[Mark62]

It is cold and flu season and my Trophy has developed an intermittent cough. It occurs when I roll on the throttle hard. The bike shudders and the tach drops. The whole event only last a fraction of a second. I think I have a loose electrical connection. I have checked the battery connections and they are good. I have also checked the crank sensor and it ohmns good. I am going to check the igniter connector. Anyone have more ideas?
Mark
BTW
I recently replaced the battery and both headlights with halogens.

[ This message was edited by: Mark62 on 2007-01-02 17:45 ]

 

[GreenGoblin]

It may be worth checking the coil serving the centre two cylinders (the coil is shared).

This coil is prone to failure and is a known Triumph problem in the UK, although not sure if US bikes have the same issue.

GG

 

[flybiker251]

If it's a Triumph with Gill coils manufactured prior to '05 then the coils are always suspect. If you look at the classics and cruisers site it is a running topic of conversation and complaint. My Trophy has yet to experience any coil problems but the year is young. Just a thought.
Flybiker :-D

 

[hill8586]

Love my Trophy but hate its' coils....After the 60K mile check-up mine was still coughing some and cutting out a little.....bought a can of "Sea Foam" and two (2) tanks later she is running smooth again.....must have been some "varnish" in the system...any way, the Sea Foam cleaned it up !

 

[Mark62]

Thanks for the responses. I did not mention that I have replaced the right side coils in 05.
This morning I rode to work and the temp was in the low 30's and she coughed intermittently all the way (15miles), but coming home the temp was in the low 50's and she ran like a bat out of hell. So now I am really confused.
Mark

 

[flybiker251]

Mark62, I also have a Legend '01 with 46,000 miles on her. Any time I have problems with her it always finds its way back to the coils. She started running rough after replacing two of the coils. Finally after much experimenting I replaced the last coil and one of the new ones. I still experienced intermitent lapses of electrical spark. I had swapped them every way you could think of. When i put three new coils on her at one time the cure was miraculous. hasn't missed a beat since. Gill supposedly started machine winding their coils in '05. Prior to that they were hand wound. If you go the coil route look for ones that were wound in '05. The manu. date is close to the screw hole. Good luck.
Flybiker

 

[Guest]

Hi Mark,

Had similar on my old 91 900 Trophy and it drove me daft.

I chased dirty petrol for weeks just to find a loose low tension coil connection. The Lucars work loose real easy.

So all my coil leads are now cable tied to something solid to prevent this and it worked for the last 10 years.

If you look at the genuine or a Haynes manual you will find a list of possibles.The order they list is IMPORTANT It seems its most likely / easiest to check first-- the smart way to chase.

Bad news is its a tank off job.

I have seen dirty ht coil connections(this would be green and obvious) and an igniter box that caused similar but much worse coughing. The igniter box I think was a high resistance problem as it seemed to get worse as the bike was run.

Cheers

 

[Mark62]

I checked the leads to the coils last weekend and I thought there was too much play so I tightened the connectors. I agree with everyone that it has to be the coils. Wednesday I rode to work, ran like ***** going ( at 34degrees) and ran great coming home in the 50's. I really thought I had a chaffed wire somewhere and was going to rip the bike apart until I found it. Now I am back to the coils.
Mark

 

[Trophy1298]

How long are you letting it warm up in the mornings? My '98 is not fond of cold weather. I have to let the engine run for several mins on cold mornings to keep from cutting out and sputtering until she warms up. However, after 15 mins riding it should be warm enough. I once forgot to take the choke off and thought I was having coil problems (again). You may have already thought of each of these, but it's the simple things that seem to give me hell. :-D

 

[narrowminded]

Face it, she doesn't want to go to work!!!! :-D
Seriously though, the only change in the senario is the elements. My '01 900 needs to have the choke full on to start and then feathered open as she warms up, once she's good and hot she's fine. I don't let her sit and idle for long with the choke on.
Had a new America that acted the same. Full choke, hit the starter, stay off the throttle for a minute or two and then climb aboard. She'll let you know when she needs more air.

 

[Mark62]

I let her warm up long enough to have a smoke. The whole time decreasing the amount of choke. She coughs the entire time to work (15miles). I am going to throw a coil at here tomorrow.
Mark

 

[Guest]

Mark,

Back again second time but is it carb icing. Poor when its cold ok when its warmer. Try 1% Silkolene Pro FST or ethanol in the gas bet it stops coughing. Quite a few posts on the other forums about this.

Less likely with a Trophy than an unfaired bike but may just happen

Cheers

 

[Mark62]

I considered carb icing, but... This morning I was going to ride to work, but she was hard to start and ran very poorly from 1000-2000 rpm. After 2k ran fine. I took off my gear and drove my truck. I am going to recheck things tonight.
Mark

 

[Trophynorway]

Is she firing on all 4 cylinders when she is cold? if not, you have at least narrowed the search to that specific cylinder. Try to spray some water on the exhaust when she is cold, and see if it evaporates on all 4. Even if she is cold, and you use choke, all 4 cylinders should fire.
If there is one or more cylinders that does`nt fire, try to switch the coils, and see if the problem goes to another cylinder. If so, there is a big chance that it could be one coil thats bad. If not, it might be carb or plug. My 900 coughed like that, it started with some mild coughing, but became worse after some time.

 

[cornishgolfer1]

If I see the weather man show anything like a 30 or 40 on the chart...........I stay in bed. Take my baby out for a ride. ***** that.

 

[Mark62]

I borrowed a lazer thermometer from work and shot my exhaust pipes by the radiator. My #3 cylinder is 200 degreees higher than the others! I disconnected the vacuum line to the peatcock and the line is wet inside. I turned my petcock to PRI and the temp dropped to the same temp as the other cylinders. If the petcock is in ON when I am riding she coughs, but if it is in PRI she runs great. So I feel very stongly that the petcock is leaking and the fuel is being sucked into #3 carb, which makes it run rich and cough.

 

[bobh]

Mine ran rough between 1000 & 3000 rpm. the cause was the 80 watt bulbs i had fitted combined with the heated grips, were robbing power from the coils and the alternator couldn't put power back into the battery quick enough, I turned the tick over up to 1000 rpm and i runs fine now. my bike also had a new battery at the time. Might be worth checking the voltage being delivered to the coils .

Bob

 

[Mark62]

Pulled tank sat. and checked petcock. Vacuum line was wet from fuel. Petcock would not hold a vacuum. Took valve apart and fuel was present on "dry" side. Ordered new diaphram for $35, won't arrive until thurs or fri....
Mark

 

[Trophynorway]

Did the new diaphragm solve the problem?

 

[Mark62]

I have not had the chance to ride since the repair...snow, very cold and I had the flu. But it would cough when I reved her on the center stand and now she runs clean. I hope the weather breaks so I can ride.
Mark