Triumphrat

Bear900 · 11-08-2009, 03:07 AM

Hi all,

New member from Australia. I have just picked up a red 96 Daytona 900 after selling my Rocket due to financial reasons.

I am quite chuffed with it too. Only 60thousand k's and in reasonable condition considering her vintage. I have always wanted a t300 of some sort ever since falling in love with the original bad and black Speed Trip(like most people with a pulse), but for some reason something else to buy always came up.

Having picked it up, i now know why these things are so loved. They just seem to have a certain something. Character comes to mind.

Now come the questions! I have done multiple searches but have had mixed results. My apologies as i am sure all these issues have been answered before, but please bear with me.

Bars: They are pretty bloody low! What is the best most cost effective solution? I see Helibars dont do them anymore. That sexy fairing doesnt leave much room for alot of movement.

Sprag: I think i will live in constant fear after reading a few posts!. Especially as i would have the later motor. What is the go? Do they all go eventually?

Coils: The old owner had to replace two of the cylinders coils so i guess the other may go eventually. Are they fine when replaced or will these keep popping forever? It seems heat is the issue? Surely someone has come up with a fix.

Suspension: Its getting tired obviously. I could get the fronts freshened up easy enough, but the rear shock looks tired and has some corrosion. Funny as i thought the steel ones were relaced with aluminium/alloy in later models. Best low cost replacement?

Jetting: It feels a little sluggish in different parts of the rev range. I saw some great info in the Hinckley FAQ. Would a carb kit and the "hot" settings be my best bet?

Thanks for listening to my ramble. I hope to get to know a few of you as i tidy it up to my standards and hopefully ride the hell out of it. Any help or advice on this model would be greatly appreciated.

cheers

Roden · 11-08-2009, 04:19 AM

G'day Bear, conratulations on your purchase! The T3's are generally bulletproof if looked after and will give years of enjoyment.

Let us know where you are mate, I'm in Brisvegas.

Bars - You might be able to mount your bars above the triple clamp, I have a pair of Tommaselli clip-ons mounted there and they are fully adjustable every which way and have risers which I choose not to use at the moment. Even the stock bars mounted in this fashion will give some relief but still with a sporting attitude.

Sprag - no they don't all fail, the later models were revised because of the problems that were experienced. What helps big time is a good fully charged bettery. Do yourself a favour and if you haven't already got one get a battery minder of some sort. I use a "Battery Fighter" which is pretty good. What stuffs the sprag is if you attempt to start her up with a low battery, she won't get over TDC and it will kick backwards; the sprag doesn't like turning backwards whilst engaged. Also look at your battery, if in any doubt spring for a new one. Battery World stock batteries for our bikes. Do all that and you won't have a problem.

Coils - they do seem to fail eventually but will last a good long time once replaced. I am on original (I think) Gill coils at 76,000klms no dramas. The northern hemispere guys seem to have more trouble with corrosion around the coil spade connectors than we do down under but it pays to check them if you have the tank off.

Suspension - As you said, freshen up the front end, if you are in Sydney, Sean at SOS Suspension in Penrith is a whiz. There are plenty of options on the rear shock depending on your budget, Hagon do a rear shock that does the job well but if you can afford Ohlins....

Jetting - What exhausts are you running? If running stock pipes with stock jetting and air filter it should pull pretty strong across the range. A lot of the guys on the board here are junking the Mikunis in favour of Keihins which were fitted from '98 on. Better mpg, easier tuning and better performance. The Mikunis tend to wear out the slides. The air filter is a cow to service as the carbs have to come off to get at the thing! We are now mucking around with pods on Keihins with good results, that is my next project.

There are a few other niggling problems but all can be fixed easily and without much expense, especially if you are handy with the tools. Digest this lot first and then we will move on.

Do yourself a big favour and check out www.mottleybiker.com there is a wealth of information on his site with awesome step by step instructions on all the maintenance that you will need to do on your scoot sooner or later.

Cheers,

Roden

Bear900 · 11-08-2009, 04:58 AM

Hey Roden,

Thanks for the replys mate. Great info.

I am in sunny Newcastle.

I think i am stuffed mounting the bars on top as i have the 96 forks which were shorter. I could drop them and see how it goes but the stance seems just about right at the moment.

Great idea on the trickle charger. I will look around and get a battery doc or something.

Exhausts are stock. As for jetting ,filter etc. i am not sure. I think it might be best to put a carby kit through it and go from there, it is getting on now and could do with some TLC. There is a big hole around the 2500-3000rpm mark which might indicate stock jetting? I beleive there was a flat spot due to ADR?

My basic plan of attack is

Battery doc: Or equivalent.

Indicators: Stockers have various tape and glue holding them together. Buell option looks good but the obscene mark up on parts over here might mean i go for some ebay cheapies.

Bars: I might give myself time to acclimatise back to a sportsbike. I only picked it up yesterday. Going from a Rocket to clip ons felt like i was holding onto the front axle!!

Suspension: I might look at some stiffer spring and fresh oil for the front. The rear i might pull out and give it a clean up the see if i can get the sag close on the old tired spring as i doubt my budget will stretch to a replacement at this stage.

Engine: I think i will put it into my local spanner and get a major service done so i have a fresh start with shims etc. He can then let me know what i need to do and what to do with the jetting. I trust him so that helps! . I have put pods on blades, and my rocket with great results so i might go there with you. I have the Mikuni's but they will have to do.

Cosmetic: It just needs some TLC!! Ageing bolts and small scratches and neglect that can be sorted with little money and alot of elbow grease. I love doing all that stuff but i try to keep jetting and major mechanical to a pro.

Brakes: Fluid change and re bleed. They felt pretty average. Worse than other t3's i have ridden and way worse than the four pots on my 2002 Speed Trip. Might go for some better pads if need be.

That should do for a start!! hahaha.

Any other suggestions please feel free to bring them up

cheers

ffry63 · 11-08-2009, 01:00 PM

Welcome, I've had success with the Buell signals but not sure how pricing is overseas and now that Buell is no more. The only thing I have done with my D12 is change out the front brake lines to stainless braided lines. A Litte pricey but I hated the feel of the front end under braking, too much fade after heating up. After I changed them out I love the front brakes, just pull with a finger or two, to stop her. Definately keep the battery charged I connected a pigtail to the battery on mine to make charging easier. I put a set of Pirelli Strada's on earlier this year and the bike handles so well. Once I have some money to blow I will most likely upgrade the front springs as the stock ones are too soft for my taste. Other than that I get a lot of looks here in the states especially since mine is the pre intro to North America, a 1993.
Good luck.

Bear900 · 11-08-2009, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ffry63

Welcome, I've had success with the Buell signals but not sure how pricing is overseas and now that Buell is no more. The only thing I have done with my D12 is change out the front brake lines to stainless braided lines. A Litte pricey but I hated the feel of the front end under braking, too much fade after heating up. After I changed them out I love the front brakes, just pull with a finger or two, to stop her. Definately keep the battery charged I connected a pigtail to the battery on mine to make charging easier. I put a set of Pirelli Strada's on earlier this year and the bike handles so well. Once I have some money to blow I will most likely upgrade the front springs as the stock ones are too soft for my taste. Other than that I get a lot of looks here in the states especially since mine is the pre intro to North America, a 1993.
Good luck.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

I am lucky and it has braided lines already, which is why i was even more puzzled the lever is so spongy. Hopefully new fluid and a bleed will get then up to par as i cannot see any leaks for the piston seals.

I have found a set of four on ebay i like. I will probably go with those. It is a challenge as i think the angular LED ones would not really suit the organic styling on the t3's. I really like the Oberon billet LEDs but they are too pricey for me at this stage.

Thanks again for the welcome

darthandy · 11-08-2009, 09:18 PM

Hi Bear. Welcome to the club.

In addition to the battery tender, when it comes time to replace the battery itself, you might want to go to a maintenance free type such as the Yuasa YTX14AHL-BS. It was mentioned in this forum that the older Triumphs tend to boil out the battery water rather quickly. My experience with the Sprint has proven this to be quite true. If you forget to top up the battery, you will get a weak start and torture the sprag even if you are using a tender. A battery such as the one mentioned above will help to avoid that nasty little problem. Oh, and do be sure to get a battery tender, not a trickle charger. My neighbour discovered that even a low setting on a trickle charger, if left too long, can cause a loud bang followed by battery acid being sprayed all over. Not a pretty sight!

tigerloun · 11-08-2009, 09:59 PM

Aye Bear

Just bought a 97 1200 Daytona after totalling my beut 955i Daytona. The 1200 had a new MOT so I ran it for a month or so before starting to sort out any problems. Impressions so far:

I'm with you on the brakes, the 1200 has aftermarket Tokico 6-pot front calipers which remain spongy even after bleeding and cleaning. The rear is the original floating 2-pot which needed a good clean and air bled off and I had good brakes yesterday till I noticed brake fluid weeping from the resevoir - mastercylinder pipe. This had obviously been a long term problem as the paint has come off the swinging arm below. I had put this down to wear from a hugger as the fluid had run along the side of this. I'll get the brake pipe sorted and have the swinging arm blasted and powdercoated when I need to change the chain and sprockets. It has a Scotoiler fitted so that could take a while.

I had to do a fork oil seal. I had a 97 900 Trident for a while and I remember that as being something to watch for on Triumphs of that era.

When I picked up the bike it ran very rough, this was down to the fuel in the tank being ancient, the bike had been standing for a while. I refilled the tank with Super-unleaded and ran that through on a 250 mile trip and it hasn't been a problem since. I remember that I used to drain the fuel off the carbs on my Trident if I was taking it off the road for the winter as there were a lot of stories of carbs getting gummed up really quickly. (Where I live a lot of folk are in the oil industry so their bikes can be laid up for months at a time)

From experience I would agree that keeping the battery in good nick is a good idea.

I'm going to strip down the rear suspension for a good clean and lube and I'll have a look at the shock then. There is a company on e-bay advertising shock rebuilds might be worth a try. On the front I have had good experiences in the past with progressive suspension so I might try a set of their springs at some point in the future.

After that, its the nitrous oxide and a turbocharger (hee hee). I already managed to pick up a ticket for 90 in a 70, so maybe not.

Good luck with yours.

Bear900 · 11-08-2009, 10:14 PM

Thanks for the welcome and replys. All helpful advice.

I am looking at one of these. Should do nicely.

http://www.ctek.com/EN-AU/Buy-Charge...?charger=xs800

Anyone have one? Comments?

sanoptic · 11-08-2009, 11:20 PM

Hi,
I use this battery charger....works great & not too expensive.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Advanced-Batt...item25571947bb

BTW i'm from Sydney & have a 1995 Daytona 900 which unfortunately is in a repair shop a.t.m. First breakdown in 14 years so can't really complain...LOL

Cheers

darthandy · 11-09-2009, 12:11 AM

I've been using the CTEK since last year for regular use and winter storage (we get somewhat low temps and a bit of snow out this way, you know). It did a great job on my old battery and still does so on my new low maintenance battery.