Triumphrat

Mandres · 10-02-2012, 10:40 AM

Hey guys I'm a proud parent of a '99 Legend as of this weekend. I'm really excited; I've had a tug in my heart for the 900 triples since my 18th birthday in 1998 and I finally have one of my own.

The Good:

Condition is 9/10. I can't find a single scratch, dent, ding or scrape on her. It must have been garaged its whole life; the paint looks brand new. There are just a few rusty bolts that I need to restore/replace, but that's about it for 19K mile bike.

It starts and runs perfectly. A touch of choke and it fires right up and idles great. The carbs were professionally rebuilt this year by a good shop in Austin and it has the Nology coils already installed. I took it on a short test ride through the hills and it pulled strong with no noticeable flat spots or hesitation.

It came with a bunch of extras - center stand, Triumph OEM windscreen and leather saddlebags, Epco (I think) slip-ons which are pretty loud, maybe too loud actually. Will require further experimentation there

The price: I paid $2,900.

The Bad:

It's missing some trim pieces. The two side covers by the seat are both MIA, and there's a big ugly gap by the tank. I'm guessing there's another piece that fits under here?

It's also missing 1 bar end and part of the battery box. Other than that I think it's all there.

Looking at the pics, is there anything else I'm missing?

PaulBx · 10-02-2012, 01:27 PM

Yeah, there's a thin trim piece that goes under the right rear tank. I took mine off and threw it in a box with the other extraneous parts, and haven't missed it since. You can clean up the looks of the wire bundle there by taking the label off and tucking parts here and there. I thought the trim piece looked dumb anyway.

Too bad the side covers are missing. Strange that those pieces are gone, can't you find the previous owner and ask about them?

Mandres · 10-02-2012, 01:49 PM

That's my project for today; I have the previous owner's name and the mechanic at the shop who worked on it recently. I'm planning to call around and see if I can track them down.

Sean Patrick · 10-02-2012, 10:55 PM

A very nice find, indeed! It is a shame Triumph did not continue the classic triple line, really.

gbc · 10-03-2012, 06:03 AM

Mandres,

That is a great buy and good looking bike. There are usually side covers on Ebay if you can't track them down. May have to do some paint matching, but all in all an easy fix. Enjoy the new toy.......

IrlMike · 10-03-2012, 06:24 AM

Congrats, looks good!

Couple of observations....

You have the option K&Q seat on it too, which you didn't list in your extras, maybe didn't realise?

Odd that the side covers are missing, also the battery box 'door'.

And one other thing about the battery - it looks like that's the positive terminal showing this side, with its red sleeve? If that's the case, it has been fitted with a battery with the wrong terminal orientation - negative (ground) is the stock 'outer' terminal. (I didn't know the wires would even reach across to allow this - if they've been 'stretched' a bit, you may want to check this. You don't want vibration/movement stressing those connections.)

zimtok · 10-03-2012, 09:00 AM

Nice find on the bike...

Could be that the positive cable being stretched like that is keeping the battery from falling out.

.

Mandres · 10-03-2012, 09:48 AM

Thanks for the tip IrlMike; I didn't realize that was the upgraded seat. I'm not sure I like it; it has that overstuffed-couch look while the rest of the bike is more lean and svelte. I forgot to mention it also has highway pegs installed, which you can kind of see in the profile pic. Does anyone know how these mount up? I'd like to remove them, but are they part of the engine/frame mounts? It looks like they just screw into the crankcase.

I'll check on the battery after work tonight. I think it's brand new, and it wouldn't surprise me if they specced the wrong one or put it in backwards. I'll probably go ahead and order the correct sealed type and use this one for my old suzuki if it fits.

I may have screwed up; I found a set of black side covers on ebay but they're from an Adventurer which I just read has a different sub-frame. I'll see if I can modify them to work or just sell them on if not. It was only $40 for the pair so no big loss.

Thanks for the comments everybody, I'm really excited about this bike.

cloud9utk · 10-04-2012, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mandres

I forgot to mention it also has highway pegs installed, which you can kind of see in the profile pic. Does anyone know how these mount up? I'd like to remove them, but are they part of the engine/frame mounts? It looks like they just screw into the crankcase.

Thanks for the comments everybody, I'm really excited about this bike.

If you end up removing these, is there any way you would consider selling them? i would love to have a set of hwy pegs on my legend.

can you post some pictures of how they are installed? anything would help.

thanks!

PS: nice bike man! i'm sure you'll love it!

Mandres · 10-04-2012, 02:31 PM

Sure, I'll try to remove them tonight and see what we've got exactly. If they're holding the engine in the frame then I won't be able to sell them until I source replacement stock bolts. If they're just stuck in the engine it shouldn't be a problem.