Triumphrat

JTKMX

I got caught in the rain - rode in it for about 30 miles when the bike just shut off. The electrics all worked. The engine would turn over, but it would not fire. I hauled it to the dealer and 15 days later, they were finished with it. They said that there was a breather hose going to the tank and that Triumph told them to cut a slit in it. This would eliminate the possibilty of water migrating its way up the hose and causing a vapor lock.

Is this a load of bull or not? Should they have checked my ignition and coil?

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2006 Bonneville Black, TORs, Hepco and Becker Junior 30s, Corbin Smuggler

pabonne

Sounds suspicious to me. I'd fight it. Most folks here would argue that bonnies are virtually waterproof.

15 days?!? Good grief. :evil:

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2003 790 (black, not Black) KARK'd, K&N Cones, Staintunes, 130/42 jets, 2.5 turns out, BC Superbars, CRG LS mirrors, Generic Rubber, 16t

Why? Too many H-D's.

Big_Rick

Similar thing has happened to me in the past. Vapor lock, It wouldn't start again till I opened the gas cap and then it was fine the rest of the ride home. 15 days sounds pretty ridiculous though.
I've read that some people solved the problem by removing the tip-over valve and just running a straight run of tubing. But I haven't had the problem since, so I'm not going to change anything. If it ever happens again, just crack the gas cap for a second and it should be fine.

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Some people are a lot like Slinkys.
Not really good for anything, but bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

sweatmachine

also you can get water in your igniter and it will cause it to die abruptly, like when you're going 50mph in traffic...that's fun, hitting the starter in traffic at speed.

I bought a tube of dialectric grease at the auto parts store and slathered it on every connection I could find, under the seat, side covers, etc.

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Who says being a tool is a bad thing? I have more use for my tools than I do for most people.


Click for a picture of my slightly modified Bonnie

JTKMX

I actually pulled off the gas cap to see if I could hear any fuel sloshing around and it still wouldn't start after that. In the two hours that I stood standing by the side of the interstate, in the rain, at 45F, I couldn't think of anything else to try.

Oh yeah, the next day the bike started with no problems. It was still tied down in the bed of my truck in the garage. Do vapor locks eventually go away, or did wet electrics dry out?

[ This message was edited by: JTKMX on 2006-12-05 14:18 ]

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2006 Bonneville Black, TORs, Hepco and Becker Junior 30s, Corbin Smuggler

Big_Rick

No, if you took off the gas cap and it still wouldn't start, it probably wasn't vapor lock. I didn't read your first post thoroughly enough, you said it shut off. If it shut off like you hit the kill switch rather than sputter out like a fuel starvation, I'd look more to the electrics.
I had to do the same thing as Sweat. My ignition occasionally seemed to cut out momentarily so I slopped on the dielectric grease and haven't had the problem since. It's good to put on your spark plugs caps as well.

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Some people are a lot like Slinkys.
Not really good for anything, but bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

DrEnglish

This is the second thread in two days referencing dielectric grease. If there's such a thing as a motorcycle nerd we can probably each see one in the mirror.

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So long, and thanks for all the fish!

RedBird

"Is this a load of bull or not?"

A BIG load of bull!!! If Triumph had told them anything, they would have told them to replace the fuel tank cap to cure the problem they described to you. The hose they said they put a slit in is for draining the overflow fuel when you over fill the tank. It is designed to drain the fuel onto the ground behind the engine. If they put a slit in it up stream from the tip over valve (the slit would have to be upstream to do any good) any over flow fuel could leak out of the slit onto your engine and possibly create a fire hazard. The tip over valve's purpose is to stop fuel from draining through this hose when the bike is horizontal--as in fell over on it's side.

The fuel tank vent is through the fuel cap, and there have been a few riders on this forum say they have had to replace the cap soon after purchase of '06 models because the bike wouldn't run.

Your description of the problem sounds like ignition problems--not fuel problems. As someone else said, when the tank fails to vent, the symptoms are just like running out of fuel.

Inspect the hose for the slit and take a picture of it if they did put a slit in the hose and send the picture to Triumph America and Triumph UK. Oh, yeah, find another dealer ASAP.

Larry

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Larry
2003 T-100 (790cc), NARK, NH Togas, 8100 rpm rev limiter, 158 main jets, 42 pilot jets (less than 1 turn out on pilot screws), stock needles--no shims. 13 A/F ratio from 1100 rpm to 4000 rpm; 12 A/F ratio from 4000 rpm to 6000 rpm; 13 A/F from 6000 rpm to 8100 rpm.:D
2007 Tiger 1050--White:D--SW-Motech crashbars, Skidmarx rear hugger/chain guard, Calsci +7 windscreen.