Hello all, This is me introducing myself to the forum as instructed. I I got myself a T120 in the summer and I feel like I'm back on the bike of my youth (without the starting problems or oil leaks). I put a few thousand miles on it scooting around Scotland and have just laid it up for the winter. (I came on here to see what the advice for ACF50 was and thought I ought to join up). I rode a 1976 T140V when I were a lad and it's lovely to be back on a Triumph after a decade on BMWs. The new 1200 doesn't feel as big as the old 750, but I guess that's just a matter of perception. It goes like the wind, and I ride everywhere with a smile on my face. I hope it'll be a year or two before I start putting spanners anywhere near this bike, but I relied on the support of the BM Riders forum when I was fettling the old R100RS, and I'm sure I'll come to do the same over here. Here's a picture, taken at Port Logan on the south western corner of Scotland, on my last sunny day run. I've bought one of those big poly bags things (which you sook all the air out of and chuck in a bag of silica) for the winter storage. I hope it'll keep my bike safe from the worst of a Scottish winter in a tin shed. I'm now off to explore the forum. All the best John
Thanks for the welcomes. And the videos, although I wish I'd seen the corrosion test one before I paid £33 for a bottle of ACF50. Anyhow, I'm trusting the bike to a Vac-Bag. I've had it wrapped up in old duvets for the past couple of weeks, under an expensive Oxford cover, inside the shed but the bike is still soaking underneath it all. If the Vac Bag doesn't work, it's coming indoors no matter how strong the opposition!
Welcome aboard. We have a fine collection of ‘mature specimens’ on here. We seem to have similar two wheel histories as my last bike was an R100RS bought in 1982 and relinquished on parenthood. I now have a 2005 T100 hooked up to a battery charger and brave the elements when ice and soggy leaf free. You must be relatively local.......
Hi and welcome. You'll have ridden past my house many times, I'm in Springholm on the A75 Tin shed are the worst, bike will be drier outside with no cover on it, than in a tin shed. Condensation is just impossible to stop. Good idea with the vac-bag (and I'm not meaning the wife ).
Port Logan.....I came close to buying a cottage there 2 years back till I realised the only pub had closed down. Shame...nice little place
Biggar - I'm just down the road outside Moffat. Springholm - I know it well. One of my favourite bits of tarmac is the short stretch from Springholm to Kirkpatrick Durham. Port Logan - nice wee place an' everything but it's a long way away! I feel welcome. Thank you all. Do south west Scotland Triumph owners meet up?
Glen, on the Moffat to Selkirk road there used to be a old café by st marys loch is that still going? stopped off many a time for a cuppa great bike rides all over that area, over the beef tub and Eskdalemuir as well.
Hi n welcome as a comparison the new Triumphs have a very similar look to the old, even the engine covers/style and the head fins are both similar in shape and numbers having five fins. The new bike is some 40kg heavier and it's the one thing i,m very aware of swapping between the two of them, overall the new bikes are far bigger in sum but its done well. Hope you continue to have many pleasant mies on your new T120
Ron has been up here once from darkest Dumfries but I challenge you to follow his Aprilia without bleeding from the ears and/or departing tarmac. He needs to acquire another gentleman’s conveyance.....my days of scratching are behind me. We certainly should meet up. I am actually on the 701 East of Biggar. Moffat is my ‘go to’ for a 99 when the sun comes out.
Vac Bag I've used these...quite good but you need to beware of sharp bits such as handlebar levers puncturing the bag when you suck the air out. I wasn't sure about leaving mine with an optimate running the lead through the fastening but it worked despite my fears of gassing batteries in confined spaces. Biggest faff was getting the bike inside the bag. At one point I misjudged things and the bike fell off it's stand onto me....must have looked like I was flapping about in a giant sized condom. Having said all that I'm thinking of buying another vac bag for the tbird.
Morning all, That cafe is going strong, Don. It got a refurb a couple of years ago and is now under new management. The exterior lacks the rustic charm of the old place but the coffee (and everything else) is much improved. It's a busy place over the summer and it's such a great run to get there (from every direction). My perception, Darkman, - warped by the passing of years, I suspect - is that the old T140 was smaller. I accept that I'm wrong but I seemed to remember it fitted me well. I feel a little tall for the T120 - if it was a push-bike, I'd raise the saddle and handlebars. But I don't mind one bit. After the BMW R100RS and latterly a 1150RS, the Bonneville is a joy to shift around the shed, to manoeuvre in tight spaces ... the centre of gravity seems much lower and I love it. The only thing I miss is the fairing. And have you got the bikes in your house? I know that's the answer to my condensation problem but I'm not man enough to insist. Our paths will cross then, Callumity - I'm up and down the A701 most weeks and head for the Glen Cafe whenever I feel like eating wind. Lert's liaise when the spring comes? John PS I didn't mean to call myself "Glen" but put Glen Wamphray in as a username to see what the forum was like, now I'm stuck with it! I live near the Wamphray Glen.
We have a big porch (that's what i told the council it was under local planning lol) no probs building it and using 3/4 of it for the bikes as Su keeps her bikes in there as well Thinking about your old T140 although very similar to my 69 your seat height on the later bikes was over an inch higher taller so yes it would have felt better for you.