Tag: Tim’s Motorcycle Diaries

I’ve done chains before but not sprockets.  It’s a fairly straightforward bit of work you can do yourself in your shed/garage.  In this case I’m doing both sprockets and chain on my 2003 Triumph Tiger 955i which has over 80k on it.

With the bike on its centre stand I removed the rear tire.

I picked up a chain breaking and installation tool a couple of years ago and it has more than paid for itself.  It has pin sets that push chain pins out to break the chain (it keeps all the hardware in the handle so for the two+ years I don’t use it I’m not losing parts).

It also has drop in pads that let me press new rivet chain connectors together.

The new vs. the old front sprocket.  The new one is 19 teeth, the old one 18.

The new front sprocket on the motor.  These are the parts I used:

RK 530 MAX-O O-Ring Chain Natural 114            $101.99

JT Steel Rear Sprocket 46T (530) JTR2010.46    $74.99

JT Steel Front Sprocket 19T (530) – JTF11           $80.19 (all prices CAD)

The ’03 Tiger takes a 114 link chain, a 46 tooth rear sprocket and an 18 tooth front sprocket stock.  I saw a suggestion online that going to a 19 tooth front sprocket calms down the bike a touch (it can be jumpy off the line) while also revving a touch slower while cruising which should improve mileage a bit.

Not bad for the original stock rear wheel with over 80k on it, eh?  If you think modern Triumphs aren’t well put together, this one was, and with quality parts.

I’ve had these on the bike since I got it over 30k ago.  Still not in terrible shape.  I’ve seen sprockets torn to shreds – some people must be very heavy handed on the controls to strip a socket like that.  I’ve had the Tiger pulling the front wheel off the ground under acceleration so it’s not like I’m soft with it (it’s getting this drive train maintenance because the old chain had stretched in places).  I’m curious to see and hear how the new parts work.

The new chain and sprockets on.

The connecting link (see it?) is pressed into place with the DRC chain tool which also pushes links together as well as pulling them apart..

The many directions and warnings on the back of the chain box.

The Tiger had a deep maintenance last year, so this year it only needed the chain & sprockets.  It’s back under the blanket waiting for a break in the snow for a cheeky early-spring ride.  Next up is doing the brakes on the Kawasaki, then I’m into rebuilding the Amal carbs on the 50 year old Bonneville winter project.

If you’re looking for torque settings and parts details for a 2003 Triumph Tiger 955i while doing a sprocket and chain, here they are:

1. chain sag:  35-40mm
2. drive chain adjuster (the clamp on the adjustable rings in the swingarm):  35Nm
3. rear sprocket nuts:  85Nm
4. front sprocket nut:  132Nm
5. rear wheel axle bolt:  85Nm
6. 530 chain with 114 links (if that seems confusing, check THIS out)
7. 18 tooth front sprocket (though 19 is recommended)
8. 46 tooth rear sprocket

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Researched links on re-wiring the 1971 Triumph Bonneville… 

The old Bonnie has an intact loom and many of the original electrical components, but many of these pieces won’t have weathered the decades well and I’d be crazy to try and rebuild a hacked on electrical system in a fifty year old bike, so it’s all coming out.  I’m going to take a page from the custom scene and build a loom from scratch and design and build a complete electrical system from scratch.

This ain’t no modern digital machine so the electrical system in it is prehistorically simple.  Building a dependable replacement with quality modern upgrades (proper copper wiring, modern connectors, new electronic ignition and coils, etc).  The result should be a 1971 Bonneville that is more spritely and dependable than anything that rolled off the line in Meriden in 1971.

Tutorials on creating a motorcycle wiring harness/loom:

BikeExif Tutorial: https://www.bikeexif.com/motorcycle-wiring

Rewiring tutorial:  https://www.liveabout.com/making-a-motorcycle-wiring-harness-743591

Tutorial:  https://purposebuiltmoto.com/motorcycle-electrics-101-re-wiring-your-cafe-racer/

Tutorial: https://www.hagerty.com/media/maintenance-and-tech/building-wiring-harness-from-schematic-to-bundle/

Resource (costs 20 pounds): https://rupesrewires.com/build-your-own-wiring-loom-pdf-book/

Another good resource ($40): https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0760345368/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I’ve purchased and read that last one – it’s a gentle introduction to electrical work but I found it a bit simple and wished it had picked up speed as it went.  If you’ve never done any electrical work then it’s a good place to start, but that’s what I do all day so I was hoping for something with a bit more depth.

Replacement harness:

http://www.britishwiring.com/MC-28-PP-p/mc28pp.htm

Prebuilt ’71 Bonneville wiring harness: https://www.thebonnevilleshop.com/product/lucas-71-72-triumph-bsa-650-twins-main-cloth-wiring-harness-pn-54959629-g-99-1222-g/

The Motogadget is an all-in-one electrical block for all electrical items on a bike – it also provides you with a bluetooth connection so you could start and stop it by your smartphone:

https://www.motogadget.com/shop/en/electrics.html

Not really what I’m looking for for the Bonnie project, though I’ll keep it in mind for a future ground up custom build.

A new ignition barrel with keys looks to be about $80.  I’ll see if Britcycle has them.

The existing wiring looks like it was taken apart and left that way – I’m tempted to take it all out and just rewire it rather than trust the old mess.

Electrical Systems Parts List:

• Ignition barrel & key set
• wiring to rebuild loom step by step – I’d need correct gauge wiring & connectors
• fuse box
• fuses
• reg/rectifier
• upgraded/modernized stator

Motorcycle wiring how to: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zm67VyrQTS1_H7WRunfkhOZ1H6wivD6RuK6194P3lvs/edit?usp=sharing  A commonly found writeup someone has done to walk any interested DIYer in how to rewire your bike.

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 Some photos from the ongoing 1971 Triumph Bonneville winter project:

One of the boxes of spares.

Spare cylinder head and engine covers.

Looking into the top of the valves…

Yep, that’s a 1984 plate sticker on it!

Front wheels cleaned up nicely.

Motor cleaned up well too!

Got it out into the minus ten sun to give it another clean up now that it’s stripped.

Strance is back to stock now that the massive chopper front shocks are gone.

The goal is to get it mechanically sorted and ride it rat-bike style next summer to iron out an kinks.  Next winter it’ll all come apart again and this time the frame will get painted and so will the body panels.  I’ve found some year correct Triumph badges but I’m thinking something a bit non-stock for the paint job, like perhaps a Gulf racing livery colour scheme:

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/gulf-racings-iconic-livery-looks-at-home-on-this-modified-yamaha-sr400-149258.html#agal_6

I’m also thinking about seats.  A plain stock seat costs the better part of $500US.  For only $100 more I could get a custom coloured Corbin seat!

https://www.corbin.com/triumph/vintlist.shtml

More research needed, but that looks sharp!  You can customize Corbin vintage seats like their modern bike seats, so I could match it to the Gulf racing colour scheme too.

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 Sometimes the on-bike cameras in MotoGP capture a magic moment.  In this case it’s Sam Lowes knocking out a fastest lap in free practice before qualifying at the Doha GP in the spring of 2021.

Sam Lowes putting in a fastest lap at the Doha GP in the spring of 2021

Wayne Gretzky’s dad replied to a reporter who described Wayne as a natural by saying that he wasn’t a natural at all – what Wayne Gretzky did was be out every day, stick in hand, playing hockey more than anyone else: his mastery was hard earned but based on his love of the game.  You can see that love in the glint in Sam’s eye!

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Wombo’s a rocket ship!

I teach computer technology in my day job and I’ve watched the coming of artificial intelligence over the past decade with interest.  AI and machine learning is getting better at managing real world data like visual information.  Recently, a Canadian company named Wombo have created an abstract art creation tool that builds original images from some key words and a selected art style.  This AI art generator offers some interesting insights, especially in a world where branding is everything (such as in motorcycling).

Wombo (https://www.wombo.art/) is easy to play with – just throw some key words in and pick a style and you get an original piece of abstract art.  If you run the same information it comes out different each time too.

So, what to throw in first?  Valentino Rossi, of course – he’s front and centre in many motorcyclist’s minds this fall.  

The machine intelligence putting this together has scanned every image it could find of The Doctor.  It creates its own contextual understanding from that massive dataset.  It doesn’t understand who Valentino is (though it might have scanned articles about him for keywords and have used that too).  These randomized but thematic pieces makes some interesting inferences.  Firstly, Valentino means high-vis yellow… and Yamaha blue.  This begs the question: “what were Yamaha thinking sending Valentino off to retire in teal and black?

Perhaps my favourite part of this piece is the obvious Doctor’s Dangle happening.  The dangle was started by Valentino around 2005.  It’s still a bit of a mystery how it makes you go faster, but I suspect it offers a bit of fine tuning on your balance under heavy breaking while also offering a bit more wind resistance to slow you down.  Wombo’s algorithm won’t know any of that, but it knows to associate the dangle with the man who invented it.  At least it did this time, every other time I tried a Rossi image it wasn’t there.

I still see bikes (but then I tend to see bikes).  There is a sense of speed in how the designs depict the abstract objects.  I can’t help but wonder if the colour choices aren’t from actual bikes.

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LOGISTICS

The trickiest part about trying to arrange your motorcycling to provide you with a sporting outlet are the logistics.  You can’t ride a track/trials/dirt bike to where you’re going to ride it in a sporting fashion, so you need transportation options that’ll get you and your gear to where you intend to use it.

The obvious choice (if you’re looking for a budget choice) is to look at cargo vans – or so I thought.  Thanks to COVID, the market for these (like many other things) has gone bonkers as every unemployed rocket scientist in the world rushes out to grab a used van to deliver for Amazon.

Here are some current online choices:

My favourite is the fuggly Transit Connect that isn’t even big enough to hold a single bike and is almost a decade old with over two-hundred thousand kilometres on it for $10,500, $8,500.  Eight and half grand for a heavily used POS.  Both my current on-road bikes, an ’03 Triumph Tiger and an ’10 Kawasaki Concours together cost me less than that, and they’re both a joy to look at and operate, though carrying a dirt bike on them isn’t likely.

The used car lot down Highway 6 has a 2015 Jeep Wrangler with 90k kms on it that they’re asking $35k for it.  It isn’t cheap but it seems in good nick and comes with the tow package.  We rented a Wrangler last year and I was impressed with its ability to carry weight and it’s utility – it was also surprisingly fun to drive… and in the summer it’d get the doors and roof off and be able to do the Zoolander thing too.

A trailer goes for about a grand, this one comes with a ramp and he’s asking $1300.  With a bit of bartering I could sort out a tow capable Wrangler with a useful trailer for under forty grand.  The Jeep isn’t new, but it’s only 6 years old and with a big v6 in it, 90k isn’t too much of a stressful life – it actually works out to only fifteen thousand kilometres a year.

What’s galling is that you’re thirty-five grand into a years old almost 100k kms vehicle but the new ones run fifty-three grand – I guess you’ve got to have a lot of cash on hand to buy anything these days.

What’d be really nice is a state-ot-the-art Wrangler 4xe.  They tow, use very little gasoline and when things get sorted out with in-car fusion generators, I’d be able to take the gas engine out and go fully electric with it.  In the meantime, it’d carry all my bike clobber, would be a bulletproof winter vehicle and when the sun arrives I can pop the doors and roof off and enjoy it in an entirely different way; they really are Swiss Army knives!

SPORTS RIDING OPTIONS: Trials

Once I’ve got the moto-logistics worked out I could then focus on some sporting motorbiking.  This ain’t cheap either, but some sport motorcycling is cheaper than others.  Trials riding is probably at the cheaper end of things with used bikes starting at about two grand and new, high-end performance models going up to about nine grand, though you can get a new, modern, Chinese made machine for under five grand.

I’m partial to older machines as I don’t have to deal with dealer servicing and can do the work myself.  This mid-80s Yamaha TY350 comes with lots of spares and is in ready-to-go shape for about $2600.  Since I’m not looking to take on Dougie Lampkin, this’d more than get me started in trials.

The Amateur Trials Riding Association of Ontario offers regular weekend events throughout the summer and fall and would make for a great target to aim for.  I’d be a rookie, but I’m not in it to win it, I’m in it to improve my moto-craft and trials offer a unique focus on balance and control in that regard.

I’m disinclined to exercise for the sake of it, though I’ve never had trouble exercising in order to compete in sports, it’s just hard to find any when you’re a fifty-two year old guy in Southwestern Ontario.  Having trials events to prepare for would be just the thing to get me into motion.

There is also the Southwestern Ontario Classic Trials group, who also offer a number of events and categories and seem very newbie friendly.  That old Yamaha would fit right in with classic trials and would let me do my own spannering.

Our backyard has everything you’d need to practice trials, though tire tracks all over the lawn might not endear me to my better half.  Even with all that in mind, trials riding would be the cheapest moto-sport to get going in.

SPORT RIDING OPTIONS:  enduro/off-road riding

What’s nice about the dirt-bike thing is that I could do it with my son, Max.  He got handy with dirt biking last summer at SMART Adventures so if we got into trail riding we could do it together.

Used dirt-bikes start at about $2500 and creep up quickly.  Most seem quite abused but appear to hold their value regardless.  For about six grand I could get us into two 21st Century machines that should be pretty dependable on the trails, the problem is there aren’t any around here.  We’d have to drive for hours to get to the few that are left in Central Ontario.

The Ontario Federation of Trail Riders would be a good place to start in terms of working out trails and connecting with others interested in the sport.  Off Road Ontario offers access to enduro and motocross racing, but I’m not really into the yee-haw MX thing, though long distance enduro gets my attention (every January I’m glued to the Dakar Rally).  I also watch a lot of British television and I’ve seen a number of endurance off-road events on there that are appealing, so I wouldn’t wave off enduro without looking into it a bit more.

SPORT RIDING OPTIONS:  track racing

There are motorcycle track days around Ontario from May to October.  The Vintage Road Racing Association seems like the best way in for someone not interested in becoming the next Marc Marquez but who is looking for some time on a bike working at the extreme ends of two-wheeled dynamics without having to worry about traffic.  The VRRA also offers a racing school to get people up to speed (so to speak).  I can’t say that having a racing licence wouldn’t be a cool thing to have.

The challenge with racing on pavement is that everything gets more expensive, from membership and training fees to the cost of equipment and bikes, and of course what it costs to fix them when you chuck them down the road.  Road racing offers a degree of speed and has obvious connections to road riding that are appealing, it’s only the costs that make it seem like a step too far.

Sport motorcycling is tricky to get into.  You need the equipment to transport yourself and your bike and gear to where you’re competing and then you also need the specialist motorbike itself, but there are options that can make it possible on not to extreme of a budget.  I’m hoping to find a way into this over the next few years.

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It’s all snow and wind outside so I spent a good six hours in the garage this weekend rebuilding the front forks and the triple tree on the ’71 Bonneville winter project.

The forks on the bike had been ‘choppered’ with massive fork tubes and spacers in them.  The bike came with new stock fork tubes so after a cleanup both front forks got rebuilt with stock fork tubes.  I’ll put the chopper ones up for sale and see if it’ll make a dent in the new parts order I got in.

The lower fork unit as it came out of the giant chopper tubes.

The same piece cleaned up.

Parts diagram from the ’71 Triumph’s parts manual.

Motor gasket set!

Electronic ignition system and coils!

Amal carburetor rebuild kits!

Rubber bits!  This time ’round I got a new kickstart rubber & the gear shift rubber.

That’s a stock style new rubber to replace whatever the f*** was on it.

The monkey who was choppering the bike put massive footpegs on the rear peg position, but that doesn’t make any sense on a chopper (they’re usually feet up and forward). These are the stock footrests.

Stock foot rests (and hardware)!

The motor’s getting cleaned up and recommissioned.

Once the (now stock) forks are back in I’ll wheel it out for a deep clean on the motor and then start with the electrics before rebuilding the carbs.  With any luck the old Bonnie will be to the point of starting by the new year.

Somewhere in between all this deep surgery, the Concours needs new brake pads and the Tiger has some new sprockets and a chain to install.  To be honest, these minor maintenance jobs are something to look forward to after the deep diving into the restoration project.

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A place where logic, precision and cause and effect still matter in a world gone mad.

 After the random weirdness of work, time in the garage with the old Bonneville is remarkably
straightforward and logical.  I suspect the bike was in the middle of a Captain America Easy Rider customization in the early/mid eighties when it got parked and time left it behind.  I got it from Brian’s storage shipping container where it was out of the weather and raised off the ground.  I don’t know where Brian got it from but I suspect it was always stored inside.  I battled with a mid-nineties Kawasaki that had been left outside back in 2014 and this much older machine is nothing like as seized, rusted and difficult to get into.

Anything that doesn’t immediately loosen gets a bit of heat and then comes free without any headaches.  Not being in a rush and leaning on the spannering skills I’ve refreshed over the past decade is making this an enjoyable and meditative process.

The surface rust came off the tank with a bit of sanding.  I’m going to see if I can knock out the dent and then strip it all back.  I used Metal Rescue on the Honda Fireblade tank in my last project and it did a fantastic job of cleaning that unused and rust tank out.  I’ll let it sit overnight and then do the power wash tomorrow and hopefully the tank’ll come back to me.

Airbox sleeves off.

Carb clean up with a fine wire brush and wd40.

Some aluminum corrosion in the bottom of the carb bowls but it cleaned out nicely.

They’ve been sitting for a long while, but all the hard parts look to be in good shape.

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Searching the internet for parts and technical details for a 1971 T120 Triumph Bonneville 650cc air cooled twin.  Here’s what I’ve found – hope it helps if you’re looking for similarly vintage parts and details.

Technical Details

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0717/0717/files/1971_Oil_In_Frame_650_Unit_Twins_All_Models_EXPORT.pdf?2276925620862086622

https://www.tomcc.org/Triumph/FrameNumbers

https://www.fagengine.com/blogs/tech/triumph-engine-and-frame-numbers

https://triumph-tiger-90.com/dating-your-triumph/

https://www.baxtercyclebooks.com/FB/Triumph_1971_650cc_models/index.html

https://wiringdiagram.2bitboer.com/1971-triumph-bonneville-wiring-diagram/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sbSds50ChTpY_7q8SkhFVOQ5QoRAgc6y/view?usp=sharing

Love me some hand drawn drafting!

Parts

https://vintagetriumphparts.com/?model_filter_id=7

https://www.lowbrowcustoms.com/collections/vintage-triumph-parts

https://www.trojanclassics.com/header-pipes-triumph-tr6-t120-1971-balanced-pair-g

https://burtonbikebits.net/triumph-parts/

https://www.baxtercycle.com/product-category/vintage-triumph/

https://www.thebonnevilleshop.com/

https://kmjonesmotorsports.com/about

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 Single digit temperatures make for a brisk ride.  This one was down to Guelph Line before coming back home and warming up again.  All photos taken with a Ricoh Theta 360 camera set to fire automatically every 6 seconds, attached to the rear view mirror using a flexible tripod.  Here’s a walkthrough if you want to try it yourself.

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