Triumphrat

gusman · 08-23-2007, 07:26 AM

please help guys - your collective wisdom is needed urgently!!
my 2007 bonnie i've had for 4 wks just died on the way home tonight.

here's what happenned:

its been raining here for last couple of days. been riding to and from work with no hassles in light rain. tonight was heavier and i got about 20kms from work (its a 30km trip) and it started to splutter and cough. i pulled over and it died. started her up again and got about 50m then she spluttered and gurgled and surged back and forth like maybe 1 cylinder was cutting out, then both, then both back, then nothing.
i ended up pushing her 2kms off the motorway to a rental car place where she now sits. they are open for the next 3 hours, so i can go back and try an fix it.
the right cylinder is definitely not firing. the left sometimes manages to. i couldn't do any more diagnostics as i had no tools and no light (a tool kit would have been nice on this bike!?) - next time i will know better. also - there is plenty of fuel and as far as i can tell in the dark and wet there are no fuel leaks.
the bike is standard except for madaz pipes (and rejet), AI removed and k&n filter installed. snorkel is still there, so i doubt i'm getting water through the carbs.

i'm thinking water in the electrics, a faulty lead and/spark plug.

any suggestions or stories from past experience would be greatly appreciated.

cheers
gus

webonnielad · 08-23-2007, 07:40 AM

I know I'm stating the obvious, but you can get flustered by this sort of situation.
Although you say you have gas in the tank you may need to go onto reserve by putting the petrol tap in the upright position oposite to the on position.

If it's already been on reserve there will be a small amount of gas in the right hand side of the tank that can't get to the tap because of the well in it.

Some people have leaned there bikes over to the left (the gas/petrol tap side) to allow that gas to flow over the well into the otherside of the tank to get at it.
If that works you'll need to find somewhere to fill up pretty quick though.

if it's electrical the coils and leads under the tank at the front of the bike may be wet. Give them a good spray with WD-40 that may help.

Hope this helps.
Let us all know how you get on. Good luck

Jon (UK)

Geoff · 08-23-2007, 07:44 AM

definitely check spark plug leads especially at the coil end. check for water inside headlite bucket, and the connectors in there, remove your fuel cap to see if there is a vacuum release, the vent gets restricted sometimes. make sure both leads are on the battery good. thats about all the easy stuff I can think of right now..
G

Kurtis · 08-23-2007, 08:12 AM

You may find it will fire straight away if you go back.

If it is water ingress somewhere, the heat in the engine will potentially evaporate the water away. My old Kawasaki was a bugger for this.

Otherwise, best of luck!

gusman · 08-23-2007, 09:43 AM

well kurtis you were right. i just got back. she started up straight away. i did however loosen the petrol (gas) cap, so it could have been the breather issue that seems to be common.
my gut feel is that it was some kind of water ingress problem though. tomorrow i'm off to get some dielectric grease and a haynes manual to get well aquainted with the new love of my life. i think a nice little tool kit will be in order too (can anyone suggest the basics?).

i still think its pretty poor though that a 2007 bike made in a country known for its frequent rain can leave me stranded due to water ingress. but hey - it could have been worse.

anyway, thanks heaps to those who replied to my post. you gave me plenty of things to try when i went back to get the bike and i'm definitely wiser for the experience. and i still love my bonnie

cheers
gus

Zansongs · 08-23-2007, 09:56 AM

My 07 is like a duck in the rain so I don't think it's common. Mine had other glitches but I think it's unusual for any bike coming off the line not to have some kind of small warrenty issue. It's just the nature of the beast. My 69 Bonny left me stranded at least once a month

sweatmachine · 08-23-2007, 10:02 AM

Your ignitor has gotten wet. Remove your seat, your ignitor is a black plastic box at the rear of the frame with a big wiring harness going into it. It's about 2''x4'' and flat.

Get your dielectric grease, remove the big connector going into the ignitor and slather it with dielectric grease, then reconnect it. Even if the bike is running ok now this will prevent it from cutting out again next time it's in the rain.

edwin_44691 · 08-23-2007, 10:02 AM

My T1oo quit on two separate occasions in heavy rain. Each time it re-started after about a ten minute period. Previous posts suggested that the vent tube from the gas tank became clogged from street water creeping up into the vent tube. I cut the tube (near the kick stand) off about 3/4 of and inch and angled the cut so that water could not climb up. Since then, (fingers crossed) it had not cut out again. I can hardly believe I am suggesting this as a fix, but, it seems to work for me. Ned Adams

bobmig · 08-23-2007, 10:58 AM

Read my posting about my Bonnie dead in the Nova Scotia rain and you may get some useful ideas. A common problem seems to be the coil wire boots working their way down so that they don't cover the connection properly.
http://www.triumphrat.net/twins-technical-talk/65435-bonnie-died-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-update.html
Bob

Normandy · 08-23-2007, 11:40 AM

If you look at the SMALL wires plugged into the coil you will notice that they are open connectors, slather those with grease as well and wrap them with tape.