YAPI - noobie

[BruKen]

or Yet Another Prey Item

That's how I feel anyway, because this newly aquired 97 Tigger of mine is killing me.

Hi my name is Bruce, and I am restoring a 97 Tiger 900 that has been rotting in a damp barn for 10 years, neither ridden nor moved. It's a total basket case, but is proving to be an interesting project. On what engineering principle these bikes were designed on completely elludes me. I'll have to post the pics up somewhere and give a running report, because this task to date has been hilarious. Suffice it to say I have had to literally cut the engine out of the frame.  Even the ignition barrel had seized. Why am I doing this? To teach my boy really, its fun time together. Why am I here? Well, after cutting everything away, perhaps I was too hasty on the front sprocket nut. After bending a torque bar trying to undo it I surmised it had also rusted on to whipped out the grinder again. Turns out it was just fine, but on a bit tight. I see here it's meant to be a bit tight....like bust a gut and pop a hernia tight....well my tools cost more than a nut, so perhaps a grinder was the best call after all. Any way. Seeing as I will be robbing you of some wisdom, I thought it polite to give something back. Whether that be a laugh at my folly or lessons learnt along the way....who knows. But it is nice to be here.

HELLO!

PS This DAR thing....well I cant get my alternator off either. 5 x T40 bits later, I am cursing big time. Tried WD40, Impact driver, pneumatic impact driver, MAP gas I even got on my knees and begged , prayed and cursed, but the top bolt on the alternator aint comming off. This one I dont want to cut, grind or drill. The price of error may be to high. Any advice would be most welcome :oops:

[Mustang]

even if the bolt is not bonded to the case by corrosion they come out very very hard the first time around ...................what quality are the torx bits
cheaper ones break very easy on the alternator bolts

if you can get a small chisel on it and drive it in the direction to loosen (CCW) it should break free and then be able to remove with torx bit

they are a bugger .

[Advwannabe]

Hmmm resurrecting dead steamers....like Sgt Shultz, I know nuffinck!

But welcome anyway, cheering you and your boy on

[BruKen]

Well the last one to break cost me £9. Which aint cheap. As far as quality goes, I think all the torque heads are a bit brittle tbh. I will try a chisel as advised. My biggest fear is that the bolt head shears off as I am unconvinced that my stud extractor chuck will perform any better than a torque driver and drilling the bolt out and then inserting a helicoil ....well should the drill bit wander I will be stuffed big time. The side and bottom came out real easy.....but I see the top one is notorious for being tight.

I have restored a lot of bikes. This one, and it seems I am not alone here, seems to have so many flawed idiosyncrasies, that if I dont make it a labour of love, the bike is going in the skip. Did Triumph design it so that the owner is forced to take it to the dealers or what? Just to get the lump out I had to remove the clutch slave, water pump and oil filler side plate just to remove the wires for oil and side stand sensor. Just to change the front sprocket it would seem necessitates a oil and filter change. WTF!? Was the designer an alcoholic?

[BruKen]

She's in a right state







Took a jet wash to her and the paint just fell off...rotten underneath














Starting to cut the lump out. No bolt escaped corrosion, least of all these. Just hope the stud extractor pulls these babies out or the fat lady gonna squeal.



rims are FUBAR





Ignition barrel knackered and has sheer bolts AAAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHH!!!!






Did the Carbs. They had completely seized up. Getting them out was a real pest because the throttle cable is mounted where only a very small pick pocket artist could conceivably reach. And no return cable. WTF!!! I hope they never jam open please doG


more to follow.....

[Bixxer Bob]

I had my throttle jam open  :shock: a couple of years ago.  Story's still on here somewhere....

Welcome by the way, and good luck.  I - like you - like a challenge!!

[BruKen]

Thanks for the welcome guys.

Yes Bob, this one is a challenge for sure. Nothing I have touched so far has been without defect. Except so far the starter motor and alarm. First thing I did with her before starting was see if the motor would turn or if it too was fubar. Well it took the biggest battery I had to turn her and all the time the alarm was going off. The battery in the key fob had gone flat. Joy of joys I think the innards are still in working order and that this may in the end be a largely cosmetics job with a bit of spannering but lets not jinx it.

[ArcticTiger]

All this corrosion, have it been driven on salty roads, or had a dip in the Atlantic?  :shock:

[Mustang]

......... and I am restoring a 97 Tiger 900 that has been rotting in a damp barn for 10 years, neither ridden nor moved................

:shock:

[Nick Calne]

As steamers go that's not too bad! :shock:

Riding: You swear it's bloody great and you'll never part!
Mantaining: Every bloody part will make you swear!

Good luck and have fun with the work - It'll be worth it!

[Geoff D]

Hi Bruce, looking foward to seeing how you get on with it, good luck mate....

Where are you in the UK?, I have a large garage with compressor, etc,etc... that you're quite welcome to use if you're anywhere near me..... as is anyone else on this site who wants somewhere to work... dry, lots of tools, coffee, micky taking, etc etc  :lol:

[redbirds]

Good luck on this project and please keep posting as to your progress.
 

[John Stenhouse]

Welcome, you do that for fun?  :lol:

[Sin_Tiger]

Welcome, I take my hat off to you, that'll be my "You bought that and are spending how much rebuilding it" hat. When you're in the funny farm it's good to have company, doesn't look so odd when you start talking to yourself  :lol:

Patience is the key but you probaly already know that having done previous restorations, working with a youngster makes it harder, patience only seems to come with age. In my yoof I thought my elder mentors were just lazy, now I know better  :oops:

I often find alternate tightening and slackening will work with really stubborn set screws, that's if the torque wrench elbow doesn't fail and I sheer it. The trick with heating is not to be tempted to try slackening it while it's hot, let it cool, then heat cycle it again, repeated heat cool cycles is another technique that I have had success with moving stuff that has been soaked in sea water for years, sometimes it takes days. My theory is that it gradually breaks down all the growth that has built up in the clearances.

I'd be tempted to push that into a bath of Plus Gas and leave it for a week if the finances allowed the purchase of that much Plus Gas   oh and that the wheels still turn.

I just got the invoice for all the spares I ordered from Jack Lilley  :shock:

 

[aeronca]

aloha bro, welcome aboard and goooood luck. i think you and your boy will have a blast and when it's done and running, it will be all worth it 8)   you picked the right place to ask questions.