Triumphrat

FattRat · 04-09-2006

The story goes like this......

I wanted to make some retro looking pipes for my Bonnie with it's old style "Pony Express" leather bags, and trimmed-down Guzzi Le Mans sport fairing. So I ordered some fish tail extensions and started to muck around with baffling and jetting. Without going into detail, here's what happened:

1) Loud & raucous, DANGEROUSLY lean, 51 hp

2) Annoyingly loud & raspy, still lean, but 71 hp (no, not a typo)

3) Loud, spot-on & flat line air/fuel ratio (BEST yet!) , 51 hp

Cutting to the chase (I said I wouldn't go into details on this opening post) THRUXTON NEEDLES replaced my standard needles in my 790cc BonnieBlack! Leads me to wonder if Triumph just needed to get the hell rid of a glut of old needles laying around by sticking them in all their Bonnies.... save for the Thruxtons.

Could it have been the luck of the draw, mere happenstance (though somewhat calculated)??? Or is it the Thruxton needles?

I had the bike dialed in for my D&D's (42's, 135's, one shim, bellmouth, no divider plate), replaced the D&D's with some new Predators (love 'em), then put some Thruxton needles in, bolted on my project pipes (altered again), and *BAM!* perfect air/fuel!?!?!?!

Yes...... this will indeed be my poser bike. Retro & looking tough-n-fine, all bark and no bite...... sound familiar (cough)harleyposeurs(cough)? Dare I say it, but I'm crossing over to the Dark Side with my BonnieBagger....... all show and "look at me" syndrome. I feel so cheap. I even had MORE people still pulling up along-side me to ogle my bike & chat yesterday..... weird.....

I'm so embarrassed with my cheapness, I'm a sell-out, I'm gonna show the local RUBs what a poor boy can do, and cool it can be done..... ON A BONNIE! :-D

(I'll post some as yet unseen pictures of my bike in it's ((new)) touring guise. Even I haven't seen this set-up yet)

Bonnie, getting it's 'cool' on.....!

[ This message was edited by: FattRat on 2006-04-09 09:33 ]

Bryan · 04-09-2006

OK FattRat let me get this straight, 42's, 135's, Thruxton needle's, one shim { What thickness?}, Bellmouth, no divider plate { is that the baffle everyone is talking about?}and your "FattRats'" with the JC Whintney mechanical baffles { what length and did you change them ?}. OH yes: How long are your project pipes from the end of the headers?

:clown:

[ This message was edited by: Bryan on 2006-04-09 09:49 ]

FattRat · 04-09-2006

Good questions all. First of all, I gotta see which picture of the series I just took for posting.

Oh, no shims with the Thruxton needles. The shim I used with the standard Bonnie needles were round & shiny, that's all I know.

Uhhhhh..... two cheap JC Whitney baffles of different sizes, one of which was cut down to be forced into place. In addition to the cheapies, I have my fancy "ghost-ring" site looking thingys.

The cheap baffles are fitted in the characteristic "kink" of the factory standard Bonneville headers, the supplemental baffle gizmo is 4" from that, and straight open pipe to the fish tails at the back of the bike.

Yeah, the baffle I paid Norman Hyde a million bucks for, that can be had at a Polaris outlet for mere pennies on the dollar.

Lemme go pick an image (or two) to post.....

FattRat · 04-09-2006

Gernick · 04-09-2006

[Neo]Whoa.[/Neo]

Bryan · 04-09-2006

Looking good! Did you check out those clamps I told you about? :chug:

FattRat · 04-09-2006

I found the baffles you told me about, and will be ordering them to replace my butcher'ed-up coupled baffles. I think I need to do something about a better fit between the joiner pipe and headers before I can use some pretty clamps. I still have to torque the hell outa those automotive clamps to get a (half) decent seal.

Rempke · 04-09-2006

FattRat,

Awesome and amazing! You've done a beautiful job making it your own and continuing the dark and dangerous look of the black Bonnie... =) The palm tree in the background makes me miss California and wish that I were down there where it rains less (it seems to always rain on my days off, here)!

Mike

Milkman · 04-09-2006

Bike looks awesome! What kind of flyscreen is that? It's the best looking flyscreen I've ever seen on a Bonnie!

Mancha · 04-09-2006

Good looking bike. I love those pipes. Wish I could think of a reason to mount some to a Thruxton. :-D

Is that a black fork brace ya got there? Where from?