Triumphrat

Jacksf

Hi,
I am in the process of buying a 95 T-bird motor as a tempory transplant for my blown 95 Triident. Am I correct in thinking that using my Trident cams will give me a better starting point to jetting my Trident carbs?
Are there any other issues, like different engine redlines?
I'm planning on fixing the Trident engine when I can find a cylinder head at a decent price. I think I can raid the T-Bird motor for most of it's internals at that stage.
Why? you are most likely thinking. For some reason early T-Bird motors are easy to find and cheap. My guess is that they are understressed, and don't blow up, so there is no market for them.
This is turning out to be a fun project. The T3 people that I've met are sure dedicated to their choice of bikes.

Thanks, Steve

IIRC, using the Trident cams should give you a Trident redline. That means you'll want a Trident igniter. Since you're starting with a Trident, you should be sorted! :-D

I know there are differences between the motors, but I'm not sure what all of them are. The Trident cams will at least make the redline & carbs easier to deal with. I'm not sure where it's posted, but I'm pretty sure Meanchuck is doing a project involving a sporty T3 frame with a T3 cruiser motor in it.

HTH,
-Kit

GeoffE

Hi,

I think a couple of checks need to be done on what model Trident you have? If it is a California model then effectively your Trident engine will be the "same" state of tune as a Thunderbird - i.e. both engines will have the same cams (the blue ones), etc...... and there would be no gain. Effectively you would be swapping like for like.

If your Trident was a "49-State" model, then it had the 'green' cams and the pistons were very slightly higher in compression. Fyi, the ignitor is effectively the same, but just with a slightly higher rev-limiter.

The fun bits could be 'green' or 'red' (a-la Daytona Super 3) cams, with high compression pistons (again a-la Super 3). You then need to think about and use high octane fuel and fully synthetic oil (and improvements to your brakes and suspension).

Ciao,
Geoff
:wink:

[ This message was edited by: GeoffE on 2007-05-10 07:28 ]

Good point, Geoff! I completely forgot about CA bikes! Looking at the airbox may be the easiest way to tell: the Cali machines only have 1 extension, on the left. 49-state bikes have snorkels on both sides.

Cheers,
-Kit

Jacksf

It seems this is a 49 state model Trident with green cams, in which case I will swap them into the T-bird motor. What's the deal to the airbox? Are there any modifications that are done to get rid of some of it? Is a T-bird airbox any better? Hor about no airbox?
Thanks for the info.
Steve

According to the old FAQ, getting rid of airbox parts is likely to hurt more than it helps.

HTH,
-Kit

denny

The Trident airbox will flow more air than the TBird one.

If you use the green cams and all of the external stuff from the Trident you'll have very close to the same output as the Trident engine.

If it concerns you, maybe check the part numbers of the connecting rods, It's possible that the Trident had different rods. And maybe valve springs??

__________________
Cheers,Denny

Jacksf

Thanks Guys,
My motor is being shipped next week.
The connecting rods have the same numbers on bikebandit but the valve springs are different. I guess I'll have to watch my revs or swap them out. I'll most likely just keep the revs down a little.
I guess I'll but the standard airbox back in.
It's amazing that so many parts are interchangable. I think the big silver motor will look cool in the black Trident.

denny

So do I, I certainly want to see pictures.

__________________
Cheers,Denny