Triumphrat

Triton Thrasher

There's no point worrying about primary case oil level, in service. It is self-levelling.

redhawk4

As long as you have enough oil in there to avoid initial damage, the oil will happily find it's own level, I will be less paranoid and concerned in the future. It didn't help my confidence that originally when I tried to drain the primary through that silly little drain in the tensioner hole (having spent some time looking for the other drain it showed in the Haynes manual, that I don't have) there seemed to be no oil in there as almost nothing was came out until it had had all night to drain. I used a bit of diesel to flush things through so it will drain much better next time, that seemed to clear the passageway some.

I've been servicing and repairing my mostly Japanese motorcycles for over 36 years. My first complete motor strip down was when I was 17. Although the Triumph design is quite simple, there is definitely quite a difference in the concept and the procedure in tackling a number of tasks. However, now having done this first oil change combined with fitting an oil filter and having gone through checking the timing, including finding the TDC marks and the 38 degrees BTDC etc. there's nothing like some hands on experience to suddenly give you an understanding, as opposed to looking at a manual and trying to work out what they mean.

Next time a service comes round it will take a fraction of the time to complete and will be a lot more pleasurable now I understand what I'm doing.

Now, I just need to replace the oil pressure switch and I will be able to enjoy riding with the knowledge that everything's set up right, she's full of fresh oil that's being pumped around at the right pressure and filtered on top of that - I feel much happier with the whole thing than I did this time last week. Thanks again to everyone for their input.

DAVE M

look up Plewsy's videos on youitube

he uses the name Lunmad

he tackles most things on his (72?) which is good enough to understand the way these things work

redhawk4

Yes I've watched a few of those they a great, with those and getting hands on it's much easier than looking in a manual. There are however some differences in models that you need to take into account, like the fact that on my alternator rotor the marking and the pointer are for 38 degrees not TDC as Plewsys - however without his video it would have taken me a log time to work that one out, using the knowledge gained from his video and a "home made timing tool,' a socket and a drill bit, Iwas able to work everything out.

On the primary case while it quotes capacity the Triumph manual says to use 100cc to prime it in one place although it quotes the 350cc as the capacity. Either way once you understand whats going on it's fairly common sense to get it right to the point where you won't wreck anything. To get the primary spot on during an oil change it seems to me it would be very easy to fill the primary first before replacing the sump plug, that way when oil starts to run out of the sump plug the primary is up to level and oil is transferring through the 3 level holes into the crankcase.

All in all, I got a little too much oil in the system, but now all is good, so I'll be more careful next time to see exactly how much goes in and how close to 4 pints/4.8 us pints it is.

I should also add a special thanks to Plewsy for posting those super informative videos as well as thanking everyone else.

rambo

Bear in mind -5 degrees with 20/50 oil.I revved a Triumph a bit too high with coldish oil.Oil pressure popped out the oil seal on the crankshaft feed which lost oil pressure and put the oil light on.At that temp,i would keep revs below 2500 for at least 5 miles.Personally,i would use a 10/40 at -5 degrees air temp

redhawk4

Good point Rambo, today is probably the last time it will get ridden this year looking at the forecast, we have been uncharacteristically warm staying in the 40's the last few days. 20/50 is definitely a little heavy if we are going to go below freezing again which looks like where we are heading. Now I have a better handle on the engine condition etc. having checked my oil pressure and got rid of the duff oil pressure switch, I'd feel much happier about using a 10/40 oil if we get a cold but rideable spring or some more winter riding. It would be pretty easy just to drain it quick and fill up with 10/40 if that occurs what little that would be left in the filter etc. could just mix in - I appreciate the warning at least when I did my little test drive on Saturday in subzero temps the oil and bike had been in a somewhat warm garage while I'd been working on it. It's certainly something to consider if it's been sitting in the cold for several days/weeks.