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New Member
Production 125 Favourite Bike: '70 Triumph T120R
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Jackson, WY
Posts: 5 Other Motorcycle: '93 R100GSPD Extra Motorcycle: '92 KLR 650
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'70 T120R Project
Hey Guys,
New to the forum - but been reading a bit over the last week or two - great resource here! I picked up a '70 Bonneville last month - first Brit bike - and am putting a to-do list together for the winter, and want to order some parts for it now in preparation - any and all advice will be genuinely appreciated!
First a little about the bike. P/O (Harley mechanic) rebuilt it from boxes and his wife ran it for a while. Apparently they originally had a Tiger head on it, but replaced it with a Bonnie head later. As it sits & what I know/was told: stock bottom end, but tall c/s sprocket for the highway, head was ground down and supposedly fitted w/ racing cams & oversized valves, stock carbs, 2" TT pipes with baffles inserted. Rewired for negative ground, Boyer ignition, Single dual-output Dyna coil, MSD wires & NGK B7ES plugs. Halogen headlight which only switches on in the right position, ammeter seems to be wired directly to the battery (is that correct?), but otherwise everything seems okay. Also has a fram filter hiding behind the oil tank, blown out fork seals, and leaks like a sieve from the sides (less from the tappet tubes & head/valve covers).
It ran pretty poorly when I picked it up - since I've fiddled with the carbs. The right pilot appears to have been clogged, and she's running much better now. In the beginning she occasionally wouldn't start and was missing spark, so I was looking over the ignition, but over the last 8-10 tries I've had no issues with spark...
So here is where I'm sitting; I can't afford to redo the whole bike - for now I want to get it reliable, quiet enough not to scare the neighbor kids, and generally looking respectable. Down the road, I'd love to buff out the motor, hop it up a little, renew/repaint it so she's really sharp, but for now, get her reliable and enjoyable.
So some questions:
Exhaust. I'm pulling the 2" TT pipes (fun, but loud). Any comments about running 1.75" pipes & mufflers as opposed to the original spec 1.5"? Is it worth the extra $200 to do it? Planning to put K&N filters in the cute little round filter holders as well...
Top end. Planning to pull it apart to get a better idea of what is going on in there. Want to clean it up, maybe new rings, valve guides and put it back together. What else would you recommend? Any feedback on gaskets, techniques, etc? What's the word on bumping up the compression a bit? Definitely want to liven the motor up at some point...
Front End. Forks need new seals. I imagine there is a whole bunch of stuff to look at in there - bushings and stuff? I've been trying to figure out the springs - are there just the little ones on the outside? I'd like to put on new ones - recommendations there? Aftermarket? Caught the beta on SAE 20 to 30 for for the forks. Any recommendations for improving the suspension is greatly appreciated!
Back end. Plan to clean things up as best I can. P/O recommended either replacing or rebuilding the speedo sending unit. Beta on that would be great! Will likely hold off on new shocks, but apparently Hagon is a good route?
Electrical system. Knowing that the bike has been re-wired makes me nervous - I plan to go through it and tidy things up a bit, but will leave it negative ground. I haven't checked the Dyna coil yet to see what ohm rating it is, but as of now with the bike running well, I'm also leary of changing it (though it would be nice to get the coil (s) back under the tank). Pulled a pretty Negative Ground Triumph Wiring Diagram from the Rask Cycle website which should help sort things out, but it doesn't get into specifics of how the headlight should be wired, or where the ammeter fits in, horn, etc., so give a shout if you have some ideas there.
Well, that appears to be a good start. Sorry for the long winded questionnaire!
Cheers,
Jeff
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JWitt
Jackson, WY
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