Triumphrat

jimmyj900 · 10-21-2005

It's going pretty slow at the moment...

It looks like the radiator is OK. The 'wet' area turned out to be oil (probably from a mishap with the valve cover gasket while changing cams) and I was able to cut away the vanes and straighten the radiator frame with pliers.

The top tube is bent a bit but not leaking so I didn't mess with it. A little Gorilla glue and a couple of pop rivets re-attached the bracket.

I've got the frame member and boss to which the radiator mounts straightened. It needs some cleaning and painting because the powdercoat comes off in chunks when you flex the metal underneath. I guess powdercoat bonds better to itself than to the metal -- another good point about old tech even though the powdercoat looks nicer.

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I've got a bunch of parts out for repair and I'm waiting for them. I expected to hear hearing from Wheelmaster and/or Framestraight this week, but that didn't happen...

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I spent considerable time trying to find a set of Flanders handlebars that match the Adventurer bars and although there were a couple of models that appeared close, there didn't seem to be an exact match.

Since the price of the Flanders bars is about the same as the Triumph bars (about $120) I've decided to go with Triumph. That way I don't have to mess with the welded-in Triumph bar weights and end caps.

So... I went down to the dealer to order the bars and found that my previous order had come in but somebody neglected to call and let me know...

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Now that I've gotten the indicator lamp assembly parts the gauges and indicator lights are most of the way back together.

I ordered some small hardware (#4 stuff) from McMaster but screwed up -- I needed #6 hardware to finish mounting the Dakota speedo to the can. The #6 stuff is reordered and should be in Monday so I should have that subassembly back together next week.

The stainless steel cans from Walmart look pretty good on the gauges. I'll put up a picture when the assembly is complete. I still have to drill the cans for the wire feedthroughs and grommets, but I couldn't do that until the replacement plastic parts came in and I could locate the feedthrough holes more precisely.

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Poor ol' bike looks pretty sad sitting there on the jack with the front end removed...

Jim

[ This message was edited by: jimmyj900 on 2005-10-21 21:15 ]

jimmyj900 · 10-24-2005

The front wheel came back from Wheelmaster today and I put it on my DIY balancer and gave it a spin.

SWEET! :-D Checking with a thumbnail says this wheel is dead nutz accurate.

Now all I have to do is install the new bearings (the old ones went 'clicky' from the impact), clean up a little rust inside the rim around the spoke nipples, get the tire put back on and rebalance it.

Getting there.... slooooooly.....

Jim

legend21 · 10-24-2005

Nice to read you
Hand how is jim's frame :wink:

:-g

jimmyj900 · 10-24-2005

Jim's frame is a bit twisted... seems to be a good match for the sense of humor I've been accused of.... :wink:

Jim

rayhyland · 10-25-2005

How's the "personal" repair coming along Jim? Still a bit stiff I imagine but hope you're healing well.

Ray

jimmyj900 · 10-25-2005

Well, the collar bone is healed up but is now an inch or so shorter than it used to be, so the cartilage is going to need some time to reshape itself to fit. That's creating a bit of discomfort and some range of motion problems -- especially among the ligaments, tendons and muscles that locate the shoulder blade. Just irritating, not bad.

I've still got swelling of the shoulder and chest and still some bruising so that's causing some problems with my left arm, but that's really just minor irritation.

The insurance guy from Workmans Comp just called as I was typing this. He wanted to know why I hadn't gone to therapy for my back injury (slipped and fell at work -- three discs damaged) and I had to explain that I couldn't do the exercises required for physical therapy until my shoulder healed up. He seemed a bit unhappy about that...

I guess it's like everything else: it all works out for the best if you let it.

Jim

IamNeighbordave · 11-02-2005

What year is the Adventurer, I laid down the bike last week. Most of the damage is on the left
side. Does anyone know where I can get the parts I have listed. It
does not matter if they are new or used. Please help, David.

Parts list for David Greene
iamneighbordave@gmail.com
585-738-0640

1999 Triumph Legend TT

1, Outer headlight rim. Part #
2700004-T0301
2, LHF indicator assembly. Part # T2700285
3, RHF indicator assembly. Part # T2700286
4, Speedometer mounting plate. Part # T2502108
5, Tough up lacquer kit. Part #
T3120300-CL
6, Headlight indicator bracket, RH, chrome. Part # T2700376
7, Footrest, LH. Part
# T2080248
8, Footrest, rear, LH. Part #
T2080233
9, Clutch lever, polished. Part #
2040353-T0301
10, Pin, gear change. Part #
T2080282
11, Rubber gear change. Part # T2080281
12, Silencer, LH, Assemble. Part # T2201580
13, Summer Screen & Fixings. Part # A9700060

Quote:

On 2005-09-24 10:34, jimmyj900 wrote:
I picked up the remains of the Adventurer yesterday with a U-Haul motorcycle trailer rather than continue screwing around with the Geico clowns. It will be a month this Sunday since the accident and while Geico has made some small and clumsy steps toward resolution, it hasn't happened yet.

Since my Geico towing insurance turned out to be worth the princely sum of $50, professional towing was out of the question. The total cost for DIY towing was $25 for the trailer rental and another $35 for gasoline and I may be able to recover some of that.

My wife went with me and her reactions were interesting. She was seeing what was bent and broken and I was seeing what wasn't! For the broken parts, she was in the "How much is one of those?" mode while I was in the "That's fixable." mode. I kept telling her "The tail light's fine! I can fix the rest." but somehow I don't think she believes me.

The long (expensive) estimate I got from the shop was a good inventory of everything that wasn't in showroom perfect condition, but that in itself was a bit misleading. The dealer approach is replace everything while I was looking in terms of 'must replace' items, 'can repair' parts and 'cool battle scars!" :wink:

The major damage to the bike is the front end. The fork tubes are visibly bent and the front wheel is rotated about 30 deegrees to the left. I found the brake rotor a bit bent while pushing the bike into the garage, but the front wheel looks pretty good. I can't check runout until I can get the bike jacked up and the wheel spinning freely.

I don't know the condition of the triple clamps yet -- can't tell until the fork is disassembled -- but there was enough force in the crash to rip the weld off the turn stop on the frame!

So, here are the dealer list price replacement parts for the front suspension:

L-Fork........... $650
R-Fork........... $650
Lower Yoke.... $295
Upper Yoke.... $175
Front Wheel... $420
Brake Disc..... $185
==============
Dealer Total : $2375

Here are the high guesstimates for repair:

Wheel Repair....... $200
Rotor Straighten... $100
Fork Tube (pair).... $200
Triple Clamps....... $200
=================
Reasonable Total: $700

Of course, no repair work is going to happen until Geico gets their excrement together and everything is settled. :???:

There's some other damage here and there with the instrument cluster having taken the biggest hammering. The speedo is trash but the tacho might be OK.

Surprisingly the Ma's crash bars are only bent -- the highway pegs took nearly all of the road rash -- so I should be able to get the bars straightened. The bars really did their job though -- there's no damage to the engine and the shift lever doesn't even seem to be bent!

The main thing is that the engine runs.... :upthumb: :-D

Jim

jimmyj900 · 11-16-2005

I spoke to the folks at Framestraight Friday October 28 about the status of my parts. They received the stuff on October 12 and said it should be done by in a week. I called again on November 07 and they haven't started on my stuff yet but said it should be done in three or four days.

I spoke to Ron this morning (October 16) and he says the fork tubes are done and came out "real good" despite the one being badly bent. He said he was just looking at the bent rotor and would be getting to the lower clamp next. I told him to skip axle and the upper clamp (stripped threads on the right side) so I should get a price by the end of the week.

I'm working against time here. Winter is closing in and the available time to get the bike back on the road this season is dwindling rapidly since we've just had our first snow. I'm pretty desperate to try out the new carb needles.

I've got the tach and new speedo mounted and the wiring is mostly done.

I had to make up a trim ring to go under the bezel of the speedo and provide some additional support since the rubber mount isn't firm enough to prevent the speedo from pulling through with the can attached. The first iteration was 0.016" aluminum which wrinkled like a cupcake paper. The second implementation is 0.064" aluminimum and not going anywhere.

The wiring is pretty simple for the basic speedo setup: +12 (switched) and ground. The hall-effect sender needs three wires: +12 supply (from the speedo), a ground lead and a signal line to the speedo.

There are too many options for all kinds of stuff with this speedo: it's like a one-instrument dashboard. I'm only connecting the warnings for low oil pressure, high beam and neutral. That provides a safety redundency for the Triumph idiot lites and won't clutter the display up too much when in 'Odometer' mode.

That will still leave the 'Performance' mode with quarter mile and 0-60 mph displays. The tachometer mode and shift-point indicators are pretty much useless to me.

I can't set up the speedo sender mounting on the rear brake mount until I've got the front suspension back in place. I feel the bike would simply be too unstable on the jack to work on safely.

Jim

aeycue · 11-16-2005

Quote:

I'm working against time here. Winter is closing in and the available time to get the bike back on the road this season is dwindling rapidly since we've just had our first snow.

and it's cold too!

jimmyj900 · 12-17-2005

The FrameStraight Saga:

October 12 -- Framestraight received my parts via UPS.
October 28 -- Called about status. Was advised they should be done in a week.
November 7 -- Called about status. Hadn't started my stuff yet but should be done in 3 or 4 days.
November 16 -- Called about status. Fork tubes done, looking at bent rotor and lower clamp. Told them to skip the axle and upper clamp (stripped threads.)
November 21 -- Called about status, left message.
November 22 -- Got a call-back -- rotor OK, building fixture for lower clamp, taking off for Thanksgiving.
November 29 -- Got a bill in e-mail via PayPal, sent them a Postal Money Order.
December 12 -- Finally got my parts back!

The bill came to $75 for the lower clamp and $125 for the fork tubes -- $230 with shipping.

As expected the tubes aren't in 'new' condition and there's still a small bend to them, but they're quite adequate for a street bike and enormously better than they were. The lower clamp checks true to the limiits I can test.

The parts were pretty cruddy as received. I spent a bit of time with #0000 steel wool and 'Goo Gone' to clean the fork tubes, but the lower clamp is a real mess: they used an acetylene torch to heat it for removing the spindle and burnt the clear coat. Refinishing the clamp is a PITA.

Overall, if you've got lots of time and little money Framestraight is OK. Otherwise, they totally su*ck.

Jim