Its a Triumph

Not only am I 'Head Judge' at the Hart Classics Transport show at Elvetham Hotel on June 21st - see hartclassics.co.uk - but I am also judging at he Fleet Lions Motorcycle run which this year is on May 4th - see https://www.fleetlions.org.uk/fundraising/motorcycle.html

Having dragged my 1970 Triumph Bonneville out of my shed at the bottom of the garden and put it in my garage, I suddenly realised two things - firstly the Lions Run was approaching and secondly the Triumph was still in the garage. I knew the fuel tank had a bad case of rust and so a week ago I bit the bullet, dragged the bike onto the drive and removed the tank. A couple of gallons of rust eater (mainly acetic acid) went in and was left to fester. In the meantime I set about cleaning the bike up, getting air into the tyres and generally giving it a good going over. I was pleasantly surprised. There was some deterioration, especially to the chrome on the exhausts and air cleaners but the pait had held up well. I was pleased to see that the stainless mudguards and spokes just needed a wipe to bring them up as did the Akront alloy rims. Even the headlamp and handlebars came up well with some elbow grease.

Pilot's eye view

Then all I had to do was get her running. Hah.

To wake up an old Triumph which has spent some 10 years festering in a shed is funish. I knew from the state of the fuel in the petrol tank that the carbs would need a good clean out, and I had to hope that the ancient Boyer Bransden electronic ignition unit would still work. I had taken the battery out when I parked (abandoned?) the bike so had to buy a new one; also I had a nostalgic trip down to Wrecclesham to visit Arthur at Rockerbox to buy new spark plugs, carb refurb kits, fuel tank rubbers and assorted other bits and bobs. Pulling off the carbs showed them to be in pretty good shape, and a after good clean I went spark hunting. When putting the tow input leads from the stator plate together showed a spark, and so I checked compression - around 130 psi on both cylinders, and set to on the kickstarter with no discernible results. Not a pop or bang, just stubborn indifference to all my efforts. Rats.

Here she is - up and running after ten years resting!

Checking the plugs seemed to show I was not getting any fuel through, and even squirting easy start into the chokes didn't seem to bring about any signs of life. This was a tad worrying, but I returned to Rockerbox, bought new new needles and 106 main jets, replaced the rubber seals on the pilot jets, gave the carbs another more thorough clean and checked for sparks again, but this time in the darkness of the garage. There were sparks and after putting the carbs back on I got a couple of pops and bangs - good news which meant the bike was waking up. Eventually it burst into semi life - firing on both but reluctant to both rev and tick over, but could be kept running with much jiggling of the throttle. Then things settled down with a slightly high tick over, but with the engine revving well if a bit unevenly, and obviously clearing its throat after its long sleep. Riding it up and down the road it was ok, but needed the tick over adjusting properly and does need a spot of fine tuning. However its a good result - the brakes are fine, handling good - just as I remember it - and she even starts pretty much first kick. So I'll treat her to an oil change and tune up and then will actually be able to turn up at the Lions run on a motor bike - the last two years I was on my electric push bike!   

Ready and willing to go! Does need a good clean though!