Triumphrat

SportTBird · 03-03-2006

Jim,
I've not been frequenting TRatNet as much as I used to. A new job including 2 hours of commuting cuts into my personal time. I ran across your crash thread and this thread today. I am glad to hear you are coming along fine and that the bike is going back together.

I wish I had time to spend in the garage with the TBS, as I had a minor get-off in early September. Had the clutch lever break off in my hand and tried to continue riding. The riding part went fine, the attempt to not stop at a stop sign didn't go so good and I got dumped.

Mostly minor damage/scratches to the right side of the bike, I got of with a mild blow to the head and a rather large headache. Makes me glad I choose to ride w/ full gear.

Not a spectacular crash, but I beat myself up about the stupidity of the whole thing. I could have just stopped and called for a trailer but figured I could make it the rest of the way to the office... Ooops. Bike was/is still rideable with nothing more than a new clutch lever required.

I also dealt with Geico but believe I had a much more positive experience. First, when I called, the claims specialist happened to be a cyclist so things started off well. He was very helpful in getting things started. They handed it off to an adjuster who like yours was only experienced in cars. Things started well, then he lost my file for 2 weeks. In anycase, he felt quite bad about it and from that point on, worked quickly to resolve my claim. This is probably why things happend as quickly as they did after that.
I couldn't believe it when the came back and said they were going to total the bike, with $3800 in damages. Some info on the Geico valuation process as explained to me by the adjuster. It is based upon actual sale prices for our region, it sounded like maybe state records are used but that part was vague.
If that is the case, unfortunately, as we probably all know, many private party sales don't claim the full purchase price when they go to license and register. He came back with a 4K value for my bike + helmet allowance and accessories. Bought it back for $900 and the rest of them money is going mostly toward upgrades. Not including the exhaust, I believe I'll be spending around 1K to repair to original condition, the rest will be for upgrades.

Upgrades I am planning:
- 3 into 1 into 2 Exhaust system:
I would like to retain the look of the dual right side pipes.

- Ceramic Coat the Exhaust system:
probably in black to the siliencers.

- Givi A750 windscreen

- Cafe Style / Clubman Handlebars

- Corbin Seat

Good Luck with the repairs hope to see you on the road soon!

jimmyj900 · 03-04-2006

Sorry to hear about your bike and I'm glad you weren't hurt (beyond your pride -- been there, done that.) :-D

That's pretty unusual to have a clutch lever break off, but I've been thinking that the clutch master cylinder is too small for the hydraulic clutch on these bikes and requires excessive force... Well, that's on my list for upgrade someday. :wink:

As far as Geico goes, I've really got no complaints. Things got crossed up with the hurricane that flattened Louisiana and Mississippi and took a lot longer than expected. Compared to the folks there I figure I'm pretty lucky.

I'm still putting the bike back together. It's been too cold in the garage to do much, but I've got a whole load of subassemblies done that just need installation.

No big hurry here in the frozen north.... :-D

Jim

benthepaint · 03-04-2006

Hi Jim i have been following your rebuild with interest as i have had a similar incident but with a little less damage to my TBS but a lot more damage to me. I am interested in what are you doing about the frame stops that broke off,are you having some more welded on or have you another fix in mind.
You have my sympathy about the cold holding up the rebuild i have the same problem.
Hope you are healing well and will be ready to ride when the good weather arrives.

Ben
.. :hammer:
:yayyy:

jimmyj900 · 03-04-2006

Quote:

I am interested in what are you doing about the frame stops that broke off,are you having some more welded on or have you another fix in mind.

Hi Ben,

Only the right side of the steering stop was torn loose so I was able to hammer it back into position, clamp it and re-weld it. It looks like it will be a bit off center, but shouldn't be a problem. If it turns into a problem I'll just build up a weld on it.

There's too much flex in the frame spindle tube to hammer the stop back into shape without the lower bearing race installed, so I had to put the old bearing race back in for support. I figure that also helped prevent the tube from going out of round while welding which might have been a problem later.

The Triumph bearing tools are a necessity. I've replaced steering bearings before with a punch and hammer, but the Triumph tools are a treat to use!

The only difficulty was a proper sized bolt to pull the bearings into place. The tools are drilled for 12mm and wobbled too much to use with a 7/16" bolt so I figured I'd drill them out to 1/2". Didn't happen! The bearing tools are hardened steel and and a cobalt drill bit only polished the chamfer on the hole!

I finally bought a 300mm piece of 12mm high-grade threaded rod from www.mcmaster.com and some heavy-duty nuts and washers. That worked just fine.

Installing the bearing on the bottom of the spindle is a problem. I was unable to locate a piece of pipe the right size to slip over the spindle and only apply pressure to the inner bearing race without harming the roller cage so I bought a 1-3/16" deep socket. I have to cut the drive end of the socket off but then it should be the right size to interface between available pipe fittings and the bearing race.

Finishing the lower clamp has been a problem also. The finish was trashed in the straightening process and cleaning and sanding was tedious. All it needs now is repainting and the bearing installed to be done.

Quote:

Hope you are healing well and will be ready to ride when the good weather arrives.

Well... I dunno. The collar bone healed wrong and needs surgery but my insurance won't cover it for another 16 months, so riding may be a problem. I think I've got enough range of motion left to handle the bike but I'm not 100% certain of that.

How are you doing? I hope you're healing up well and in better shape than me! :-D

Jim