Hi all. I'm looking at a 2009 Bonnie SE this coming Monday, EFI, 8000 miles, looks (from photos) to have been cared for. I'm well versed in evaluating used bikes but looking to the collective here to advise on anything specific to that year or model that I should pay extra attention to. I know tires are a slight challenge. Anything else? Thanks!
Had it out for a 70 mile jaunt today; flawless, outside of my butt needing traction. I have a feeling the seat and suspension could use some improvement but overall, a smooth and lively Jack Russel of a bike.
The "idiot light conversion kit" arrived from newbonneville.com, so I installed it and all was fine until I installed all four of the LED turn signal bulbs. First off, the newbonneville bulbs are really bright; a big improvement over stock. Unfortunately, they're not working out with the LED turn signal bulbs. Maybe I took their description too literally; they say "The plug and play design means that, unlike in the past, there’s no need to modify the turn signal circuit or solder diodes. " I took that to mean that by using one of these bipolar LED lamps in the turn signal idiot light, I wouldn't need to cut wires and solder in diodes to prevent bleed-through with the LED turn signals. After multiple hours of troubleshooting, I discovered that these idiot light bulbs will not operate without an incandescent bulb on each side. The seem to be unable to get enough of a ground through all-LED bulbs opposite the active signal to light the idiot light. I see no other way to make these work without the typical diode modification, so the only benefit to being biplolar LEDs is that you don't have to worry about inserting them the wrong way (which is not such a huge advantage that it justifies the cost). I've emailed newbonneville but not gotten a response, yet.
Secondly, for anyone thinking about doing this, I found the rear turn signals were wired opposite the front turn signals, with ground on the center contact and 12V on the outside. Had to pull out the reflectors and reverse the leads in the rear. It obviously doesn't matter with incandescent bulbs but you'd think Triumph would be consistent with wiring assembly.
In other news, the Cibie headlight (with sidelight) arrived from the UK today. In one piece, no less. It's a beauty.
I think that arrow on the bottom of the headlight means low beam goes to the left. Ok for us right minded folks who drive on the left but might be a problem for you people who drive on the wrong side of the road.
Thanks for calling that to my attention, plodalong! I didn't notice the arrow. I was looking at the wider center band area on the right, thinking more light would be thrown to the right. I'll have to contact the vendor.
Updates:
(1) UK headlight vendor responded positively; acknowledged that headlight was not identified as LHT (left-hand-traffic) on website and working to fix. Requested return shipping costs, which I just sent. Waiting to see what's next.
(2) Installed diodes inline to turn signal indicator light and now all working with front and rear LED turn signal bulbs and newbonneville idiot light LED bulb. FYI, I used and recommend 1N5818, low voltage-drop 1 amp diodes; get on eBay, 5/$4.50. Generic/cheap rectifier diodes may work but have a fairly large voltage drop, about 1.4V; these [Schottky] diodes have about a 0.5V drop. Since the newbonneville LED bulbs have a narrow range of operation, I wanted to make sure they got as much turn signal voltage as possible. Nice and bright.
UK headlight vendor offered a full refund, including shipping, considering they didn't list the headlight as LHT. It's on its way back. Meanwhile, alternate choice was Hella; came in yesterday.
Be interested to see how it fits. I got a replacement Narva insert for my 2009 and found out that 7" is not always 7". The Triumph insert was slightly smaller and a bit different shape where it mates with the bezel. I had to do some cut and shut. :frown2:
Be interested to see how it fits. I got a replacement Narva insert for my 2009 and found out that 7" is not always 7". The Triumph insert was slightly smaller and a bit different shape where it mates with the bezel. I had to do some cut and shut.
A full 7 inches is 178mm; I measured the stock light at 168mm, so yep, smaller than 7 inches. The Hella is spec'd at 165mm, so I'm expecting/hoping/wishing it's going to be a perfect fit. Don't think I'm going to have time to install it this week, though.
From memory mine was only out by 2 or 3mm. 10mm I would never have got to fit. Glad you got that size, like most things not mainstream you can't get that here.
Connectors came in from corsa-technic.com so I could finally install the headlight; this headlight has a sidelight and I wanted to plug into the stock connector. You can see the part number in the photo, if anyone wants to do the same.
Headlight diameter was a perfect fit. What wasn't, were the 3 alignment tabs and the lip of the light was about half the height of the stock, so I had to cut down the tabs and build up the lip. After that, it went back together exactly as stock. Back on the bike but not aligned, yet.
I bought a used 2009 Bonneville SE Friday. I changed the oil and checked it over carefully. I took it out for a 1.5 hour 70 mile non-stop ride today (Sunday). It was a bit chilly at a cloudy 40 degrees but I had a blast! The bike is comfortable and fits me perfectly. This is my third Bonneville.
Congrats on the new acquisition! I was out Saturday (also a pretty brisk day, here); such a fun bike. Friday I installed the Triumph tach kit, picked up for a song thanks to a post by Bonnie59 (https://www.triumphrat.net/air-cooled-twins-talk/962880-whoops-ebay-got-me-again.html. With that addition, it makes mine an SE-, the "-" for the mechanical speedo. Also recently turned my turn signals, front and rear, into running lights so I don't feel so invisible. Anyone interested should look at the Blinker Genie, https://www.customled.com/products/blinker-genie. Easy install, works great.
It's been a while and I know this post could go elsewhere but I figured I'd keep it going here to document my changes from start to finish. There will be a finish.
Since the last time I posted I made some minor convenience improvements, like tool-less seat bolts and replaced the side cover bolts with gnarled [tool-less] screws. Also picked up an aftermarket locking gas cap. Last weekend put way more effort in to de-blueing the exhaust headers and installed cooling fins to hopefully prevent or at least slow down new bluing. It was a ridiculous amount of work but now that it's over, worth every skinned knuckle. I used Blue Job and Simichrome polish; each header took a little over 2 hours. I also added some CPU heat sink grease under each set of fins for better thermal transfer; we'll see if it payed off in the Spring.
Did it's first oil and filter change before putting it to bed for the Winter. Super easy, compared to my TBird, at least. I really like that sight glass for the oil. All bikes should have a sight glass; dipsticks are just a clumsy guess, especially with clean oil.
Next up is the front suspension. Already ordered and received new Sonic Springs linear springs. I've put linear springs and set up rider sag on every bike I've acquired and it's always been the best bang for the buck of any improvement over stock. I also have preload adjusters on their way on a slow boat. I did consider Gold Valves and Intiminators but the springs, properly set up, have always been enough, plus valves can always be added later.
I'll probably be adding Hagon 2810s for the rear suspension during the Summer. After that, a seat that isn't torture and a tail bag for tools and stuff and then I'm declaring it done (and declaring myself broke).
Finished the front suspension last weekend; finally got a day to work in the garage with the door open. Pulled the forks off, drained, flushed with Lucas 5W synthetic fork oil, drained, filled with Motul Factory Line 10W fork oil, cut new spacers out of a length of 1" 630PSI PVC, dropped in the new springs, washers, spacers and a set of preload adjusters I picked up on eBay for $16.88 (and they are awesome). Not technically difficult but really labor intensive. After getting it all back together, I checked rider sag, all ready to jack it back up and pull out the spacers for a trim, and found sag at 35mm. First time for everything; never been so lucky.
The springs are linear springs from Sonic Springs. I've always had excellent results and service from Sonic and, being linear (single rate), they lend themselves to sag setup, which you really can't do with progressives. I like the predictability and adjustability of linears. The stock springs are 0.75kg/mm; I ended up getting 0.90kg/mm. There's a spring rate calculator on the website that makes determining spring rate easy. As you can see in the pic, they're a few inches longer than the stock springs so the spacers have to be cut shorter than stock. When I took the picture, I'd neglected to compensate for the extra length of the preload adjusters and started by cutting the spacers so the total length with the stock setup was equal. It became obvious when I popped in the first spacer and it was poking up out of the fork tube so I cut them down by half the travel of the preload adjusters and installed with the adjusters at half travel so they could be adjusted up and down. Accidentally worked out perfectly the first time. I don't expect it ever to happen again.
Not finding reasonably-priced preload adjusters for the Bonneville at the usual outlets, I combed through eBay and eventually came upon a 41mm set being sold for a Yamaha R1. A little research told me the R1 forks were made by Kayaba, same as my Bonnie, so same manufacturer and size, I took a $16.88 gamble (from China, of course). Even though they were advertised to not include the o-rings, mine came with o-rings. The o-rings looked maybe a hair thinner than the stockers so I swapped them over from the stock caps, just in case. Perfect fit.
Seat mods are under way and [maybe not so] shocked at what I found. Surgery complete, glue drying; shaping next. Pictures coming soon.
But last weekend I mounted my Triumph Summer Screen, acquired for the shocking price of $43.50 from BikeBandit.com. Just checked, they're still at that price!; BB part number 2579775 . In true Triumph form, you have to open up the bucket, disconnect and pull out the turn signal wires then reroute them through the upper windshield mounts and put it all back together while holding 6 parts with your 5 hands. The tolerances are tight. Just when it looks like something's not going to fit, it just barely does. Here's a shot with the shield outlined in white, since it's so hard to see ('cause it's clear):
I've got to say, it's built like a tank. Really happy with the quality and performance; no buffeting. And at that price....
Closure, at last, and really happy with the result. Hagon 2810's installed and seat modified. Officially declaring it done. Thanks for everyone's input!
Thanks, okitoki. Hope you have as much fun with it as I have.,
As Rick G said a few posts ago, "Don't ever say it is done". Currently working on self-canceling signals and I've got a center stand on order. After that, it is definitely done. 🤞
just wondering since we are in the same year, did you have any issues with the electrical parts like the Stator or the rectifier?
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