Triumphrat

runtheton

Looking at buying a new Thruxton, however the nearest dealer is 186 miles away and I am going next weekend. I have been riding road bikes for the last 25 years plus, from Yamahas, Royal Enfields and Harleys, that I still have in my garage. All these bikes I still have and they all still run great. Now here are my questions,

1. If I purchase a Thruxton, would you say it would be okay to ride it home 186miles that day (new)? I’m sure the dealer will tell me but what are your
Thoughts? Will have to run at 55mph when on the main roads most of the way.

2.have read your website about oil changing, what kind of oil are you using, brand name, what kind of oil filtering system does the Thruxton have? Is the oil filter inside the motor internal or external? Are there any after market filters you would suggest?

3. Air filter. Can one adapt K&N air filters to fit inside the still air boxes? What kind of air filter system is on it now?

4.Cable Life. Should I purchase an extra clutch cable to have on hand, due to the bend in the original one, has anyone tried re routing the cable or have any suggestions on this?

5.X chain. How are they holding up? A bit costly to replace unlike an O ring chain.

6.Wiring. I’ve read on your website problems with rain and wiring. Has triumph addressed this problem and fixed this issue? Is it Lucas wiring? I have Lucas wiring in my Royal, you look at it wrong and it brakes. Have to carry extra wire with me just in case.


7.Predator Pipes. Who sells them? How much? Or should I go with “D&D”, I’ve also got a set of Dunstalls that I could put on it. Not a real big issue at this time.

8.what extras for the bike would you get that one could put on when i get home ie.
center stand, filters, tank bag ...

I know from riding, that the British knew what they were doing when they designed their bikes. Handling on a Brit bike is outstanding! Do you feel this way about the Thruxton? I would think so. Or if you had to do it again would you have bought a stock Bonneville.
These are all the questions I have at this time, look forward to seeing the bike in the metal on April 22nd 2006. If anyone would like to contact me fell free to email me at boathouse57@hotmail.com.

Ride safe ride hard.
Craig

retro900

1. i dont see a problem w/ riding it that far 1st day, just dont rev it past break in proceedures. and dont hold it at any particular rpm for any lengthy period of time. 55 should be fine

2. sinthetic mobil external ez to get to filter

3. lotta people go k@n or uni, might have to rejet carbs?

4. dunno bout cables

5. only have 700 miles on mine sry again

6. dunno ,but im not crazy bout th electrical tape wrap from factory.

7. predators sold by british customs, $525 i think, just got a set myself,i love um

8. preds use centerstand bracket for kickstand stop,so you might have to figure something out there..scope out newbonneville.com,or bellacorse.com lotta accessories available.

the thrux is a fun bike
good luck,have fun,ride safe

idaho_thrux

Craig:

Last time I looked British Custom's was running a great deal that included Predators, Airbox Removal kit (including K & N's), and AI removal. For only a couple hundred more than just Predators alone this will be hard to beat.

JW

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UncleBlue

Clutch cable aint broke yet, there's no Lucas anything on the bike, its too fookin reliable, throw whatever you want in the crankkase it'll still run, predators, d&d's or emgo's for mufflers. If you wanna go KN filters you have to remove the airbox and rejet, I'm perfectly happy with my foam filter. Don't put more ***** on the bike, take it off instead.
This is my .02 after 3k miles on my 05.

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Thrux-ton-up

4- 16,000 miles on my cables - no problems.
5- Just replaced my chain and sprockets - did not need it though, probably could have gotten 20,000 miles out of em.

11,000 miles with my predators - love em.

Bike has sat and been ridden in torrential down pours with no wiring problems.
JCW

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2. Oil is a fully sythetic Mobil product. I've only been able to find it at my dealer, about 40 bucks for 4 liters. Filter is an easy external piece.

3&7. Rode my Thruxton 1800 miles all stock. This spring did the K&N filters, Predators and AI removal. Great improvement in performance and sound, very noticable on the 400 miles I've ridden since the change. You may want to ask about having the AI removed right away, to limit the pipes from bluing -though I don't know how this might affect breaking in the engine.

8. I don't know about a center stand. I read somewhere in these forums that they can drag when connering, the bike really digs corners. And I think a tank bag would just get in the way.

The Thruxton is great fun to ride.
So ride safe,
GR

TBSstunta

Do not ride it home like that. The worst thing you can do at break in is run at a constant RPM for an extended amount of time. You need to vary the load on the engine staying within the recommended RPM range for the first 500 or so miles. Find youself a pickup truck and haul it home if you cant get there via surface streets. Can't arrange that and have to ride it home then you will have to speed up and slow down to vary the engine load the entire trip home.

[ This message was edited by: TBSstunta on 2006-04-16 20:50 ]

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Gootch

Give yourself the whole day to ride it home. Use different speed roads, shift up and down, take a lunch break and let it cool down, and then get going again. You might find the Thruxton a bit of an ergonomic challenge at first compared to your other bikes -- breaks will be your friend.

The Thrux is dead reliable in the rain. Western Washington has had an endless rain-type winter and spring this year and I've put about 2000 miles on under those conditions (to a total of about 8500). There hasn't been a problem (except for last weekend's blankety-blank speeding ticket in the rain out in the middle of nowhere on the Olympic Peninsula).

I like my TORs -- quiet in my neighborhood, louder when I rev up elsewhere.

I use a tank bag all the time; it only gets in the way when I really hang off the bike.

sweatmachine

Don't get the center stand, buy a motorcycle jack. It's cheaper (center stand 200 plus, the jack is under 100), you don't scrape in corners, no extra weight, and center stands are no substitute for a good jack, you'll be able to lift it nice n high.

Ride it home, vary your Rpms.

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markbvt

As others have said, just vary your speeds on the ride home so you're not running at a constant rpm.

Search the Twin Talk forum for discussions on oil; but to make it simple, you'll be fine with any fully synthetic motorcycle oil that's 15W50 or 20W50. Filter is an external one mounted on the underside of the engine case; forget the model number, but it's a very standard one also used on Hondas and such.

There are tons of discussions in Twin Talk about airbox removal, alternate filters to use in the existing airbox, etc. Removing the airbox and putting K&N pod filters directly on the carbs is a popular mod, and all the major Bonneville/Thruxton/America/Speedmaster aftermarket parts retailers offer kits.

I've got almost 10,000 miles on my bike, original cable, and have never had an issue. Come to think of it, I don't recall even ever hearing about anyone snapping a clutch cable on one of these bikes.

Holding up great; again, 10k miles, original chain, won't need replacing anytime soon. I just lube it with chain wax every 300 miles or so. Once you do need to replace the chain, you can use a standard O-ring chain of the right size (I believe the replacement chains sold on newbonneville.com and such are O-ring chains).

Lucas is long gone, thank god. There have been rare cases of people having trouble with their wiring in wet weather, but no more so than you'd find on any other manufacturer's forum. I've ridden my Bonneville in heavy rain, had it sit outside in heavy rain while I was at work, etc, and it's never so much as hiccuped. Wonderfully reliable bike.

I'm speaking about my Bonneville, but it's functionally identical to a Thruxton (I've got clubman handlebars on it, which give me the same seating position, and I've even got Thruxton-length rear shocks on it) -- yes, the handling is great. It's an extremely fun bike, and I regularly take it through seriously twisty roads. I think you'll enjoy it.

--mark

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