Triumphrat

lovecuba

Have just recieved the frame and associated bits and pieces back from sand blasting and coating with a two pack black paint. Whilst cleaning out the oil reservoir of sand residue I noticed the small diameter breather pipe for the reservoir up under the front frame head lug. I thought that maybe I could 'modify' this pipe to allow easy entry of extra lubricating oil into the system, maybe upwards of a litre?
Would having the scavage exit pipe in the reservoir under oil be a problem? I intend fitting a Norton type oil filter fitting into the system so that should prevent 'backflow' into the sump via the oil pump. Could 'backflow' travel to the sump via the rocker shafts etc?
I have always been of the opinion that Triumph Twins have been under capacity in the lubricating oil department, a bit more (including that which will be in the filter) can not do any harm?

DAVE M

I read something on the web with a guy who was involved with the design of the IOF and he said that there was nothing wrong with the capacity. (maybe he would say that?)

Adding an external filter and a "bog Brush" oil cooler would help

649cc

do NOT put a filter on the inlet side of the oil feed under any circumstances. triumphs do NOT wetsump through the inlet

jimmy bush

The tube near the steering head is the oil tank vent. I don't think it would be a good place to add extra capacity. Early OIF's routed it to a Tee in the crank case breather tube where it vented to the atmosphere. Later OIF's routed it into the exhaust rocker box so it vented into the crank case.

Snakeoil

I thought I read somewhere that the original OIF design called for the filler to be up by the steering head and the entire backbone was intended to be part of the reservoir. I forget why that that to be changed and the filler moved to behind the tank.

Am I remembering correctly?

regards,
Rob

jimmy bush

Some of the aftermarked frames had the filler at the front of the tank just behind the steering head. Those could use the entire backbone for oil. As far as the "original" OIF design, I don't know if it was intended to be that way.
Lovecuba, if the return opening was below the oil level, I guess oil would seep through the rocker shafts and drain down the push rod cover tubes to the sump.

lovecuba

Thanks Jimmy, thats my guess too, just needed it confirmed.

Yesterday we fitted a Norton type filter onto my Mates 76' T140. A bit tricky, not a huge amount of room between the filter and the particular fairly large profile tyre he is running. Used Gates 5/16 in auto trans hose with the inlet to the filter housing connected to the scavange side of the oil pump and from the outlet side, back up to the entry pipe into the reservoir. Used double hose clips on all connections including the filter as none of the pipe work had any sort of ferrule or flange to grip the rubber hose (which was a bloody tight fit on the filter pipes) When filling the filter with fresh oil, prior to screwing it on to the housing, an extra approx 300 ml of oil is added to the system. He is now thinking of an oil cooler. My concern is that the pump is already under a little extra load in pushing the oil through the filter. To add more plumbing and capacity might not do the pump any good.

Webby

According to one of the books I've read (I can't remember which one!) The original design of the OIF had the filler at the front of the tank just behind the steering head. The design was changed during testing due to needing extra space in the tank because of the oil frothing. (Think of this the next time you make a cappuccino)

Webby

abmar

I've heard a different story. According to this the oil filler cap was moved down from the steering head area so people wouldn't confuse it with the fuel filler cap. My Yamaha XT500 has the oil filler just below the steering head and it works well - these bikes are almost indestructible.

Bruce

Webby

Hi Bruce,
I heard that one too I also often wondered why it worked for Yamaha and not for Triumph, (although I've never seen a bare XT frame, is it really that different?) .
I've just had a look though a couple of my books and Steve Wilson's book "Triumph Bonneville" mentions "the persistent folk-tale" that some riders might confuse the oil filler with fuel filler. It then goes on to mention the oil frothing problems and problems with the oil circulation. It's a good book and well worth the 20 quid I paid for it, you can find it on Amazon

Webby