Triumphrat

Poacher886 · 03-31-2008

Hi,
After owning nothing but Sport / superbikes for the 20yrs i've been riding, i decided to take the plunge and go for something different......a 1992 trident.

(Well the misus was moaning my superbike was un-comfortable, and we hope to head off on a bit of touring!!).

Its the original British racing green,with the silver engine version. I had a quick scan over it outside the shop ( i dont get it until the 25th) And went for a blast up the road and back...SOLD!!

Anyway,having never had a Triumph before i have a bundle of questions to those in the know???

1. The bike is fitted with a complete Remus inovation exhaust system 3-1,and has been dyno-jetted. The filter is a standard item,though i was told (by the previous owner) they are free flow pipercross filters anyway.
I was pleased by the responce off the throttle (Great sound!) but have a few questions: Does losing the twin pipes also lose mid-range torque?. Is the original filter good enough for a dyno'd bike? is the grumble and slight back firing when off the throttle normal?

2. The front end was err, um, interesting....The bike dives and shakes its head when ridden hard and the brakes arn't going to produce any stoppies!!
I have realised the fork springs need sorting and thats fine, but are there any decent brakes that bolt straight on with no messing?? The previous owner mentioned early bandit 1200,but i thought they were the same type?

3. Im not liking the rear wheel...The 160 section looks weedy for the size of the bike and the awkward 18" rim restricts choice. Does the original 180 section rim off the speed triple bolt straight in? is there any parts needed other than the wheel for this job? Are there any other rims that bolt straight in? has anyone rode a trident with a 180 rear section to know if it effects the handling much?

Sorry for the long questions...thanks for any reply's

MotT3 · 03-31-2008

Brakes can be upgraded by fitting larger discs and calipers off of any Speed Triple, Daytona, Sprint Exec/Sport, Trophy (later model than yours), you also have the option with the larger discs of going to fit Tokico 6 pots for the Busa, ZX9r, Bandit, GSX1400, GSXR1000 (first one) etc etc, braided lines also help and bleeding at least every 6 months keeps them on the boil. All this work is a bolt on job ;-)

screene · 03-31-2008

Like Mot says, brakes are a bolt-on job... I bought his S3 calipers and disks and have fitted them to my bike, (91 Trident 900, green with silver engine like yours). Not road tested as yet, the brake still feels a bit spongy, I can pull the lever right back to the handlebar.

One difference was that the bolts that held my calipers on were too long for the S3 calipers, so I simply fitted the original spacers on the opposite side of the mounting lug. Seems OK and doesn't look too bad, I reckon.

The other thing was that I had to buy a longer stainless hose to fit from the master cylinder to the splitter - £23 from Sprint Manufacturing.

MotT3 · 03-31-2008

Screene..just a thought but I used to be able to get quite a firm feel out of the lever..it was span adjustable though and set to 1 it helped.

screene · 03-31-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by MotT3

Screene..just a thought but I used to be able to get quite a firm feel out of the lever..it was span adjustable though and set to 1 it helped.

I don't think mine is adjustable.. the guy at Sprint told me that the master cylinder on the Trident is smaller than on the S3, so you get more travel on the lever. He said I could change it for a S3 cylinder, but that some people prefer it with the original because your get more 'feel' when braking.

I'll bleed the brakes again to make sure there's no air in there, and road test it before I make a decision.

Poacher886 · 04-01-2008

Thanks for the input chaps!.....unfortunately its raising more questions than answers??

1. The picture of the Triumph brakes. Are Triumph now producing there own callipers or are they Jap brakes with a Triumph logo on?

2. You say to fit larger 310mm discs in order to bolt on Speed triple or busa brakes etc, but the early spped triple has different wheels....do the discs bolt straight on the Trident?
The busa has 320mm discs and upsidedown forks!! Which 320mm disks bolt on the Trident?? and wont the different position of the busa's upsidedowns effect the angle on the Trident??

3. Any word on the rear wheel....does the early speed T back wheel go straight into the Tridents?? any others?

Thanks..

Oh! i almost forgot.... @MOT, those mirrors on your Speed T are very nice indeed!! which mirrors are they.....and of course do they fit on the Tident??!

MotT3 · 04-01-2008

Mirrors are Motrax..yes they bolt straight on and have the benefit of loosing the Triumph adaptor boss, Triumph caliper are badged up Nissin items I believe, your worries about the rest of the braking issues are over complicating the thing...90mm between the mounting bolt eyes and bammo they bolt straight on....

Wheels I have no clue about ;-/

KitNYC · 04-01-2008

4-piston Triumph-logo brakes are Nissin-made. The "Triumph" 6-pots are Alcons.

The rotors you want are the 310mm floaters from any of the T3-series Triumphs with 4-pot fronts.

Once you have floating rotors on (easier said than done sometimes!), just bolt on a set of Tokico 6-pots & some braided hoses & start doing stoppies!

You might want a 5/8" master cylinder as well, almost forgot about that. Again, donor bikes are all T3s w/ 4-piston brakes stock. (Also lots of other bikes if you don't care if it matches the clutch master.)

The early Speed Triple wheels should bolt right up. Other Triumph wheels should as well. AFAIK, the T3s came with 2 types of wheels: what you have, & the kind the Speed Triples had. They're interchangeable.

Cheers, HTH,
-Kit

tubby885 · 04-01-2008

The 310mm discs will bolt to the Trident wheel.
Regarding the front brake line - I replaced the splitter with two separate braided stainless lines.This gave a nice firm feel at the lever.
You can sharpen the steering by pulling the forks through the yokes about 3/4".

screene · 04-01-2008

Can someone explain to me what's meant by 'floating discs'?

I understand floating calipers - it was obvious how the 2-pot calipers I took off my Trident were of the floating variety, because they moved along a dual rail arrangement on the mounting bracket (or would have if they weren't seized).

The 4-pots I've now got fitted don't have this, presumably because there are pistons on either side of the disc so equal pressure gets applied to both sides.

But floating discs? Do I have these now I've got the S3 discs on my bike? I sort of feel like the answer's probably 'no' but would like to know more.