My name is Jonkster and I have a confession.
Several years ago and against all wisdom and sense, I bought a T120, sight unseen based on a handful of photographs and talking with the owner by phone.
Let this serve as a lesson to those who come after me.
NOTE: "Please be aware the first few posts in this thread cover a time period of over 3 years - the story has been condensed a bit to cover that period"
Hopefully this project thread will document the story of what happened next (and hopefully the thread will conclude at some point in the near future with the bike all bolted together and me riding it off into the sunset, happy and confident - that bit of the story is yet to happen though but I am the eternal optimist).
Hopefully also it will help me get some knowledge from the more knowledgeable members here - I figure there are going to be many questions I am going to ask and many things I am overlooking.
I had no idea then of what I was doing. The only difference between then and now is I now actually know I have no idea what I am doing.
The background:
I was looking for an OIF T120 because I heard they were one of the less desirable Triumphs (and so would be cheaper) and I wouldn't feel guilty about not doing a nuts and bolts restoration, just the kind of cosmetic and minor performance mods I wanted to make to make it a bike I would enjoy riding but with a bit of character.
So, as they do, a bike turned up for sale - the price was cheaper than I was intending to pay, it came with a current blue slip*, the owner seemed genuine and knowledgeable (a least to an innocent like me) and he said it would be a "good rider" not perfect but solid. Exactly what I was after.
It also had matching numbers (not something I was looking for but I figured it was a bonus). It had a disc front brake rather than the conical 71 brake - so I figured it was something of a bitsa and there would be no real guilt about me fudging around with something special.
(* in NSW a blue slip means a vehicle that has no current registration has been inspected by a licenced examiner who has determined the vehicle is both genuine - the engine number frame numbers match a known vehicle - and is roadworthy and so able to be registered - if an examiner signs off a blue slip then they must be confident the bike is roadworthy).
All in all - what could possibly go wrong?
Sadly I can't find any photos of what turned up soon after on the back of a ute. It actually looked better than I was expecting.
This one was taken a few weeks after I got it while I was trying to sort out some electrical issues (and after I had replaced the rear mudguard with a non chrome version and had removed the air filters (which turned out to be empty of actual filters but that is getting ahead of myself).
The tank had been freshly painted and looked quite shmick. There was lots of chrome (not my thing) but it did make it look all shiny and to someone as poorly educated about T120's as me, shiny made a positive impression.
The owner said he had put in new pistons and rings and hadn't touched the bottom end as when he was doing the pistons the bottom end seemed to be "one of the most solid ones he had ever come across".
The head he said had been recently overhauled but had been skimmed so needed a thicker than normal gasket - "not that you will need to worry about that for a while". The only weak point he said was the carbs, that he said were a bit ratty - you may need to do some work on them.
They looked good to me - someone had chromed them - they were very shiny. Surely I could just give them a bit of an internal clean up and all would be good?
I was feeling pretty chuffed with myself. I had got a BARGAIN!
After we unloaded it from the ute and kicked it into life (first kick!) it did blow some blue smoke from the (I have to admit very shiny) left pipe.
"what's this?" I asked.
"yeah all Triumph's will do that" said the owner "it has been sitting on the side-stand and oil tends to pool in the upper left of the head - it goes away pretty quick when you ride it - don't worry about it".
Well knowing nothing I just nodded and acted like "yeah sure of course".
So I gave him the money and he drove off into the sunset. Leaving me with a (very shiny) BARGAIN!.
And so begins the journey...
Several years ago and against all wisdom and sense, I bought a T120, sight unseen based on a handful of photographs and talking with the owner by phone.
Let this serve as a lesson to those who come after me.
NOTE: "Please be aware the first few posts in this thread cover a time period of over 3 years - the story has been condensed a bit to cover that period"
Hopefully this project thread will document the story of what happened next (and hopefully the thread will conclude at some point in the near future with the bike all bolted together and me riding it off into the sunset, happy and confident - that bit of the story is yet to happen though but I am the eternal optimist).
Hopefully also it will help me get some knowledge from the more knowledgeable members here - I figure there are going to be many questions I am going to ask and many things I am overlooking.
I had no idea then of what I was doing. The only difference between then and now is I now actually know I have no idea what I am doing.
The background:
I was looking for an OIF T120 because I heard they were one of the less desirable Triumphs (and so would be cheaper) and I wouldn't feel guilty about not doing a nuts and bolts restoration, just the kind of cosmetic and minor performance mods I wanted to make to make it a bike I would enjoy riding but with a bit of character.
So, as they do, a bike turned up for sale - the price was cheaper than I was intending to pay, it came with a current blue slip*, the owner seemed genuine and knowledgeable (a least to an innocent like me) and he said it would be a "good rider" not perfect but solid. Exactly what I was after.
It also had matching numbers (not something I was looking for but I figured it was a bonus). It had a disc front brake rather than the conical 71 brake - so I figured it was something of a bitsa and there would be no real guilt about me fudging around with something special.
(* in NSW a blue slip means a vehicle that has no current registration has been inspected by a licenced examiner who has determined the vehicle is both genuine - the engine number frame numbers match a known vehicle - and is roadworthy and so able to be registered - if an examiner signs off a blue slip then they must be confident the bike is roadworthy).
All in all - what could possibly go wrong?
Sadly I can't find any photos of what turned up soon after on the back of a ute. It actually looked better than I was expecting.
This one was taken a few weeks after I got it while I was trying to sort out some electrical issues (and after I had replaced the rear mudguard with a non chrome version and had removed the air filters (which turned out to be empty of actual filters but that is getting ahead of myself).
The tank had been freshly painted and looked quite shmick. There was lots of chrome (not my thing) but it did make it look all shiny and to someone as poorly educated about T120's as me, shiny made a positive impression.
The owner said he had put in new pistons and rings and hadn't touched the bottom end as when he was doing the pistons the bottom end seemed to be "one of the most solid ones he had ever come across".
The head he said had been recently overhauled but had been skimmed so needed a thicker than normal gasket - "not that you will need to worry about that for a while". The only weak point he said was the carbs, that he said were a bit ratty - you may need to do some work on them.
They looked good to me - someone had chromed them - they were very shiny. Surely I could just give them a bit of an internal clean up and all would be good?
I was feeling pretty chuffed with myself. I had got a BARGAIN!
After we unloaded it from the ute and kicked it into life (first kick!) it did blow some blue smoke from the (I have to admit very shiny) left pipe.
"what's this?" I asked.
"yeah all Triumph's will do that" said the owner "it has been sitting on the side-stand and oil tends to pool in the upper left of the head - it goes away pretty quick when you ride it - don't worry about it".
Well knowing nothing I just nodded and acted like "yeah sure of course".
So I gave him the money and he drove off into the sunset. Leaving me with a (very shiny) BARGAIN!.
And so begins the journey...