Classic Triumph Bonneville

[Mr. Dazzle]

Getting there....fannyish as it sounds I actually stopped myself going further tonight. I finished one job but then made a conscious effort not to start another. I know from prior experience that after completing a job that went well I should quit when I'm ahead

I fitted the rocker oil feeds (the thing with the bango bolts) with newly annealed washers. Fitted the little brackets that go from the rocker boxes to the frame. Figured out which ignition coil was which and fitted those (they're electrically identical but are 'handed' to sit snugly).

BTW I have no idea why the hell i bothered refitting that 'finger' on the right intake side rocker inspection port (the round thing with the cross in). Its meant the stop the cover vibrating loose but it clearly gonna do fuck all.



I then fitted the left exhaust. Realised I should have polished the normally covered section of the timing case, took the exhaust off and polished, then refitted. Polished the right case before fitting the right exhaust then fitted that...



Next job is to refresh my memory about how the coils are wired and reconnect those, then make and fit new HT leads.

Oh and think about how the hell I'm gonna time it when both inspection covers are hidden by exhaust header!

[David]

Time to take the headers off again to time!

The little finger looks far too short...they do normally work. Have the mice got at that one?

[Mr. Dazzle]

Time to take the headers off again to time!

The little finger looks far too short...they do normally work. Have the mice got at that one?

Yeah it's already feck off loud I think I can probably just rotate them up out of the way to time, they don't need to be fully bolted on if you're not going anywhere.

I just need to get a new finger, I mostly bolted it on just so I wouldn't lose anything.

[JackyJoll]

If you use O-rings in place of the fibre washers on the rocker caps, they don’t fall off on the road.

[Mr. Dazzle]

So it turns out there are two kinds of HT lead terminal. The good kind and the shit kind. I bought the good kind for my new HT leads, whereas Triumph OE is the shit kind.

Turns out the good kind won't fit in the coils! That's why Triumph used the shit kind. Shit kind is winging it's way to me. Luckily they're only 40p each, good or shit.

[JackyJoll]

Must say, I’ve always just cut plug leads from lengths of plug lead.

[Mr. Dazzle]

It's these little doodads that go at the coil end of the lead...



They're just 'pinched' on. The previous ones were a bit shit and caused crap running at high revs (along with a few other loose connections). I wanted the kind which are firmly crimped in place, but they're too big to sit in the coils. I guess brand new pinchy ones with be OK.

Got the spiffy red NGK caps too...

[Rockburner]

It's these little doodads that go at the coil end of the lead...



They're just 'pinched' on. The previous ones were a bit shit and caused crap running at high revs (along with a few other loose connections). I wanted the kind which are firmly crimped in place, but they're too big to sit in the coils. I guess brand new pinchy ones with be OK.

Got the spiffy red NGK caps too...

IME - 'proper' NGK caps are probably the easiest way to improve the running and reliability of an old bike. Most of the 'day-to-day' running issues with my Dad's old bikes boiled down to shitty cheap plug caps he inevitably, and invariably bought at bloody Kempton.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I had a set of new Champion ones for about 50 miles but one broke for reasons unknown. It went from 5000ohm resistance to infinite resistance which rather suggests something inside snapped/cracked/broke.

I hear that the red NGK ones are the ones to have, so that's what I've got! New NGK caps, new wire (7mm copper) and new terminals. No excuses for the HT leads, except maybe my cack handed assembly.

[Rockburner]

I had a set of new Champion ones for about 50 miles but one broke for reasons unknown. It went from 5000ohm resistance to infinite resistance which rather suggests something inside snapped/cracked/broke.

I hear that the red NGK ones are the ones to have, so that's what I've got! New NGK caps, new wire (7mm copper) and new terminals. No excuses for the HT leads, except maybe my cack handed assembly.

IIRC the NGK caps have a 'threaded spike' internally, so you screw them onto the plug lead and get a decent electrical connection. The cheapy ones either have a simple pin, or a clamped bit of tin, both of which kill the connection pretty quickly when fitted to a old Brit bike which vibrates like buggery.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Yeah, took me a while to notice you can unscrew the tips of the plugs

EDIT: Oh right oyu mean at the lead end....yeah, you screw them onto the wires with what looks like a wood screw sticking out in the cap. I was referring to the fact the NGKs take the smaller size of plug tip, whereas the champions like the fat kind. You have to unscrew the tip on the plug itself.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I've got Dynatech leads and caps on my Z, you cut them to length and put a crimp on each end of the HT lead, one end goes in the coil, the other goes directly onto the spark plug (with a rubber cap over it), no wufta resistor plug caps here, it's like a mobile radar jammer.

[Rockburner]

Yeah, took me a while to notice you can unscrew the tips of the plugs

EDIT: Oh right oyu mean at the lead end....yeah, you screw them onto the wires with what looks like a wood screw sticking out in the cap. I was referring to the fact the NGKs take the smaller size of plug tip, whereas the champions like the fat kind. You have to unscrew the tip on the plug itself.

Those little caps on the plugs are a menace if you undo them. They vibrate loose (you can never get them done up again properly tight) and obviously cause a poor connection.

Yeah - I'd forgotten that the NGK caps fit to the threads on the plug.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Carbs are 90% of the way back on. Just need to wrestle the snake of getting the throttle cables reconnected. The sparks are 90% there too, just need to refresh my memory on how the coils are wired. And yes that loom is a mess I intend to replace it one day.

I also spent about half and hour cleaning 50 years of white grease from the twist grip. The original throttle cables are steel in steel and needed oiling, the grip would be have been greased. My lovely new Venhill ones are stainless cables in PTFE liners, if anything grease will kill them. They just need a little puff of dry lube at the grip end.

After that it's just a case of valve clearances and some fresh petrol I think.

Who needs air filters!?

[JackyJoll]

You’ve put that carb top on backwards.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Gonna have to take it off to get the cables in anyway

I have two choices, put them in the carbs easily and fight the springs to get the junction box together or vice versa. I think I'm gonna have to switch to the vice versa.

[JackyJoll]

Sort the junction box before putting the cables in the throttle slides.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Coils are all wired up. I did a couple of resistance and voltage checks to make sure electricity is getting where it should - which it appears to be - then took the plugs out and gave it a kick with the ignition on. I've got a pair of bright blue sparks, which is nice.

I've also got the throttle cables and twist grip on now. The cable is a 'Y' shaped affair with a split to go to each carb. It's got three adjusters, one for each carb and one upstream of the split. I used the upstream one to dial out most of the slack and then the individual carb ones to get them synced.

The synchronisation is done using the official Triumph workshop manual method. Insert a metal rod - or in my case a CooP own brand 100% recycled drinking straw - under each slide and then eyeball them as you twist the grip. The two straws should rock up and down together. They didn't, so I twizzled the adjusters until they did.

Just need to get some hairspray now to properly stick the grip onto the twisty bit.

Got fuel.
Got sparks.
Got compression.

Can't be far off now....

[KungFooBob]

A mate of mine posted pics of him syncing the carbs on an A65 he's rebuilding on Friendface.

He was originally using bookie/Ikea pencils, but they were to unevenly sized, so used allen keys instead.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Yeah I started with Allen keys too, but quickly realised it is loads easier of the sticks are quite long and also identical.