Tomcat61's Steamer '98

[John Stenhouse]

The drop of coolant has been seen before, doesnt seem to be a pre curser to failure, only happens when the temps are really down. Keep an eye on it though.

[Sin_Tiger]

Like the electrical connectors, switches on a 20 year old bike just beg to be opened up and cleaned/greased.

Worth checking out the handle bar switches  :icon_wink:

[Tomcat61]

The drop of coolant has been seen before, doesnt seem to be a pre curser to failure, only happens when the temps are really down. Keep an eye on it though.

This morning, although a few degrees warmer (less cold) same thing happened, just a few grops of glycol came from the same place as before and it is really glycol, now I'm absolutely sure of it.

It is expected that dripping stops as weather gets warmer.

[Geoff W]

Mine used to weep around the head gasket, only a very light smear of liquid in cold weather. On the low side of the engine when on the side stand overnight. It seemed to cause no problems other than making me worried, sorted itself out as the weather warmed up. So as with most things I just forgot about it until I read about yours. I do not ride as much in cold weather now, so I have not noticed it at all recently. I was never sure if it was coolant or condensation.

[Tomcat61]

Geoff, sorry that I made you worry again, and reminded of this   

Riding bikes when it's below zero C was never in the engineers minds 

I'm not worried, because your Tigger survived from the cold test.  Mine will also 

I used to ride in Winter regularly to Rallies and I remember clearly this guy who had a Kawasaki Z1300 and used candles under the engine to preheat the engine in -25C outside temperature

[Geoff W]

GOOD GOD!!!!!!!!!! -25ºC!!!!!!, I have been in Northern Canada in those sort of temperatures, the idea of riding a bike is just beyond belief, a 10 knot wind was enough to make your face feel ripped.

[Tomcat61]

Yeah, I know.  Worst thing is that at those temps your vizor is so covered in ice that you simply can't see anything.  Ok, these days you can have heated vizors, gloves, jackets, pants, socks and grips.  And bike equipped with tyres that have spikes on them.  But that's too much fuzz for me now, I'll let younger riders have that fun.  Our Spring is late this year, normally day temps are well over 10C.
Today it snowed and then we got hail and then perfect sunshine! Crazy! 
So I parked my Steamer on the terrace which is under roof.  I haven't been riding for two days now.
Next week the weather is going (hopefully) to warm up considerably. 

I complained about the vibration or harsh sound between 2000 and 3000 revs.  I noticed that the chain has quite a bit of slack.  That's when bike was on the center stand.  As I don't have owner's manual, I don't know in which way to measure chain tension.  Normally I would do it when bike stands freely on it's wheels and front sprocket, swing arm pivot and rear axle are about on the same line. 

So how to do it the right way with a Steamer?  I guess 20-30 millimeters up and down is enough to have free movement of the chain?

[Tomcat61]

Yesterday I picked up a large gasket kit for Steamer from a local food store.
No, our food stores do not have Triumph gasket kits as stock.  The food store is our post office too.
The Finnish Post outsourced it's customer operations to petrol stations and food stores.

I got the kit from the previous owner of my Steamer.  It's nice to have the gaskets at home, just in case 

[JayDub]

Normally I would do it when bike stands freely on it's wheels and front sprocket, swing arm pivot and rear axle are about on the same line. 

So how to do it the right way with a Steamer?  I guess 20-30 millimeters up and down is enough to have free movement of the chain?

Yup, but 40mm full travel ↑ ↓ in the middle of the bottom run.
Sounds like the weather is similar as to here, 3°C the last couple of mornings and supposedly warming up at the weekend.

[Tomcat61]

Thanks JayDub,

I was trying to describe the same procedure which you did.  So the full travel from bottom to top of the free movement of the chain, measured half way between the front and rear sprockets, is 40mm?
I think my Steamer has now 50-60mm and that causes noise and vibration.  Adjustment is needed.

Today I saw another small dribble of coolant running down the engine block immediately after engine start and idling on the side stand.  It ended soon after about 1 minute.  I hope this doesn't get worse, I must check the coolant level before next ride.

[Sin_Tiger]

Do the chain with a body on the bike.

Check the hose connections and gaskets on the left side of the head.

[bemusedinsojo]

Do the chain with a body on the bike.

Check the hose connections and gaskets on the left side of the head.

Like "weekend at Bernie's"?

[Tomcat61]

I have been looking for suitable daytime running lights for my Steamer, to be assembled into crash bars on the both sides of engine.  It may not be legal, but I'd like to put them vertically on the bars.
Search didn't find any threads of daytime running lights so have anyone done this assembly?

Picture of one possible set is below.

[Sin_Tiger]

Mounting should be straight forward as long as you have suitable clamps to fit to the crash bars.

Most of those type of lamps are designed for horizontal mounting, so I'd suggest checking the beam once mounted that they don't cause "dazzle" for on coming drivers. If so you could add tape or paint to the upper lense segents to avoid that.

[Tomcat61]

Many new car models have vertical lights, but not sure if there is an aftermarket kit for such purpose.
When the weather stops playing funny I have a look at the possible mounting of the lights.
Today it snowed again....