Yes, back to black methinks. The 45s are now gone. They look a bit wide as well now the seat is narrower than the frame. Hmmm, think I may get the metalworking hammer out. Decisions decisions. Come along! This needs to come apart, make your mind up man. I daren't ask the Admin Staff. Ok, I did. I'm off to buy some steel. S'alright, I'll get my own coat, thank you.......over.....
Nope, changed my mind again. I'm doing traditional proper black painted frame etc and leave the side panels black with Bonneville painted on. Phew, happier now . That was all a bit stressful, no wonder I've got a rash. Edit * I happened to have met up with @Adie P at a service station in a very secret location. The Admin Staff took me as there was a large erm....item to deliver so she took me in her car. (No, it wasn't the crate with the drum in). Quite rightly, they both ganged up on me in the car park, as I had some, what I understand now, to have been a disillusioned idea to get it all chromed. Yes, it was wrong of me, what was I thinking. I'm putting it down to owning a Hardley Movingsome for a while which just wont work unless chrome items are added at regular intervals. Thanks @Adie P and the Admin Staff......over...
Have to order some brake lines. No point just going online to order for a 1976 T140V unless it's just to use the standard master cylinders, rubber lines etc. So there's some measuring and figuring out to do. This is what's there at the back brake. The existing brake caliper has to join up with the new master cylinder with new hoses, banjos and banjo bolts. The brake light switching will be taken care of by using electrical switching banjo bolts. These operate an electrical switch when pressure builds up in the brake line (i.e. when the brake pedal/lever is pressed to operate the pistons in the caliper that press onto the disc brake that stop the wheel rotating). They look like a normal banjo bolt with two wires that connect into the wiring to operate the brake light. I'm planning on using these for both the front and back brake switches. Vintage bikes only legally need to have a back brake light connected so watch out for that if you decide to get a proper motorcycle and wonder why cars are nearly ramming you up the arse every time you only use the front brake.
Careful measuring and planning is required to ensure the correct parts are ordered. Hydraulic parts are quite expensive so some thought is needed to get things right. This is a mock up of old banjos, hose etc to check how the hose is going to run and what length is needed. The hoses are ordered for the length between the banjos. There's different types of hoses. Some have a solid joint at each end that requires the whole hose to be turned so that it screws onto the banjos. Venhill do a hose that has independent nuts at each end that can be screwed onto the banjos without the need to turn the hose. These ones are easier to fit but they require a different type of banjo so old banjos can't be used. So, fairly easy to lay on an old piece of hose, mark it up with a felt tip and measure the length. In this case 180 to 190mm. (Edit note - Venhill's closest was 200mm so that'll do) The banjos will be as the old ones each one with a 20 degree bend to give the hose slow bends with no kinks. Then the banjo bolts need to be sorted. These have all sorts of threads and lengths. In this case there's a vintage caliper and a metric master cylinder.
The vintage caliper connecting banjo bolt is easily sorted. From 1979 Triumph used banjos rather than the male type connector that was a bit of a pain to get sorted if there was issues. Here it is in the parts catalogue It's part number 28. Also notice that the inside copper washer (part number 30) is a thick washer. So, note down the part numbers and get them ordered. Sorted. Then there's the electrical switched banjo bolts that are going to be bolted into the master cylinder. The thread needs to be checked on these so that the correct size is ordered. The master cylinder is off of a Yamahadasaki of some sort so metric. Measure the diameter of the bolt first, across the threads. In this case 10mm therefore it's an M10. Then check with a cheap little thread check tool like this (they come in all thread types, this one is metric, as you can see)
Metric banjo bolts are usually 1.0 or 1.25. So use the tool and find the one that fits the bolt that easily screws into the master cylinder. If there's no tool available just order up some M10 bolts at 1.0, 1.25 and 1.5 any length will do. Easily available and cheap from your local friendly hardware store. Try for the easy fit and there's your thread size. In this case it's 1.25. So that's the bolt to order. M10 by 1.25 by whatever length is available. Electrical banjos are normally only available in one length which is usually the length that works (but they can be adjusted by using extra washers or cutting if need be) Again, not using the standard front master cylinder in this case. Need to connect the front caliper to the master cylinder on the handlebars. Go through the same rigmarole as the back one using old spare hoses etc that are lying around. Allow enough hose for the suspension to operate without pulling everything apart. The banjo bolts are the same as the back brake so order those up too. Here's my ordering sketches All up it's around the £150 mark and not available just through one supplier. But now the wheels will skid using just the pinkie rather than having to stand on the pedal.......over.....
Stuff came today. Banjo bolts and long copper washers from a Triumph spares supplier. Banjos and hydraulic lines from Venhill. Metric switch banjo bolts from Goodridge. Then a problem, bugger. The banjo nor the long washer will pass over the shoulder in the Triumph banjo bolt.
Dipping into the stash of copper washers I can do this Good grief, how useless is that? So had another dip into the spares and have these The correct threads are 3/8" by 24 UNF. See, trying to stay original sometimes doesn't work. Miles better, will probably use dowty washers when final build comes around. The Venhill lines are good because they screw on without the need for the banjos to turn. But they DON'T work with normal banjos. Yes, of course, a lesson from another earlier build And the Goodridge switched banjo bolts screwed straight in. So, all good then apart from another couple of banjos and washers into the spares stash that I didn't need after all.
Another couple of ordered items. A speedo from digital speedos. I've used these before. They look nice on a classic and work really well. The sender is a bit of an arse to sort but they are pretty good. This one comes complete with sender, brackets and an assortment of other bits. However, while having a look round their site I found one of these This is what it's described as - "This speed sensor was designed to fit all bikes using the 1/2" Cycle threaded cable. The vast majority of bikes had them fitted to the rear wheel (with a few exceptions). The cable is replaced by a small pulse generator - and a flex connects it to the rear of the gauge." Fits all early British Bikes Rear Wheel, Engine or front wheel fixing 1/2" Cycle Threaded collar Completely eliminates the speedometer cable
Goodie gumdrops, let's go for one of those as well. So all that is needed are these two Undo back wheel axle and spin round the speedo drive and screw the sender on, easy Pffft and buggeroonies. That's not gonna work as the drive is a bit sloppy on the junction to allow the spindle to turn and it's right up against the disc. And it'll never fit in there That's a real shame as it would've been a great solution to electronic speedos on a classic using the old drive. It'll work great on earlier models without a disk brake. If it had about 9 inches of cable before the sensor it would work as the cable could be fixed to the swingarm as normal and then the sensor would be away from the disk. I think I'll contact them to let them know and to make sure the website is updated to say they don't fit drives with disk brakes....over....
Well, there's a thing. Sent Digital Speedos an email with photos explaining the problem and they came straight back to me with a solution. They've had a look at the photos and understand the issue with the disk brake. They have a sender called a Daytona that replaces the cable on other types of motorcycle (yakahondasaki) speedo drives. It'll include an adapter for the M12 collar so it screws straight onto the drive. They will also send me how to sort the wiring to suit the speedo I have. Rounds of applause for them. No issues just an honest customer service from a great bloke called Jon. I'll obviously show ya'll how it fits and works when it arrives.....over
While I'm waiting for that and the ignition switch.........ooooo look stickers.... I made up a bracket to take the speedo. (The one in the box is a bit universal and sketchy) Looks pretty good. Lights up with the ignition so don't need it on the lighting circuit. However, it does need to be wired live at all times to the battery. I assume that's to keep it's memory. But I have one on another bike and have disconnected the battery several times and it has remembered the mileage so I don't really know. Maybe it has a short term memory - like me. So, I made up a bracket for the new speedo........Over....
Typical, had to go to the collection depot to get this. The Admin Staff came down the workshop to bring me a cup of tea (ahhhhh) and the postman came at that very moment. So, had to bish the bosh and sort a bracket with my hacksaw. All fitted ok. Looks like I've wasted enough time on these little bits and bobs and will have to get on with the pesky wiring I'll put me thinking cap on and get on with those wiring diagrams. I really do need to keep something as a record rather than making it up every time I wire something..........over....
"Bish the bosh"?? What's that, @Iron? I tried to use the context but still am unsure of the meaning. This'll be my new Triumph-related learning today! At least the first thing.......
Good grief @Sandi T , bish bosh, lemon squash. Come along, keep up. Down there for dancing and all that .....
I’ve always found the easiest way to free the head is to release all the head bolts/studs a couple of turns and then kick the engine over.
Right, electrics I only started doing complete electrical rewires a few years ago. In the early days I relied totally on others who understood the evil wizardry. I'd watch but soon got bored and wandered off to play with something else. When the electrical necromancers were no longer erm...available, I used to carefully remove all the wiring while adding labels to each cut wire and electrical item. I could then rewire just using the labels to tell me where to solder bits back together. I still had no real understanding of what should go where and why. The relief when the build was complete and it actually started. No way to carry on. So, a few years ago I thought I'd figure it out for myself. I'd bought a really nice bike but the wiring had been done by someone who was obviously in a mad rush. I really didn't need to rebuild the bike but the wiring.... I'm no expert at this, not even close, but the way I figured it out made it easier for me. It may for others who also struggle with the mysteries of the 'lectrickery on vintage bikes.
Rather than trying to think of the system as a whole, I break it down into the parts I need to get the bike to run, and operate how I like them. I like them simple, just like me So I break the system down into how I want it to operate. I'll always have an ignition with an actual key. The ignition will have 3 settings: 1. OFF 2. ON 3. LIGHTS ON The key goes in or comes out at the OFF position only, when turned to the ON position it stays in and won't fall out and I can start the bike, when turned to the LIGHTS ON third position the lights come on. Turn it back to the second position the lights turn off. Turn it back to the first position the bike stops running and I can take the key out. Simples. I figure out what needs to be wired up so that the key/ignition works as I'd like it to. That's how I break down the wiring, into 3 parts, the same as the ignition switch. Easy so far.
