Triumphrat

Keithiopian · 12-15-2007

Hello all,

I have just joined the forum. In March, I bought a 1998 Thunderbird Sport with 46,000 on the clock. Despite the terrible summer, I managed to add another 6,000 miles. I am quite satisfied with the TB. Fast enough for me, and looks and sounds fantastic. Mine came with the none road use pipes and a choice of single and dual seats. The previous owner had geared the bike for more relaxed motorway riding, but the accelaration is still ok. The fuel economy is fantastic. 54mpg is normal, with a high of 58mpg. Even when travelling between Penrith and Liverpool at a continual 90-100mph the figure only just dropped below 50mpg.
A few negatives. The first is the weight. This is a heavy bike, or at least it feels top heavy. Handling can only be decribed as acceptable. I realise this is not a touring bike, but neither seat is built for comfort.
My main gripe is the back brake. When I bought the bike, it was possible to stand on the brake pedal with no effect. I traced this to a siezed master cylinder. After changing this for a decent secondhand item and fitting new pads, the brake now works but is still poor. I have read on other threads that a Kawasaki ZXR master cylinder is a straight replacement and gives an improvement. Does the Kawasaki component allow the use of the original brake light switch? If not, what arrangement can be used? Exactly which ZXR's are suitable and from which years?
I am taking the bike off the road for the winter, but I made the mistake of going out for a ride last week on salty roads. I was a little alarmed to see barnacles on the fork legs and wheels, so a good polishing of alloy is called for. I have a few other jobs to do. One of the fork seals is leaking and one of the spark plug threads is stripped. Hopefully, I can just run a tap down the plug thread, otherwise the head will have to come off. I should also check the valve clearances. Is it worthwhile investing in a shim removal tool? Removing cams is not a major job, but I am a firm believer in not disturbing components which are working well.
I enjoy reading the forums and maybe after I have had a bit more poke around with my spanners, I will be able to contribute.

denny · 12-15-2007

If the bunged up spark plug threads are one of the outer cylinders you might be able to get a helicoil or nutsert installed without removing the head.

I use the shim removal tool for the valve adjustment. Someone here sells them in the classified section.

I don't know about the master cylinder, but I am also interested in that info.

Since you are on the right side of the pond, check out the Sprint comfort seat made by Sprint Manufacturing. It gets good reviews from everyone who own one.

And what is your gearing? O I just remembered you are using Imperial gallons....duhhhh. Still your milage seems very good.. I usually get 42 mpg (US gallons).

Keithiopian · 12-16-2007

Cheers for that. I will have to count the teeth on the sprockets. The fuel economy never fails to amaze me, I was expecting much worse. As for the seat, I went to the International Motorcycle Show at Birmingham last month. On one of the stands was a company who recover seats to their standard appearance but insert gel pads. This sounds like a good idea but I have lost the card with the companys name.

Gdsila · 12-16-2007

As far as handling goes ..how old is your fork oil ? and is your rear shock the original or what. Also what suspension settings are you using? preload, compression damping/rebound damping.
10 yr old fork oil is useless and a 10 yr old shock the same.
And yes these bikes are a bit top heavy, but can be manouvered quite well with practice.

Wychall · 12-18-2007

Keithiopian. I would guess that the company you spoke to would be PP Seating of Birmingham. http://www.ppseat.co.uk/ is their website. I have looked at their seats but found an Airhawk pad a cheaper and more versatile solution ( and very comfortable!).

Brian.

MickMaguire · 12-18-2007

The back brake on a TBS is more than sufficient for this bike - its not setup as cruiser so 90% of braking should be done with the front not the back brakes. Increase the power of the back much and you are likely to lock it and low side as the weight distribution is setup towards the front.

hyzer · 12-18-2007

Agree with Mick, re rear brake.

The owner of my local Triumph shop is former MSF teacher. Absolutely states that on a T-Bird the rider should be wearing out (using) the front brake much faster (more) than the rear.

Bike might be listed as a “cruiser” – but weight bias, power and handling are not cruiser-esk.

Keithiopian · 12-18-2007

Yes, thats the company. P & P. For a seat to be recovered with one gel pad is about £100. Extra for the pillion seat. A strap on pad sounds a cheaper, simpler solution. As for my poor back brake, on wet roads (most of the time around here) braking needs to be distributed more evenly between back and front. At the moment this is not possible. There is a local breakers who deal only with Kawasaki. I think my best bet is to take the master cylinder in, to compare it with what they have.
The rear shock absorber is original, but is certainly not soggy. The fork oil? Who knows. When I bought the bike, the suspension settings were all over the place. Different settings on each fork leg. I have followed the set up instructions in the Haynes manual to give me the standard setting. I have to say this does not seem to make a scrap of difference. I am used to older bikes with virtually no adjustment available, and I would be quite happy if bikes were still made that way. The handling to me, feels no better than a late 70's early 80's superbike and is far worse than a middleweight from that era.