Triumphrat

Steve McMahon

Good day all.
I have a 76 OIF T140V that I finished a total rebuild of late last year. A couple of questions:

1. Do you use any goo or sealant on the oil screen / base plate joints? I seem to have a heck of a time getting a good seal here when I do an oil change. Also - what thickness gaskets do you use? (I did check the flatness of the aluminum cover and the bottom of the frame / oil tank) Any hints or suggestions appreciated.

2. What are you running for lube in the gearbox. I put in the factory spec SAE 90 gear oil. My problem is that I ride in temperatures from below freezing as well as hot summer days - 80's and 90's. She's fine in the warm, but on the cold days she shifts like a 1940's tractor. Has anyone used a multigrade synthetic?

Thanks and good riding.
Steve

daveforty

A smear of blue Hylomar on the gaskets at the frame base plate / oil strainer works for me. Cannot comment on synthetic oils, I have never used them.

panda

I use a 70/90 in my BMW, that might help, I have a feeling, ( certain for the 350/500's) that straight 50 grade EP oil was used way back.

__________________
A wise man learns from his mistakes..
A genius learns from other peoples mistakes.

955Sprintaholic

The Hylomar sealant is an excellent choice to seal leaks. However, it is a little difficult to obtain sometimes. I have used copper washers under the plate fastening nuts to further the oil sealing. Most of the plates I get in here are distorted and need to be straightened. I do this with a sheet of 150 grit wet or dry sandpaper spray glued to a thick piece of glass. With water, I sand the piece on the sandpaper keeping light pressure distributed as equally as possible. Another area on your bike will be your rocker covers. These seem to distort with age and heat, as well. The gaskets I use are the rubberized asbestos type sold by most suppliers. Don't forget to remove the crimp clamp on the hose of that plate and replace the crimp style clamp with a worm drive clip to aid in keeping that hose leak free, too.
I use Amz Oil or other brands of synthetic gear lubes in the Triumph gearboxes with great success. Highly recommended!
Hope this helps.

Snakeoil

My 76 OIF leaked in the same area after I did my first oil change. Previous owner had enough silicone sealant on the area to make a scale moxdel of Dolly Parton. The leak occurred with a Triumph gasket, which was destroyed in removing the plate again to fix the leak. This time I rechecked and resurfaced the plate per the same method 955 uses, only I use 400 grit wet/dry and move the plate in a figure 8 pattern so it is equally surfaced. I think went after the frame flange with a small fine cut file. It is tedious, even with the bike on a lift. And you have to be careful to keep the file dead flat. Idea is just to removed any raised metal from a PO that pryed off the plate with a screwdriver. Instead of buying another OEM gasket, I secured a piece of 1/32" thick gasket material from one of the turbine overhaul sites in my region and cut a new gasket. No more leaks.
I also use Amsoil in all my bikes, cars, mowers, etc. Love the stuff. Not because it is any better, but because I believe it breaks down less than fossil oils. Mobil 1 was making a V-twin oil that I used to see in Walmart, but have not seen it in a few years. Not sure if they dropped the line or Walmart did because it did not sell.
regards,
Rob

Steve McMahon

Thanks All for your suggestions.
I solved the oil leakage issue. I used some Permatex aviation gasket sealant, and made some gaskets out of thicker material.

I think I will try some multigrade synthetic in the gearbox in the near future.

Cheers
Steve

t100rc

I would go with multigrade traditional. I use the Lucas gear oil in my 500.

__________________
RC
'70 T100
'56 T110 (in progress)
Crossroads Cycle

Steve McMahon

Follow up:
I put in some 70/90 multigrade synthetic. It seems to make quite a differance in the shifting. I was going to try a conventional multigrade, but was ony able to find it in synthetic. BTW - I am interested to know if it a trait of these 5 speeds to have a bit of a "false neutral" between 2nd and 3rd gear? Mine seems to have one - I have to be very firm when I shift from 2nd to 3rd or I embarass myself. - perhaps I missed a shim or something when I put the tranny together? When I got the bike everything was apart, just a box of gears, spacers and shafts!

I also happened across a pair of E3 Diamond Fire spark plugs that I tried. Too soon for a firm judgement, but they seem to work nicely.
Has anyone else tried these?

A note on new throttle cables: I had put new cables on late last year. About two weeks ago the end came off of one of the cables in the junction box, and about a week lated the same thing happened to the other one. It appears that the ends are some kind of pot metal - can't be soldered. I fixed them by using a piece of a red butt splice electrical connector - crimped it on and soldered it, then filed it down to fit.

I am also interesed in anyones opinions on tire pressure. I am running a 130/80-18 on the rear and a 100/90-19 on the front. I am around 185lbs and generally ride solo.

Oh yeah, does anyone have any opinions on head gaskets - copper vrs composite? I had both when i rebuilt the engine and ended up installing the copper one. I am still not sure if i made the right choice?

Thanks
Steve

pookybear

Steve,

For the false neutrals the answer no not really. Mine has false
neutrals from three to four and very rarely four to five up shift
only. Did you take a good look at the gear's dogs when you
had the unit apart? Even a little of rounding of the dogs will
cause a false neutral condition.

Air pressure, I just run 32 psi both front and rear.
However the manual states that for the front tire add one pound
of pressure to every 28 pound extra weight over 140 pounds.
The rear tire takes an extra pound to every 14 pounds over
140 pounds being carried.

Standard manual starting pressure is 28 psi in the front and
32 psi in the rear. Please note that these pressures sometimes
change with different types of tires.

Hope this helps you out,

Pookybear

Steve McMahon

Thanks Pookybear. I think the dogs were good with no signs of wear. It seems to only be between 2nd and 3rd. all other shifts are great. The multigrade lube helped some though. Its been raining critters here for the last day so i haven't been able to get her really warmed up on a good ride. Maybe with the multigrade lube in the box and a good ride I will see an improvement. I will also mention that it had been a bugger to get neutral as well. It's supposed to warm up this weekend - I will report on how it works out.