online diagnostic (or post mortem)?

[Eserim]

Hi

My 1996 Trident Sprint has died (I think) last week, at low revs and going down hill the oil light flickered on - this kept happening this week too. But as a service is due, I thought it may just be a gunked up filter.

Today a rattle started, which git louder and louder on the way home till power almost gave up - but engine still revs OK, just no power.

Any ideas? Clutch distertergrated? If so why the oil light? It's done 44K and 've riden it all year round for over 7 years.

Maybe it has run its last :-(

Eserim

[KitNYC]

The oil light is not so much a warning light as a "damage has been done" light. It means there's not enough oil pressure to get the oil to where it needs to be. Someone else may be along with a more technically accurate guess as to what's gone wrong, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to go with "something bad."

Cheers,
-Kit

[Eserim]

Thanks for that.

Ah I feared so - the manual gave me a bit of hope (which is why I continued riding) as it says only panic if it stayed on over 1100 rpm - which for the first few days it didn't - then yesterday it did

Oh well, time to chose another bike maybe...

[Eserim]

"something bad" indeed - the noise was the cam chain tensioner that had come off, there were various rubbers on something else (I can't recall) - but 10 hours work to fix. Plus another hour to get through MoT. The front disk, are below levels and need replacing, especially as the ridge on them is causing pads to wear much faster.

So, it is the sad end for this one And my relationship (for now) with Triumphs - my mileage now is so different to what it was when I bought it - then: 80 miles a day for about 6 months a year, now 16 miles a day all year round - so prob get a low mileage Bandit to run into the ground

Cheers

Eserim