Featured What you been doing with your TRIUMPH today??

Yes Julian thanks for the reminder. I managed to get circa 100 miles scrubbed on the tyres today. I will take it easy for another 100 or so miles before having a more spirited go

 

made chain guard mark 2 Sunday and got to ride to work today.

 

Been having fun in the sun at Almeria in Spain.
Can't hang off for shit but can scrape me foot

 

Great track at Almeria, had a couple scares at the CERRO corner but a very fast track

 

Could the powers that be get hold of some T-Shits with TRIUMPH FORUM UK on so we can walk around looking like we are triumph forum contributors, this seems to have been done before but no longer happens. I know I'm a sad fecker!

 

Took the bike out for a short run and spent over half an hour queuing for fuel. Couldn't get the non ethanol fuel (sold out) that I like to put in this time of year as the bike gets used less. Oh well... that's life... Now that I've got some fuel I might be able to get out tomorrow as I've not been riding for pleasure so that the people that need fuel can get some but it's supposed to be better now, isn't it?

 

I think that when our tanks are low we must fill them up as soon as, we deserve to ride our bikes as and when we want to, they cost enough and they need to be used whatever time of year, and remember! BORIS said there is no fuel shortage!

 

Fitted a 2nd hand carbon fly screen.Will get seat cowl carbon, dipped soon.

 

Beautiful day, so mrs. V and I went for a spin. @Julian Wallis note the dodgy T-shirt...

 

Is that the highest hill in the nederlands behind you??
Great day!

 

Nice day out at the local Triumph Owners Club with my mate who took his Suzuki GT500.

Weather was really good and an interesting selection of bikes.

 

Changed the coolant today on my Speedmaster. After the mandatory, hose squeezing, bike wiggling and engine running I only managed to get in 1.4L of coolant in when the Haynes manual says it takes 1.76L. Then I realised it says Bobber only takes 1.55L, which is funny being as they're essentially the same bike. Sure enough, checking parts diagrams online shows cooling system is same on those two bikes, and the owners manual also says Speedmaster takes 1.55L, so I'm only 150ml short.

In looking at parts diagrams I saw this thermostat thingy and reading online seams it only opens up when engine up to temperature so will run it properly and will check levels again tomorrow. This has however got me worried that me flushing old coolant may not have been thorough because I only ran water through with a minute of engine running (much too short for thermostat to open). I need a proper flush through as new coolant is different type to old and can't be mixed otherwise bad things will happen.

 

Great photos, Vulpes! I trust you and Mrs. V are thoroughly enjoying being able to ride together (on your individual bikes) these days?! It's so good to see another woman out on her own Triumph. I have to say that in that first photo of your bikes, they have little faces--and that they are in love with each other!

 

The street is eyeing up my speed you mean?

 

It was great to be out together, @Sandi T . Racking up the miles getting experience. Got to say, mrs V is getting more proficient quite quickly. She recovered from a little slide (too heavy on the throttle with muddy tyres) without blinking an eyelid!

 

That's great to hear, Vulpes! I'm so happy that Mrs. V is doing well and can already recover quickly and, I trust, learn from her errors. One of the great things about riding motorcycles is that there's always room to become more proficient. Please give her my best and tell her--though I've (yet) to meet her, that I'm proud of her and her accomplishments and it's always great to have another woman in the fold.

 

I installed the Triumph highway bars (dresser bars) in my Speedmaster. I need them, because I have to have someplace to install highway pegs. I'm 6'2" tall and I get cramped on the bike after about an hour of riding. Pegs mounted directly to the frame didn't work. They kept rotating forward when I put my feet on them. I just could not get them tight enough. I thought about drilling through the mounts and putting a set screw in, but I didn't want to be buggering up the frame. I couldn't mount them high enough anyway. The radiator supports were in the way. I sent two sets of bars back that I got on line. Just didn't like them. The Triumph bars are expensive, but I decided to suck it up and buy them. Lemmie tell you...they were a motherfeffer to install!. I could not, for the life of me, get to the nuts on the inside of the upper motor mount bolts. I finally got them off. One fell into the abyss and I had to use a magnet on a telescoping rod to fish it out. The REAL fun began in trying to get the two nuts back onto the upper motor mount bolts after the highway bars were on. The right one wasn't too bad once I removed the coolant filler from its mount, but the left one was a real bastid! I could just barely squeeze my hand in to get the nut in place and it would slip from my fingers. I had to fish it out with the magnet five or six times, all the while loudly cursing Triumph. I finally had the bright idea to use a long surgical forceps with a hooked end (my wife was a paramedic) to hold the nuts in place while I threaded the bolts back into them. I got them all tightened up and went to secure the tabs on the bars to the tabs on the lower frame and find that the tabs on the bars have to be mounted on the INSIDE of the tabs on the frame!!! Had to pull the *&%!!!@ bolts from the upper motor mounts AGAIN so I could position the tabs on the bottom correctly.

Then I had a drink. Or two.

 

What a nightmare @Fork Lock … please tell me you used locktite?

 

I'm sure you did! Worth it in the end though for a more enjoyable ride

 

As we hit a really cruddy stretch yesterday the bikes were filthy. I first took the high pressure hose to the bikes and then cleaned and lubed both chains. The dog did NOT help...