Triumphrat

NuKMaN · 11-05-2012, 08:31 PM

Just purchased a trophy 900 and drove over 100 miles from the dealer (the long way home) and loved every minute of it. Coming from a cruiser style tourer, this thing is a dream....

Sorry had to get that out.

The bike runs perfect, but there is a small issue (I hope). The tach works when it wants below 4k, above 4k its fine. Does anyone have any pointers or suggestion on how to figure out if its the tach or somewhere else? I believe it to be a digital tach, although I haven't gotten to the back of it. Still looking for the best way to do this.

I talked with the tech that serviced the bike and he seems to think that a winding or 2 in the tach is bad.

Also, is there away to tell if the alternator bolt issue has been addressed? The bike has about 46k miles on it.

KitNYC · 11-05-2012, 10:33 PM

Welcome, congrats on the new ride!

There are two primary causes for wonky tach behavior on a 900: bad #1 coil and bad tach.

Normally, I would think bad tach, because you said it runs perfect, but I wonder if you're not noticing it running badly below 4k because you're not used to it yet? The most common mode of failure for the coils is running fine above 3-4k, but dropping out below...

Anyway, should be fairly simple to figure out. Pull the lower fairings and get a spray bottle full of water. Start the bike and let it idle for about two minutes. Spray water on each header, and see if one is noticeably colder than the others. If one is cold, that's the one with the bad coil. The tach runs off the #1 coil.

If you know what it sounds like, you can listen and tell if the alternator bolt is broken. If you don't, it's pretty much down to physical inspection.

Cheers,
-Kit

NuKMaN · 11-06-2012, 06:36 AM

Thanks for the reply, I will give it a try this weekend and let you know what I come up with.

I have been warned to change the coils if they have not been replace already. Do you have any suggestions on replacement coils (Brand, Etc)? If there not to expensive, I might as well replace them.

Doug Stanger · 11-06-2012, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NuKMaN

Thanks for the reply, I will give it a try this weekend and let you know what I come up with.

I have been warned to change the coils if they have not been replace already. Do you have any suggestions on replacement coils (Brand, Etc)? If there not to expensive, I might as well replace them.

Hi and welcome to the club. As everyone here will tell you Nology coils are the way to go and two Nology coils are about the same price as one Triumph factory coil. Although I did replace my air filter with a K&N at the same time as installing the Nology coils, to me there was an immediately noticeable difference in power and response.

NuKMaN · 11-06-2012, 12:48 PM

Great!!

Is there a sticky out there for:
(a) The Best way to go about removing the tank
(b) Does the 97 Trophy 900 have 2 or 3 coils?

MidnightTrophy · 11-06-2012, 04:12 PM

Welcome to the club...
Remove the seat, unscrew bolts on both sides at the bottom of the tank, lift and remove the tank (disconnect all fuel/vacuum lines before hand)
900 has 3 coils unlike 1200 which has 2.
Cheers!

Sixties Lad · 11-07-2012, 02:25 AM

This might help, though it's from a 1200 Trophy.
http://www.racebikehire.com/Workshop.../DSC_0831.html

KitNYC · 11-08-2012, 12:49 AM

FYI, Triumph supplies coils from Gill in England and PVL in Germany under the same part number (or supplied anyway; haven't heard of anybody getting a Gill in years). Nology supplies coils from PVL. The same PVL coil costs a lot more with a Triumph sticker on it than it does with a Nology sticker.

Cheers,
-Kit