Warmish day today, so got the tiger out and headed off in no particular direction. Stopped at one of my favourite burger vans for a tea and burger
And that burger van is where...? Weather looking fair, if a bit chilly, tomorrow. May venture out on the Street Triple if I can find time to insure it.
Another stressful day servicing. Because of yesterday's possible oil leak I checked the torque of the alternator cover bolts, they were fine. So I did another test ride with a cleaned up engine casing and it looked like I'm OK as far as oil leaks go. There was a bit of leaking from the new oil filler cap, so looks like I'll need to use tools to tighten it rather than hand grip alone. There was also a tiny amount of oil coming from the small sub-cover used to access the balance shaft. When refitting the alternator cover I replaced the two o-rings on that shaft, so I reckon my phantom leak was due to my overenthusiastic use of oil in the alternator cover tube the shaft goes into. Final job was to balance throttle bodies, however, when I came to start bike for initial check it died when I pressed the starter, and wouldn't come back to life. To cut a long story a little shorter, it was due to dodgy chassis ground connection. Strange timing, especially as a fiend advised me as part of servicing to check and clean those connections, which I didn't do. Anyway, after dismantling all the stuff I needed to get at the virtually inaccessible balance screw I made the same stupid mistake I did last year, and started bike with the adjuster in the hole. This resulted in clunk from throttles and bike stopping and three error codes. Except, unlike last year, two of the codes (P1135 and P1574) wouldn't clear with Tune ECU and there was no whine from the throttles like there normally is. Trying to start engine just turned it over with no sign of firing up. After multiple attempts turning ignition off I feared I'd really buggered things up this time. In trying to think what I could practically do, I hit upon the idea of checking the fuses, perhaps the throttles didn't have power. So I pulled the fuses one at a time to check but they were all fine. Because I couldn't think of anything else I tried turning the ignition on and to my great relief heard the throttle wine and the engine started, PHEW! Guess removing power to things fixed them, or made the ECU forget the errors. So throttles are now balanced perfectly and engine servicing is complete . To save me from myself next year, I've put a note on the adjuster tool.... Edit: I think the actual problem using the tool may be inserting it before turning ignition on. Because power up sequence sweeps the throttles to check things are working, not sure about that. The reason I keep inserting to tool before is because it's so fiddly, with only enough space between tool and frame to get a ruler in to apply pressure to keep it in head of torx screw. And to get tool in place to start with you've go to use two hands so you don't drop it and come up through a crevice in frame.
Took the trophy 1200/4 out for the first time in a few weeks. There was a bit of blue smoke on startup, worrying, never happened before, so I'll just have to keep an eye on it. Maybe I put too much fuel treatment in over the winter but I can't remember... Cleared up before the choke was able to be turned off. Engine ran perfect even with the smoke. Went for a run around the local lanes for a bit, I thought I'd stick to part throttle acceleration and to 55-60max to see what it was like. The reason is the new Royal Enfield classic 350 has caught my eye and as it only has 20bhp(!) I thought I'd see what slow was like around the lanes. I have to get down to northern Spain in the summer for a family wedding and although the cheap and easy solution is to fly, I fancy some back lane riding down thru' France and Spain. The Trophy is just overkill for that, so I was looking around for other two-up solutions that can carry a bit of luggage, hotels only, no camping this time. I'm back looking at Royal Enfield's again, even though I discounted them last summer, but I keep getting drawn back to their looks, and air cooled engines.. So slow turned out manageable... Now how bad can 20 bhp two-up be? I always remember reading about Roger Hicks who went travelling around India with his wife Frances on a 350 Enfield and he loved it, even though I think he rode a BMW R100RS at the time. Not sure how many people read his book Motor Cycle Touring in Europe in the 80's but it was almost my handbook for my first European tours. Also tried my cheap amazon heated waistcoat. Not bad, had a light thermal, waistcoat, light fleece and summer unlined jacket, seemed pretty good. Not sure of ambient temp but seemed cool if not chilly. Arms a little cold but core warm... Hope it was just my fault with too much redex in the fuel for the Trophy...
The only way to know is to try, but for long distance sounds like it's be too restricting and likely to detract from the enjoyment. I've had experience of 40 bhp which seemed good enough with a pillion, (though I didn't do long distance). For long distance you'll also want something that you know has comfortable seating for both riders, which is probably more important that bhp IMO. Again, you wouldn't know until you tried. For my current steed (Bonneville Speedmaster) I had to make a pillion seat as Triumphs offerings were crap, and Mrs Mouse and me did an overnight stay somewhere to check it out before doing a 2000 mile tour on it.
Perhaps a bit of oil seeping down the valve guides if it's been left a while? Nothing to worry about I would have thought, just keep an eye on oil level. If you've got a Trophy 1200, one of the best long distance comfy tourers (even now), why would you even be looking at using anything else?
I agree, test ride is needed.... I have form on this though, I toured from Birmingham to Cornwall, back up to Burton on trent then up to Newcastle upon Tyne and finally back to Wiltshire two up with camping kit on a 250cc two stroke, Suzuki X7, in the early 80's. I was lighter then but my pillion was heavier then than my pillion is now.... Suzuki said that bike had 30bhp but in the 80's that was never true.... However even I believe the 350 enfield is probably going to be too underpowered. Still they've got the 650.... which isn't a bad looker as well... I've never found a comfortable long distance bike, but I've not owned a lot of bikes over the years as I tend to keep a bike for a long time compared to some.
Yeah, I've had a problem with the valve guides on a pinto engined capri that I owned. It was a bit embarrassing starting it up on a ferry one day and looking in the mirror to see a blue fog covering all the other fellow ferry travelers behind me... This remined me of that time as I looked back into my garage lit by sunlight thru' the window... and blue fog... The reason is, it's a big mile muncher, I've done that and with it I always migrated to the fast boring roads to get the distance done.... I just fancy something different, lighter and easier to just pull up on a grassy/gravelly side of the road and sit there with a picnic of baguette and cheese... not the wine though... My bikes have got slowly heavier and heavier over the years, I'm just thinking about a lighter addition. The trophy will still be here and can be used if the other choice doesn't work out. I'll just have to be disciplined and stay off the mway/N roads....
Always happy to recommend good pit stops. But please pardon my ignorance, what map are you adding to (It’s been mentioned several times recently)?
Finally found time to replace my rear pads and disc, after original free spirits developed slackness in the rivet connectors. Need to wash the bike tomorrow after finishing late (completed pic to come) after sharing off the T30 removing the disc bolts. New set was 1/4” up to T25 and 3/4” from T30, so extra leverage worked well.
Thanks Mrs Visor. Very useful for planning routes. Now all I need is for my increasingly forgetful brain to remember my underused Google account password.
Lubed the chain, polished paint and checked tyre pressures on the TT1200, then changed my mind and I’m out on the Fireblade
