sure i trust it now, tho dont know if it was the cause of the problem or not. bloody cheap ebay crap.
Finally got myself out for a blast round warwickshire. she is handling great again , after all the crap I had she feels like a fireblade,lol. I really enjoyed it once I got my confidence back. yippee

 

Sack the 90 degree angled valve extenders-i'm sure they are only made so you can get your moneys worth out of them coz you need to keep putting air in the tyres!!!

 

Woke up early(bloody body clock doesn't know it's a Sunday) to a crystal clear morning.
Decided to take advantage and go for an early ride. Bit cold with a few small fog patches but the roads were clear.
One and a half hours later I'm back home and she's just getting up.

 

Got up, brewed up. Gin clear skies so out with dog then off on a semi-glorious bimble through the Lake District on the Speedie only to be spoilt by the day trippers and tourists dragin' along in second gear and lycra clad tree hugger types through Windermere and up to Ambleside. Nuff said. Through Ambleside and Rydal and a nice steady cruise over Dunmail Raise, past Thirlemere then all the way home, shame I forgot my camera.

 

Looks really good that, Wayne especially the Dog Bone.

 

Finally got around to fixing my exhaust leak. I got that when trying to adjust my chain tension. To do it properly, you need to take the exhaust off, so that you can tighten the rear wheel axe to the proper torque (I wonder how many people actually bother with that! Feels like an insane amount of work, just to adjust the chain tension).

Anyway, when I took the exhaust first I did notice some silicone sealing there, but thought nothing of it. But after putting it back on, a tiny leak remained. To be honest, it really was tiny (although it certainly improved the sound of the stock pipes), but I reckoned it would eventually start ruining the chrome on the outside.

So this weekend I took the exhaust off again, and applied a layer of RTV copper to it. Let it settle for about 10 mins, then slip the exhaust back on. Tighten a bit, let it settle for about 20min, then tighten it harder.



I got a bit annoyed when I saw that when slipping it back on, most of the silicone got scrapped forwards, but I let it settle overnight anyway. Today I tried it, and not a sound (or feel) from that area. I could easily remove the excess silicone by hand.

Probably really basic stuff for most, but it's certainly a big win for me! Slowly building confidence for bigger jobs.

 

Took part in the Bournemouth Distinguished Gentlemans Ride yesterday. Fantastic weather - sun , sea, a castle and a motorcycle museum - what could be better? The Enfield wouldn't start so the Trident got to go instead (well this is a Triumph forum afterall).
Thank you to the guys at Triumph Three Cross Motorcycles who arranged a pre-ride meet up and provided coffee and opened the showroom for us. They then took out demo Bonnies and joined us for the ride down to Poole. (Probably not a good idea for my bank balance that they invited me back down to try out said demo bikes some time).
Lots of lovely old Triumphs, a Brough Superior and a custom built bike with 2 cylinders from a radial aircraft engine - 5 litres and he kick starts it!

 

What a fantastic day out - you really joined in the spirit of the thing didn't you.

 

Yes, I went for it this time Dave, but felt positively underdressed compared to some!
I rather like the tweed look for classic motorcycling - if someone could make it armoured/kevlar lined they might be on to something.

 

Today (Monday) I have been pricing up all the bits required to put my lovely Sprint ST back together again after taking a low speed tumble yesterday (Sunday). Locked the front wheel in trying to avoid a head-on with a Volvo and sent myself down the road on my side. Fairing, lights, clocks all knackered, but no damage elsewhere. It will be an insurance write-off, I'm sure of that, and I certainly can't afford the £4,000 that all the new bits of fairing, lights, instruments will cost.

So, Gents, any ideas about some options? I could start scouring FleaBay for second hand parts, but I'm sure I'm not the first person to have found themselves in this situation!

Should I just hang onto the bike and sell off the frame, wheels, engine etc separately?

I cannot believe that the effing platic bits will cost more than I paid for the bike!!!!!!!!

 

Today, Monday, I took out the Bonnie I bought Friday for another gentle spin up the A6 to Rushden from Bedford to #1 daughter's to fix her punctured cycle tyre (frequently invoked clause of the Dad job description). Just getting used the current set-up before I start tweaking, and of course finding out what she can do. Definitely in mind to get a softer seat. Took her up to 90mph on the Paula Radcliffe Way - way too much buffeting at anything above 75mph for any long periods. Rides so lovely on the twisting A road at 60mph. At 80mph the vizor on my open face vibrated so much I was virtually blinded, so definitely going to invest in goggles. Thinking of getting prescription ones. Now before you sigh and laugh, remember I'm nearly 64 with dodgy hips, and I haven't ridden for 15 years or more, so a little tolerance here please - I also successfully completed my first single-carriageway overtaking operation, and not so far from a tight-ish right-hander coming out of Rushden, so patted myself on the back...okay, it was only a tractor doing 20mph, but as they say, you can only play what's in front of you. Got in a few more after that though

 

Before you know it the engine will be out. Hopefully intentionally