1996 steamers.....would you call these bikes reliable?

[kingdomstyle]

honda ,yamaha,all jap bikes are reliable,but would you call triumph steamers realiable?I know cool factor nothing compares to triumph i have owned 5 three tigers  a bonnie and a rocket,but just wanted opinions if you would consider these steamers reliable? thanks :D

[CoolHandLuke]

Absolutely.

But it is like all things, if you don't do regular maintenance, then something will bite you in the ass :)

[rybes]

its the most reliabletransport i ever had n that includes cars. also the transport ive owned the longest without sellin, crashin or modifyin. mus be pretty much perfect cos i get bored real easy when it comes to things like that. jus do ya maintenance and itll be fine. mines done jus under 60 thousand miles n only probs i ever suffered was ignition pick up, coil failure and timin chain adjuster breakin. otherwise never had a prob with it  8)

[Nick Calne]

You are going to get mixed messages.  I don't think it's particularly reliable.  Some of the servicing is difficult and some areas of the design in terms of maintenance suck.

Still my favourite bike ever though.

[CoolHandLuke]

You are going to get mixed messages.  I don't think it's particularly reliable.  Some of the servicing is difficult and some areas of the design in terms of maintenance suck.

Still my favourite bike ever though.

What reliability issues have you had?

Agreed, servicing wasn't on anyone's mind when they were designing it.

[rybes]

Agreed, servicing wasn't on anyone's mind when they were designing it.

speshally when it comes to the airfilter and no2 spark plug :roll:

[JetdocX]

No.  And designed by ham-fisted ship builders.  Wired in a sweat shop by 5yo Romanian children who would rather be in school.  But mine was speshul, I guess. :roll:

I drive a Toyota truck.  That's my yardstick for reliability.  That's also my yardstick for boring.

The Tiger is different.  It gets into your soul and starts ripping your guts apart from the inside.

Every bike has it's weaknesses and design peculiarities.  This one had legendary british engineering behind it. :lol:

[Nick Calne]

Reliability Luke?  :D My guess is that you are pretty useful man with a set of spanners and this may be sparing you some pain.

To date:
The swingarm snapped at the chain adjuster (though this was possibly at due to the garage doing the bolts up too tight) coil failure, pick ups, snapping throttle and speedo cables etc... been through a fair few little things in a couple of years but it's not just this that makes me think it's not wholly a sensible thing in terms of maintenance.  It's the silly design elements as JD points out.  Oil out to change a chain or front sprocket.  Carbs off to change an air filter.  And spark plug no.2 is hilariously awkward.  These things deter ordinary guys with limited skills and I suspect that means that most bikes don't see the love they deserve, are mistreated and so are even less reliable

Then there's the DAR question, the spinning captive bolts in the tank, pitting wheels and the weak sprag clutch, all of which to date I've dodged. (touch wood)  Oh and the idiot lights aren't bright enough for us idiots.

Did I mention the warping sidestand?

Maybe I'm being unfair.  Mines a thirteen year old bike, I'm certainly not a mechanic, what should I expect eh?.  However it sits next to my 99 daytona in the garage and they are a world apart in terms of quality.

Still love it dearly though.  Rode it today to work and nearly froze my nuts off.

[Mustang]

we've owned ours since new and the probs have been few and far between and any of the three tigers are maintained to be able to take off for points unknown at the spur of the moment .

So I have to go with DAMN RELIABLE , well at least my three  are anyway  :shock:

[CoolHandLuke]

The swingarm snapping by the eccentric adjuster is a common fault with the black swingarms.  Apparently, the silver swingarms are less prone to this.

Some of the other stuff you mention, like cables and coils are ancillary items that are meant to be replaced periodically, so you can't really blame that on the bike :)

The spinning captive bolts in the tank are due to poor maintenance.  A bit of copper slip in there and this would never happen - something any decent/conscientious mechanic would do on the first service when they are needed to be taken off.

I'll give you the sidestand, swingarm and sprag :lol:

Very few of the items you mention are actually reliability issues.

[Bixxer Bob]

...However it sits next to my 99 daytona in the garage and they are a world apart in terms of quality....

 The design flaws you could almost forgive I think; the late Steamers were at the back end of an old design which was Triumph's first attempt after all and they were at the bottom of the learning curve.

Nevertheless, I think you might have something there Nick, my Trident was a class bike, even though it was almost a Steamer under the plastic. My Girly has far more niggles than my mate's Daytona.   I wonder if the "adventure" style bikes were just an attempt to wring a few more quid out of the mainstream designs and so were developed on the cheap with little investment in development or extra parts.

It's a pet subject of mine I know, but I can't help thinking that when the put FI on the Girly, an intern must've developed the software in his or her teabreak with a "that'll do" attitude - "it's not like it's a mainstream product or anything, what'll they do?  buy a BMW...?"

[NeilD]

I've only ever owned old sh!te, so i guess thats why I dont expect car type 'drive and forget' type of ownership.. I dont have Triumph written through the middle of me, and find some things frustrating, however I think anything Japanese of the same era would be much the same - I wont touch t'other halfs similar age Yamaha Thundercat as it just irritates me having to remove all of the bodywork to do anything..
the important/regular stuff like changing oil is far easier on the Triumph than a  lot of other makes as it doesnt entail bodywork removal, or in some cases having to fight with downpipes/exhausts to get to the filter... the center plug on the triple isnt that much of a problem with the correct plug spanner, and changing the airfilter is probably a bi-annual event for most people, so dont see it as a big issue..

having said all that, and despite owning 2 older Trumpets,  I still wish I'd kept my Moto Guzzis  :lol:

[kingdomstyle]

i have the black swing arm,how does it snap this sounds a little risky lol

[rf9rider]

i have the black swing arm,how does it snap this sounds a little risky lol

It tends to snap if the eccentric adjuster bolt is overtightened.

[Basri...]

Would i call Steamers relaible ?..

I can talk only about mine, it is the only steamer i have ever seen and rode.
Yes, she is a very relaible bike..

We are talking about bikes produced between '93 and '98, with thousands of miles on them and changed many owners thorough years. Are Steamers relaible ?, Compare to what ?..
If we are comparing them with same age bikes, any brand bike same age;

Yes, they are very relaible..

Before steamer, i owned a '96 R80GS Kalahari and a '97 R1100GS, belive me, same age BMWs were not more relaible than my steamer..But, more confortable.. :D

Even with the brand new bikes, you have to be very lucky, have friends here, they had mechanical and electric problems within the first days after they bought their new R1200GS..

Relaibilty is a relative concept.. For any bike..

If you
are kind of rider, just knows how to put gas in the tank and ride the bike,
take her to dealer or a repair shop for maintance, service and repairs,
your bike is not relaible at all
Because, except very few exceptions, these people are doing bussiness, they have to make money and their time is limited, they don't love you or your bike and they don't have to, your bike and you are only the objects to make money out of..
Having 24 different bikes last 28 years, experienced many things with dealers and mecanics, they used wrong grade oils and spark plugs, sold wrong size tyres, wrong Ah batteries, swaped parts from my bike to other bikes, showed the other bikes broken part to me as if it was my part and sell new part to me, mess up the adjustments on purpose and make me go there again to make some more money, etc, etc...
Please, do not think that i am a dealer enemy, of course there are few honest ones and i am talking about only my country, Turkey..

If you
immediately download or buy the "repair and maintenance manual" before or the day you buy your bike, read it few times to become familiar with your bike technically and immediately register to a worldwide tecnical forum site related with your bike, read technical articles, problems and solutions before it happens to your bike, find few spare part suppliers, buy necessary tools and start doing regular services, minor repairs yourself,
yes, your bike is very relaible..
Nobody else loves your bike as much as you do, nobody else takes care of your bike as good as you can and spend time on it as long as you can with patience..

As a steamer owner, what problems we could have?, Pick up sensor faulty, DAR, ignition coils maybe, few other little things, what a big deal, once in a life time, fix 'em up properly and forget..
Most other bikes, even new ones have chronic problems.

All bikes are relaible if you take good care of them..