Triumphrat

Zissou · 08-15-2012, 02:39 PM

I recently picked up a 1999 Legend TT with only 6k miles on it. Great shape and came with a record of all its scheduled maintenance checks under the warranty. Its due for the 6k check and I want to get in and check the looseness of the valves. The manual gives no details and suggest taking the bike to a Triumph dealer.
Has anyone performed this job on their own before? How accessible are they? Only had the bike for a few weeks so I haven't pulled the tank off yet, but am planning to take a look on Monday. Thanks for any info you guys may have.

Slinky · 08-15-2012, 03:07 PM

Triumph revised the service interval to 12k for the valve check, you should be fine for another 6k

jaguartvr · 08-15-2012, 03:28 PM

they don't normally seem to need adjusting to the 24k service

jwolf · 08-15-2012, 04:47 PM

You've come to the right place! Plenty of free advice here, as I, a mechanic with limited experience can attest to.
And I did the valves on my Legend. A great place to start is with a Haynes manual for Triumph Triples of our era.
Also a great help is found here:
http://www.webbikeworld.com/t2/valves/
Use the search thread, plenty of backyard mechanics here have posted on this topic.

jaguartvr · 08-15-2012, 05:05 PM

Easiest using the tool, you can't beat this for price or quality

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Valve-shim...item4abae5ff58

Zissou · 08-16-2012, 08:44 PM

Thanks for the great input. Slinky & Jaguartvr, how do you receive updates on Triumph extending service intervals for the valves? Jwolf, thanks for that link! really well written. It sounds like a I have some time, but the mechanic I work with together on my bikes suggested it might "sound" like they are loosening up. If I go forward with this job soon, is the Triumph valve tool essential?

denny · 08-16-2012, 08:54 PM

Due to the arrangement of the valve train the valves get tighter with wear.

Even though Triumph has extended the adjustment period, I think it's worth checking the clearances. It's a good learning experience. Plan on changing the coolant at the same time. The cam cover is much easier to reinstall if the top water pipe is removed.

The tool is not essential, but the alternative is removing the camshafts, and some of the bolts on the cam bearing caps cannot be accessed with a torque wrench unless you remove the engine from the frame.