Tomcat61's Steamer '98

[Tomcat61]

I bought a voltmeter to monitor the battery.  I think that the digital clock will be removed and voltmeter installed in the same place.

Alternator drive makes some rattle when engine is on idle speed.  I'll look into that soon.  Nothing alarming in my opinion. Or is it?

Another thing that is maybe normal: when riding at 2000 rpm and accelerate rapidly, there is quite harsh sound and strong vibration until engine reaches 3000 rpm and the sound and vibration goes away.  Same in every gear, but not if acceleration is done slowly.  I hope that I explained this clearly.
I thought that it comes from the clutch.

If someone thought "what the heck he's talking about final drive by gears" I meant primary drive by gears 

I'm hoping to do some work on the Steamer during Easter, because riding weather is not very nice.
We might get even snow, but that's quite normal in April.

[ssevy]

These triples don't like to do any heavy lifting until about 3500 rpms. If you light her up under that, she'll shiver like a baby wetting its diaper.
Perfectly normal.

[Tomcat61]

That's good to know.  I used the low end torque in the morning when the streets were quite icy, even cars went slowly and I was on my way to work on a Steamer 

I didn't fall or crash, thank to the nice engine the Steamer has. 

Heated grips were really nice in that icy cold weather.

[Geoff W]

You are obviously hardened to the cold far better than we are!
A bit off topic, but do you know anything about the Britti Ralli in Finland. It is a possible trip for me next year.

[GavD]

Alternator drive makes some rattle when engine is on idle speed.  I'll look into that soon.  Nothing alarming in my opinion. Or is it?

Nothing too much to worry about on a '98, I've had to do mine a couple of times.

On then end of the alternator shaft is a splined plate with 4 vanes on it that takes the drive from the engine via some cush rubbers. The plate is held onto the end of the shaft by a bolt and spring washer, it works loose over time. It's just a case of taking it out, little bit of threadlock on it and tighten it up again. If your really unlucky the bolt may have sheared and you'll have to get the end out.

Worst bit of the whole job is that you need to remove the fuel tank and carbs to get at it.

Be very careful not to pinch the o ring when you put it back in, or you'll have an annoying oil leak to deal with! The OEM triumph o ring seems to be a bit too big as it doesn't sit very well in the groove, i think last time I did it, I ordered a slightly smaller one from an online site which made it alot easier. I'm sorry but I don't have any measurements.

If you can put up with the rattle, don't worry about it too much, the bolt can't go anywhere, and it only really happens at idle, once the engine is revving it goes away. Put it on your winter jobs list!

Oh, and enjoy the bike, they are great.

[Tomcat61]

You are obviously hardened to the cold far better than we are!
A bit off topic, but do you know anything about the Britti Ralli in Finland. It is a possible trip for me next year.

We have used to cold weather in Finland. I also used to go Winter swimming  but that's another story 

I know Britti Ralli but I've never been there for the obvious reason that I didn't ride a Brit bike until now.  I can get some information for you. 

Today I visited my sister's farm in the countryside.  Driving along the twisty unpaved roads I remembered what fun it was to ride there with an enduro (KTM 2-stroke and 4-stroke and Aprilia 2-stroke) and I was also thinking the tyres that I have on my Steamer.  With those Michelin street tyres on it would be no fun at all.  So for the good time on unpaved roads I would need suitable tyres.

Suitable tyres for that kind of blasting are some kind of knobbies or enduro tyres, and if I had two sets of wheels it would be great, but I don't.  It has to be some sort of hybrid of street and off road tyres.  Do they even exist?  Surely there are such tyres, but will they work on a Steamer?

I would like to hear good advice and experience on such tyres for Steamer.
My riding would be 60-70 % asphalt and 30-40% unpaved but normal roads, not forest paths and enduro trails.

[Tomcat61]

GavD, thanks for your good tips about the alt drive.  I will deal with it soon I guess, as I'm on a 3 weeks vacation starting after a week.  Now the weather is really cold, only 1 or 2 degrees C and it snowed today  only very lightly but it's really no like Spring weather.

I connected the battery to a charger (0,8A) to keep the battery in top condition in cold weather.
I don't have space in my garage for Steamer right now so it's resting under a bike cover.
With the bike came a Corbin seat, it's totally different than the original seat, but I will try it and if it's not too wide for twisties I may leave it on.  Corbin seat has seen some road use.
So it must have been good for touring.  I won't be doing much long distance touring so the advantages of a touring seat may not be great.

[Tomcat61]

Just today I looked at my insurance cost for the Steamer.  Total cost the year round is 184€.  It is quite affordable and compared to 50cc scooter insurance it's about the same 

The scooter riders, at 15 years of age, are having a lot more accidents than big motorcycle riders.
I'm 55 years old and not in the top risk age group.  Of course, Steamer's relatively low horsepower figure helps to lower the insurance costs.

And no road tax on bikes it's quite affordable to have a motorcycle in Finland.  My personal bonus (discount) of 75% on traffic insurance helps too.

[threepot]

Relatively low HP! Compared to modern bikes yes,but back then..what in the same class,had more per CC? And remember,you can 'tune' the tiger up,using the higher spec parts!

[JayDub]

if the idle speed is set too low that causes it to rattle, I think it should be 1050-1150 rpm

[Tomcat61]

Relatively low HP! Compared to modern bikes yes,but back then..what in the same class,had more per CC? And remember,you can 'tune' the tiger up,using the higher spec parts!

Modern bikes with higher power output have higher insurance costs than Steamer.  Power to weight ratio is the most important factor.

[Tomcat61]

if the idle speed is set too low that causes it to rattle, I think it should be 1050-1150 rpm

Good point!  I still haven't got Owner's manual or workshop manual, so I have to get all info from the web.

[Tomcat61]

Today my neighbor came to see what I have under wraps on my front yard.  Of course I had to demonstrate Steamer's starting and engine sound.  All went well first, the engine started easily, the battery had been connected to a charger at least one day.  As we were talking and my Heavy Tiger ( I named it after a Swedish girl-rockband  :icon_wink:) idled with choke half-way in, the engine suddenly stalled.  I tried to restart but there was only quiet click from the starter or some relay.

I connected the charger to battery and tried to start again, but only the tacho needle went up and there was buzzing sound.  I turned the ingition off.  My first thoughts were: Ok this is it! The SPRAG has had it! 

I tried once more but only the quiet click was the result. The charger went crazy and showed full charge, then full discharge and short cirquit in rotation and then stayed in short cirquit display.
Then I disconnected the battery and measured the voltage with a multimeter.  It showed under 12 volts. I just checked and it showed 10.4V.  I am pretty sure that the battery died on front of my eyes.

Surely a sprag can't just lock up and stall the engine when it's on idle?  I didn't have a battery at hand to try to start the engine once more.  I didn't want to connect a car battery nor did I have the suitable wires.  So, tomorrow I go and buy a quality battery and charge it fully before even trying to start the engine.

I would have been really pissed off if I had gone riding and that would have happened on the road.
Now it happened in my own yard.

[Tomcat61]

A dead 12 months old battery.

[Tomcat61]

Is 14Ah battery the original recommended size?  Is there any advantage to use a battery with bigger Ah value?  Charging not able to top up bigger than 14Ah battery?