Triumphrat

drharveys · 10-27-2007

Too much time running around, making a living and going to a conference followed by a family wedding! I finally got a chance to take the new Bonnie out for a shakedown ride on Highway 94 this morning!

Highway 94 follows the north bank of the Missouri River. I just took it from the I-64/US-40 bridge to Augusta today. Next time -- all the way to Jefferson City!

Still, the fall colors are starting, and I know a good place to pose a motorcycle. Unfortunately, no other bikes came by to get into the background!

Here's some of the trees trying to match the orange trim on the bike:

And a stop at the Augusta Brew-Pub:

Since I was riding, I just hydrated with a root beer -- which they also brew!

I installed the bag on the rack yesterday -- used a plastic cutting board and some stainless steel U-bolts. That'll get it's own posting!

As for the shakedown ride, I can't wait till everything's broken in and I can take the engine over 4000 rpm! On the way to Augusta there was a bit of a parade, so I dropped back to better enjoy the twisties. No problems with the handling! And on the way home, I had no one ahead of me for about ten miles of good curves -- again, a great ride!

Yeah, I may tweak things a little later -- fork brace, Hagon or Ohlin shocks, maybe do the airbox/air injection/rejet trick with some free-er flowing pipes -- but I have to say, overall, I'm one happy camper! Err --- happy rider!

Hedge · 10-27-2007

Doc - first of all let me say that your bike looks great. Secondly, you take real nice pictures. There is nothing prettier than Fall except if you can get your bonnie into the pic and you did just that.

I'm gonna throw my 2 cents in about breaking the Bonneville in. I will assume that you bought yours brand new like I did with approximately 3 miles on her when you picked her up. There are all different schools of thought on how to break your bike in but there is a couple of things we all agree on and that is you change the break in oil after 500 miles and Bonneville's, in general, like to rev high.

I did not want to take my new bike and break her in on the highway at a steady speed. What I did is take US1 from the Dealership to my home which is approximately 40 miles. I ran her down US 1 through all gears at varied rpms right up to 6000 RPMs. I bounced the engine all over the RPM range in different gears doing a lot of stop & go all the way home. I limited myself to 6k as the cutoff until 50 miles was on the engine. Then I took her up to 7k after the first 50 miles. After I reached 500 miles I changed the oil to synthetic and I went to town on her in every gear! She loves to be whipped.

My bike has 2500+ on her now, she pulls perfectly, leaks no oil and has no problems whatsoever. As a present last week I washed her for the first time. I'll probably get scolded but that's how I broke my bike in and it worked for me and her just fine! Don't baby her during break in.

That's all I got for now - let the Flaming begin!

Thruxtonian · 10-27-2007

Yea, I know this isn't a break-in thread, but hey...
I broke in my last new bike (Super Hawk) similar to above, using the "motoman" method. He favors a hard break in, if I remember correctly one of the main ingredients is heat cycling. You run hard, approx. 75% of redline, for 10 minutes, let it cool for 20, then 85% of redline for a few minutes, cool for 20, then bounce it off the rev limiter. The only important thing is to rev it UNDER LOAD, not just idling along. In other words, I'd wait till the road was open in front of me, then in a lower gear, say 2nd, open it up and let it pull hard to the appropriate rev limit, then let it decel back down. The theory being that you need the engine under load to force the rings to expand under pressure and make a good seal against the cylinder walls. Whether it works or not I don't know. So by the time my bike had 25 miles on it, it had been run up to redline, and I changed the oil at 30 miles.
On this one, I didn't take the same approach. I keep the revs somewhat down, but not strictly under 4000. But I do believe in loading the motor, so even if I keep the revs low, I try to accelerate under load and not lug the motor. The only reason I changed methods is that with the Super Hawk, now every time I hear the cam chains rattle, or some other mechanical noise, I have this paranoia that I've done something bad. For me, the worry was really not worth it, so I've taken a compromise approach. YMMV!

CAPTDON · 10-27-2007

Playw/ them softly till 300 mi? Then ride em like your gonna!!! I took mine up t o115 @ 350 mi. After the dino gone - rode her !! Runs today like a swiss watch!! These bike break in till they hit 5000 mi. Then they will start to really run smooth! Baby them & yo uarent doing them any good.

mecscc · 10-27-2007

Geez, guys! Give the guy a break, will ya? He's happy. He comes here like a proud papa and wants some deserved strokes for his new girl. And you start lecturing him and us and arguing about how to break in a bike. And no two people agree on that as has been proven in endless, mind numbing threads.

If all else fails he can follow the break in instructions that the engineers at Triumph recommend. He really didn't request your advice on that, did he?

Now, why not start over and tell him what you think of the bike and the pretty pictures and move on?

Harvey: NICE bike. Great pics and looks like you still have a little good weather left. Enjoy!

Monte

Trident85596 · 10-27-2007

drharveys.. Thanks for posting the pic's of your new Bonnie and I love
the fall colors.
Trident

drharveys · 10-27-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by mecscc

Geez, guys! Give the guy a break, will ya? He's happy. He comes here like a proud papa and wants some deserved strokes for his new girl. And you start lecturing him and us and arguing about how to break in a bike. And no two people agree on that as has been proven in endless, mind numbing threads.

Thanks for the support Monte! Don't worry, I have a pretty thick skin -- I've spent several years as **** near the only Democrat in an Air Force Reserve medical unit!

As for engine break in, I'm of the "go gently" school. I don't know if it really helps the parts seat better, but it does give me a chance to get used to a bike's handling before I wring it out. I suspect it doesn't make as much difference today as it once did, but I broke my BMW K-75 in that way and had no engine problems during the 50,000 mile I owned it.

One of the last photos of a great bike:

Here's an earlier photo in full touring trim:

ohiorider · 10-27-2007

Best wishes for many pleasurable miles on board your new T100. She's beautiful. And nearly as smooth with her counterbalanced engine as your K75.

K75's were tough bikes. Biggest problem any of the early K bikes had was with the MotoMeter speedometers. I owned an S model (1988) as well as a bunch of K100s and 1100s. Somehow, these old bikes, even with all their electronics, seemed to have fewer problems than some of the newer Beemers. This is strictly my personal observation.

Bob

CAPTDON · 10-27-2007

Hey she is a cremecycle!! How much prettier can you get than that?? Makes that much more envious from previous threads!! It sure does look nice w/ fall colors!

drharveys · 10-28-2007

No pix today, but I did get my first good ride two-up today. Best news: My wife LIKES this bike! She likes the riding position, she says it's smoother than my BMW R1150 RS was, and the suspension doesn't bottom out like my Suzuki thumper!

I'm happy -- the bike pulls well under load, and the handling stays predictable. We had no trouble on either the local roads or a stretch of expressway. I suspect that there's some aftermarket shocks in my future. While it didn't bottom out, there was definitely some pogo stick effect after some bumps. No doubt once I do that, I'll be wanting the progressive springs in the forks...

Hey, we all gotta help the economy!