Hi all!
Male, Stockholm, Sweden, 33, sporting a rasta-fari look :wave
Sooo... I've been lurking around on this forum for a good 2yrs now. I never properly introduced my self and just snuck in some questions here and there. Mostly I don't feel the need to make any posts because the answers are already here, somewhere, if one searches hard and long enough.
Guess I've come to the point now where I'm starting to get my stuffs together and figured I'd share what I've been up to during these 2yrs.
So here's my long road of getting to know, taming and making the Tiger my own bike.
2009 - MC license
2013 - Yeah my life took some other turns so didn't drive a single bike after the license until this point, in Rhodes, Greece. A TransAlp 700 (or was it 750?). Motorcycles was back on my radar again.
2014 - Bought a -96 TransAlp XLV 600. Loved it... for a few months. It has too low power, too low speed, only one front brake disc (pre -97), a tad too small tank, shitty looking front side, only one headlight (two is twice as cool!). With panniers, tent and sleeping gear on top, topbox, tankbox and the girlfriend riding pillion... well, lets just say there ain't much power left over in the poor thing. I clearly needed to upgrade!
2014 again - It was difficult to find a replacement for the TA. I liked the type of bike, it just wasn't up my requirements. I looked at the GS, yes I loved it. Yes, I wanted one. NOOO I couldn't afford one! There were other newer bikes, but it had to be a carburetor so I could "fix it" on the road. And lo and behold... there was the Tiger!
I actually found this forum and read through most of the threads before I even bought one. So I was prepared...I thought. Started looking for sales and eventually there was one. A -98 (strengthened rear frame, upgraded sprag clutch, Kehin carbs, yes please!), Black, 54000km, price... 15.000SEK = £1243 = $1804. I took the train next day 500km and bought it after 15minutes and rode it back. Boy did it have power alright! I let it stretch its legs after about an hour and reached 200km/h before I backed off. Holy :Topes!! :bug_eye
Spent the night at my parents (where I have the winter garage) and planned to drive the remaining 250km to where I live next morning. Hahahah, no way! *Klack*, *Klack*, *Klack*, *Klack*! I knew what it was already. I didn't want to believe it and I did everything to ignore it. But at the end of that day it wasn't possible to be in denial anymore. It had a busted sprag clutch. Really!? on a -98?
Yepp, they can all go to sh*ts, or... perhaps it already was, and the PO had a secret way of starting it in one *klack* and I just didn't notice when I bought it? Denial turned to sadness, turned to anger, turned to action. So how much would the Triumph dealer want to fix it? Hahahaha, 14.000SEK = £1160 = $1684... uhhm, yeah right! Like I'm gonna pay as much as I paid for the bike once more.
So it was strip the bike, out with the engine, break it open and do it my self. Now I have made acquaintances with some mopeds during my teenage years. And I had changed the oil filter and some bits here and there on the TransAlp. But this was WAAAY out of my league. But I refused to give in to this POS and relied on my dad who is mechanically inclined.
So I had to finally sign up to this forum and this was my very first post: http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,14104.msg105884.html#msg105884
I managed to change the sprag and put it all together. It started up fine and after a minute or two there was engine oil gushing out of the sprocket cover. :BangHead Ok, so I f*cked up somewhere apparently. Engine out, break it open again. No obvious mistakes, so it had to be the midsection seal (you know, the one that doesn't have a gasket). Changed to another brand and put it all together and fired up once again. 5 minutes this time... then engine oil up to the knees. Gaaahh!!! :BangHead :BangHead Story short, I took me 5 tries and a very expensive copper sealant to get that piece of :Topes oil proof.
If anyone opens up the engine, my piece of advice: Buy new gaskets for everywhere you will be fiddling around. It'll cost time and more money going back if it doesn't work the first time. And buy the best and most expensive superduper sealant you can find for the midsection. Stuffs that are supposed to "work", simply doesn't. Go heavily overboard and get the best you can get for money.
Mind you, this took me the better part of 6 months to get sorted. I live 250km away from my garage and only had some weekends here and there to work with and we do have a real winter in Sweden. It gets cold and a garage that's barely windproof (let alone cold proof) is not a fun place to do complex mechanical work in. There was other mods, improvements, trials and errors during the same time period.
I realized I had a very morning sleepy tiger. I didn't like being woken up at all. I would blast a full battery charge sometimes to get it awake. So naturally I tried upsizeing the pilot jet (I had done this to the TA and it just loved the mornings after that). And while I was in there I might as well go with Mustangs advice with 105 mains and some needle shimming of course. Turned out to be a bad idea. I don't know how, but the inches and mm's got mixed up and I went with 1mm needle shims. The bike wouldn't rev past 6k and I couldn't understand what the problem was for a long time. Apparently the reality should be closer to 0.5mm, which I'll have to try eventually when I get most of the other stuffs sorted.
Anyway, the needle shims came out eventually and boy there was power to be had once again. I also looked under every stone for some pannier racks (we all know how difficult they can be to find). I finally gave up and ordered new Hepco Beckers from Belgium. It seriously hurt my wallet, but I needed to have something. They were the only ones to be found. I'm still not a fan of them (they're too wide and too low), but it's what I have.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_223845.jpg)
I wanted aluminum panniers, 3 of them, top and sides. Tssk, again it cost more or as much as I paid for the bike. No way, José! I will build my own! Said and done. I built two for the sides at 45x45x20cm = 40.5 liters of space. I tried to make them waterproof (we might see tomorrow, if I have time I will sink them in the bathtub).
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_224003.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_224048.jpg)
I recently found some key-lockable excenter latch locks in stainless steel that I will put on them tomorrow.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_224605.jpg)
I also have some other locks I want to use to have them locked to the actual pannier racks. Good for those adventure trips when you just can't take the panniers with you.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_224651.jpg)
With my attachment solution I also need those locks to keep the panniers from falling off in high speeds (I've run with bungee cord up until now, which works, but I has to be sorted).
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_224244.jpg)
Also found some stainless steel u-brackets I can use to tie down tent and sleeping gear on top that I will fit tomorrow.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_225055.jpg)
I have some material for the topbox, but not all of it and not enough time. Perhaps later in the summer.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_225541.jpg)
Didn't like the Mickey Mouse ears that were standard and I had bought some Acerbis hand guards for the TA that I shifted over to the Tiger. As with everything they didn't fit, but I forced them eventually. It's not ideal, but good enough for the time being.
I had started to modify the TransAlp with an offroad style front fender, this was also switched over to the Tiger and a new mount was hacked up. It turned out pretty good (better than on the TA actually) so I'm rather happy with that.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_224225.jpg)
As with most of these Tigers mine looked lazy when it was resting on it's side stand and I couldn't have that. A blow torch and some big tools to straighten it out. I looks and leans much better now, although I will have to add a slightly larger foot/bottom plate for those wet mud, sandy parking places at some point.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_224153.jpg)
The dashboard lights were a sorry sight, especially on sunny days and with the downtime I had I upgraded it all to LEDs (yes I copy good ideas from other people). Also threw in a double USB-connection for good measure.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_224750.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_224836.jpg)
Perhaps some of you recognize this thread I made about strange sparks between my legs?: http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,14788.msg112526.html#msg112526
I could never find what this problem was and it was so very intermittent that it was difficult to diagnose. And again, my garage is 250km away, I had to live with it for the time being. But I did get a new set of Iridium spark plugs which out to have been a good investment... I hope.
Anyway, last year when I rode the bike for winter storage it was a wonderful day. Sunny shiny, -1C, late autumn/early winter day. The Tiger and I stretched our legs and it rode better than ever. The odd occasional spark, but no power drop, all was good. I got 245km out of 250 and then ran out of gas... ok, so reserve then. Will last me more than 5km for sure. Nope, it just died. Huh?
I spent 5 minutes to let it cool and started it up again, got 1m before it died again. W T F ?! Story short, after many tries and doing some maintenance on the roadside it was a no go. I had to get a trailer and haul it home. I spent the winter trying to mend the bike. I cleaned out the carbs, even made them take an industrial steam bath (don't have free access to ultrasound cleaning, but it has kind of the same results). I was suspicious of the coils and/or the HT leads so I took the plunge and invested in TT600 Denso Stick coils. Awww, man it's great with these things. It removes a lot of clutter and they seem just so much more solid. Unfortunately it took me a long while to source the correct connections so that is on my To-Do list for tomorrow. Just have to go get the tool to squeeze them on the cables back from whoever borrowed it. :icon_scratch: Yes, the cables will be all black and they will have heat shrink on them when it's finished.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_225641.jpg)
Oh, I almost forgot. When Nick Calne decided to clean out his loft I was the lucky buyer of his new unused Motad Venom 3-1 stainless steel exhaust system. I had yearned for this since I first found out there was one. I'm a rather skinny guy and with this top heavy bike, with all the extra weight of panniers, topbox, pillion girlfriend, etc that I put on it, it's just essential to get some kind of weight savings. I was also, rather laughably, hoping this would help make it easier to start or fix whatever problem I had.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_223918.jpg)
Unfortunately it didn't help to start my bike. So, petrol, spark, air and exhaust was sorted. Still no go. That, with the ever more increasing difficulty to wake the tiger up in the mornings I had experienced, could only lead to one thing. Valves! Opened it up and yes sir, very bad sir, very bad indeed. I had one oversized EX valve and two low out of spec IN valves. But worst of all... I had 4 stuck IN valves! I promptly found out the sizes and ordered new ones. Took 3 weeks to get the darned shims and when I put the new ones in.... well 5 of them were still out of spec. :bug_eye
I wouldn't wait another 3 weeks, so with my dads help we machines the shims to correct sizes and finally got it all sorted today. Goooooood morning Tiger!!! It hasn't started for 6-7 months, now it just roared to life. Clean carbs, clean filters, clean petrol, new coil sticks, good valve clearances, new engine oil, Iridium plugs and larger pilots. Finally!
As I've brutally abused the (absolute P O S) gel-battery that was in the bike when I bought it, for a long time, I knew I had to make mends and get a new one. I had a good read and research about the new Lithium batteries that are finding their ways into the market. But the only one I wanted (Antigravity) cost 4300SEK = £356 = $517 including shipping and I just cant justify it... at the moment. I finally found a supplier of Motobatt AGM batteries two days ago, out of stock of course. But the guy got it home in record time and it's now on the work bench waiting to be dropped into the heart of my tiger. I feel like I'm almost spoiling my pet :love10
Oh and some A-hole nicked my mirrors last autumn, so I had to get a new set. I got what I could find and they look ok, but the angle and height are rubbish. So I'm in the process or making up my own extensions for them. Well see if this turns out alright or if I have to bite the bullet and get OEM ones in the end.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_225140.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_225212.jpg)
Recently I was the lucky ebay winner of a Corbin seat for the Tiger. I received it today and got to try it out since the Tiger decided to wake up from hibernation. First impressions: This will NOT work. The recesses for the butt is waaay to far back. I need another 10cm of arms to reach the handlebar. I usually sit against or close to the tank. With this it's a good 15cm of seat between me and the tank. And it's A LOT wider, I could get one flat + the toes with stock seat. Now it's barely toes on both sides (I'm 180cm, so average height). I also seem to slide on the seat cover with my mc pants. When I yank the throttle hard I'm holding on for dear life to not fall off the bike. It's right out dangerous!
I'm very frustrated and hope to talk to someone tomorrow about rebuilding it... I wonder how broke I will be after that discussion?
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_111646.jpg)
Since I've had so much time to "bond" with my Tiger I have come to the same conclusion as others. The airbox sux and I hate to drain the oil to change front sprocket and/or the chain. So I did the airbox mod: http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,14638.msg112524.html#msg112524
And I recently sourced a spare sprocket cover and now in the process of doing the sprocketcover-ectomy with short dipstick: http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,13802.msg102819.html#msg102819
http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,5024.msg31574.html#msg31574
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_225338.jpg)
So what's left (besides what I'm already doing)?
LED brake light with clear lens, Powerbronze taller windscreen, Girly Touratech chain guard, new helmet for me and some intercom system so me and the girlfriend can talk when riding long distances. Will also get some other shoes for the Tiger. Thinking Heidenau K60 Scout since I liked them very much on the old TransAlp, but I'm still not decided.
Well that's my two years of struggle with this beast, and I guess the length of this post shows just how frustrating it has been. I'm hoping I finally get to ride it now and finish most of these mods and upgrades.
A big thank you to each and everyone in here. You have no idea how much information I have used from this forum. I would have poured petrol on the bike and lit it up long ago if it wasn't for this place. :notworthy
So cheers! And thank you for letting me be part of this forum.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/MC/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160521_230127.jpg)
My God, well I got near to torching my laptop reading that, never mind the bike :rfl . Only kidding, I applaud you for your tenacity and If anyone deserves a break and a good while just riding the bike its you. And I thought Swedes didnt have a sense of humour. :icon_mrgreen:
Quote from: Timbox2 on May 22, 2016, 09:33:33 AM
My God, well I got near to torching my laptop reading that, never mind the bike :rfl . Only kidding, I applaud you for your tenacity and If anyone deserves a break and a good while just riding the bike its you. And I thought Swedes didnt have a sense of humour. :icon_mrgreen:
What he said! Good for you.
You sound like my idea of the ideal Steamer owner - cheap and self-sufficient! Good for you!
If you ever get bored with the Tiger, you would also be a perfect fit for an MG or a Fiat☺️
Quote from: ssevy on May 22, 2016, 06:50:40 PM
If you ever get bored with the Tiger, you would also be a perfect fit for an MG or a Fiat☺️
:ImaPoser :thumbsup
Well done that man. Thanks for taking the time to tell us the tale and I'm sure helping others along the way.
Just post the address of the previous owner and we'll go round and have a chat next time we're in the area :cp
Quote from: Sin_Tiger on May 23, 2016, 02:46:54 AM
Well done that man. Thanks for taking the time to tell us the tale and I'm sure helping others along the way.
Just post the address of the previous owner and we'll go round and have a chat next time we're in the area :cp
Wow... that is some story. I am with Sin about the previous owner.
Thanks guys! I've done most of my To-Do list yesterday and today. But I've run into a new funny problem. The jetting is way off.
I'm running 105 mains and 40 pilots. It starts really easy now that I've fixed the valves. But it runs like shit.
Started with 1 3/4 on the mixture screws. I couldn't get past 6k rpm on 3rd-6th gear. And the sound is a lot of fluttering. No pull at 5-6k as I would expect.
Went to 1 1/2 turns, no real improvement.
1 turn, sounds slightly better. But doesn't run any different. Until I got angry and pushed it up to 8-8.5k rpms. HERE I have that sudden surge of power that I expect at around 5-6k.
So I took it down to 1/2 turns, sounds much better and the surge comes on earlier, but not early enough. But on 5th and 6th gear I can't rev past 6k, it's like there's no power left.
I'm gonna close it completely and see what it gives. But can fixing the valves really make this much of a change? I would need to downsize my mains it seems. I tried opening the lid on the right air snorkel. With 1 1/2 turns on mixture screw. But I couldn't rev past 6k anyway. I would have thought that giving it more air would make it better if it's so fat.
I will try some 104/103 mains, but I need to drive the bike 250km first. Are there any I'll effects of having the mixture closed completely,even if it runs decent/fine?
:icon_scratch:
Closed the mixture screw completely.
Got the pull between 3-6k then it tappers off. Gets stuck at 7k and doesn't want to rev more on any gear.
But now that I re-read the carburetor 101, this should have no impact (well not much) beyond 1/4 throttle. So I'm not really doing much to the mid-/top-range according to the theory.
Grr! Hate when theory and the world doesn't align = most of the time.
So let's put out a new question then. A seized valve (zero clerance) let's in less or more air/fuel?
Meaning when I shimmed it correctly (have clearance) the engine receives more or less air/fuel mixture?
Not a lot of help probably but I'll throw in some basics:
0 - 1/4 throttle = pilot jet
1/4 - 3/4 throttle = needle
3/4 - full throttle = main jet
If it's any help, I've got a '98 with keihins and Motad Venoms.
I run 105 mains, 40 pilots, pilot mixture screw is 2 turns out and I've got one snorkel capped. It's also got a small brass washer lifting the jet needle slightly in each carb.
It runs very well like this, it's a little fluffy when cold at small throttle openings, but after 5 miles or so it's warmed up and that disappears. I keep meaning to get in there and adjust the mixture screw out to 2 1/4, but I've not got round to it.
It sounds like you're going the wrong way with the mixture screw.
when you did the valve clearances , did you take the cams out ?
sounds more like cam timing is out to me, like you got it off by 1 tooth .
It's easy to do (be off 1 tooth) :nod
Check the carb slides for smoothness of operation I had one that was sticking and would not go past half way up which caused similar running problems post 25 below.
http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,14469.15.html
Good job sorting through the problems I had similar initiation problems although not as bad as yours.
@GavD
That is my start setup exactly then (with 1/4 turn less) . It sounded to me it had way too much fuel at 1 3/4 turns and it ran like crap. The lower turns I went, the better it both sounded and ran.
@Mustang
Both yes and no. I did take away the cam shaft brackets (I recorded their positions and never mixed them up). But I never took off the cam chain. If you first rotate the cam shaft so it has no impact on no.3 it's enough to actually lift the camshaft slightly in the no.1 end and get a small screwdriver and a magnet in there to pick them up. Reverse process for putting new ones in. So the chain never left the cogs of the cam chain sprockets, thus never jumped a tooth.
@Sparky
Hmm, that is a possibility. But I did push them up the last time I put the carbs back (8-9h ago) and they did seem to slide just the same all of them. But I was merely taking a look at the butterfly valves from the other side. I wasn't paying specific attention to the slides.
Did you check cam arrows for alignment on tdc? That would give you an indication of the state of your chain? As said,timing could be out?if your chain has stretched excessively,that could effect it? What about your chain adjuster?
I did not look at any of those things. But I did tug gently on the chain and it wouldn't move much at all. So I figured it was all good.
I can't see how this would have changed.
It ran very well before it stopped. Although extremely hard to start. Would the cam chain have gone out of spec just like that when it stopped running? Or me shimming the valves took it out of spec?
It feels to me like I've jetted the bike for bad valves and now that they're fixed, I need to jet it for good valves. But I have no idea what fixing the valves actually does. Allow more combustible material into the cylinder?
your barking up the wrong tree if you think the jetting did this ............................. :nod
Did you take the cam chain tensioner out? The chain can drop off the crank sprocket very easily, I'm with Mustang, check it again.
Alright, so I'll leave the jetting as it was and back to 1 3/4 as it used to be.
I had to abandon the project and go to work. Don't know when I can pick it up again. Sigh, was supposed to have the bike every day now. Back to commuter trains. :BangHead
Hang in there, riding a train give you time to :icon_study: :icon_wink:
Yeah thanks!
Btw, no I didn't touch the cam chain tensioner either.
seeing as you want to reset the carb screws,I would re check shims,take cams out and re fit new spring in tensioner,and new chain? 54k..it might be due? Then check upper and tensioner guides. I found a crack in the upper on my Daytona,cost me £20 odd,but may have saved my engine? Morse chain available on eBay for £45,and new spring and washer about £15. So easy to set timing on the engine with a new chain! Then you'll have peace of mind :icon_wink:
(http://jetdoc.smugmug.com/photos/512813768_jDwhc-M.jpg)
(http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee47/2uoykcuf/repairs/100_2007.jpg)
if it doesn't look exactly like this ........................
you either are 1 tooth or more off
or the chain stretched
if the chain stretched you'll know because it will be impossible to line up the three marks
the chain stretch would have affected performance gradually though ................
NOT ALL AT ONCE WHEN I SHIMMED MY VAVLES (there's a hint in that statement somewhere :*&*)
here's another hint : :icon_wink:
Quote from: 97steamer on January 13, 2012, 05:01:19 PM
At one point I was so focussed on getting the timing marks correct, I didn't notice that the cam chain had fallen off the crankshaft sprocket. It was only because the chain looked slightly saggy across the cam shaft sprockets that I checked everything again.
but if indeed the chain is stretched :
do as threepot suggests and don't forget NEW chain guides(front and rear)
My bike was running really well before I changed the chain. So I was surprised how much the chain had stretched compared to the new one! And my tensioner was hardly under any tension!! So I agree with Mustang. You might not notice it..?? Until it goes bang!! :icon_eek:
There is no recommended time or mileage interval to change a camchain? Although I've been told every 30k?Its just one of those things you need to check from time to time?
Mine's a 955 but principle is the same. Mine jumped a tooth even though I was really careful. I'd double check the alignment. Also, as Threepot says, if the arrows don't all quite line up that's an idication of chain stretch. Although chain stretch isn't your current problem it can affect whether you do in fact have the sprockets in the right place.
Hmm, yeah I'll have to take a look at this. Sadly nothing is gonna happen for at least 1.5 weeks. Doing courses at work.
Recently I was the lucky ebay winner of a Corbin seat for the Tiger. I received it today and got to try it out since the Tiger decided to wake up from hibernation. First impressions: This will NOT work. The recesses for the butt is waaay to far back. I need another 10cm of arms to reach the handlebar. I usually sit against or close to the tank. With this it's a good 15cm of seat between me and the tank. And it's A LOT wider, I could get one flat + the toes with stock seat. Now it's barely toes on both sides (I'm 180cm, so average height). I also seem to slide on the seat cover with my mc pants. When I yank the throttle hard I'm holding on for dear life to not fall off the bike. It's right out dangerous!
I'm very frustrated and hope to talk to someone tomorrow about rebuilding it... I wonder how broke I will be after that discussion?
I'm 183cm. My Corbin works wonderfully with Mustang's lowered footpegs & 2"/50cm ROX Risers. A sheepskin cover helps keep my butt from sliding around.They can be configured many different positions (front/rear) to find the best comfort. No cable or wiring changes, just some re-routing. If still an issue, there is the lowering process ... transposing the axle cam to lower the rear 40 mm, & raising the forks about 25 mm in the triple clamps. This gives a bit less ground clearance, but only really an issue if riding on rough gravel/single tracks.
Some pix of my mods here ... https://fishnbiker.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Felix-The-Tiger/ (https://fishnbiker.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Felix-The-Tiger/)
More photos available too.
I also see no left hand pipe. Taken off for working, or some exotic plumbing?
I've been looking through your pictures many times fishnbiker :icon_biggrin: I like your setup.
Perhaps I don't have enough butt, I'm rather skinny. A sheep skin won't be enough. The seating area needs to be some 10-15cm forward for me to get close to comfort. I spoke with a friend of a friend who customizes mc saddles and interiors for old muscle cars. It's not worth destroying this one to change it. So I will sell it and take a stab at changing the OEM saddle instead.
Which reminds me: Corbin saddle selling for £120+Shipping (which I bought it for) up for sale. I'll have to post up some good pictures in the selling thread when I get back to the bike.
Mustang pegs is on the wishlist, just need to make sure the thing runs properly before I add more stuffs. Don't want to invest if it's going to the scrap heap.
I already have some type of raisers that came on the bike, but I got no clue as to which ones or what handlebars I have.
Ideally I don't want to lower the machine, 1cm off the saddle is enough and if I customize it to my liking I'll have just that. My pet will hopefully get to taste some gravel and single tracks when it runs as it should. So I want to keep that clearance.
No left hand pipe, it's got a very exotic full 3-1 Motad exhaust system (courtesy of Nick Calne). So I will put a tool tube on the left side eventually to fill up that gap.
fishnbiker...some great photos there :thumbsup Steamer looks great!
The idea of the sheepskin is not just padding, but to keep your butt from sliding & some insulation in heat & cold. The risers can be pulled back a long way, allowing you to sit further back. Tilting the bars back helps also. To reach the ground you could just slide forward only as needed to where the Corbin is much narrower.
Ok, I'm back at my parents garage and picking this up again.
Went back to 2 1/4 turns on the mix screws as it should be (was), idle and low is good so I will leave it there. I've opened up the cam cover and re-measured the valve-intakes. No change since I shimmed them, all good.
I've opened up and looked at the cam timing plate and put the whole thing in TDC (or whatever it's called). It all lines up very well.
The two arrows on the cam shaft sprockets pointing towards each other and parallel with the cylinder body and the timing plate towards the pickup coil.
There is almost no slack in the cam chain, we're talking 1-2mm only.
I haven't liked the look of the air filter lately so I ordered one last time I was here and now has it fitted. Spanking new K&N, so it sure as hell breathes now (if it wasn't already). But alas, no change what so ever.
Now what? It's still running and running reasonably well, until I hit 6.5-7k rpms, it kind of stops. And in 4th, 5th 6th, I struggle to even get past 5k rpms.
I'm out of ideas again. Help! :BangHead
Fuel starvation?
It's a good idea but... how though?
The carbs are cleaner then they've ever been. All jets have been out 3 times after the industrial steam bath and blown with compressed air (driven perhaps 20km since last clean). There are no filters inside the tank, no inline filter between the no.2 and no.3. Only filter is a big clear inline down from the petcock which is rather new and I can't see any dirt inside it. After I run it, it's still filled with petrol, no loss of level.
No change of flow rate if I open or close the tank lid. Flushed all the old petrol from the tank and put new in. I've re-routed the fuel line underneath the carbs instead of over and between, to reduce kinks (long ago, before any troubles).
The only things I can think of try for more fuel is to open the mixture screws to 2.5-3 turns and throw in 1mm needle shims (I would try 0.7 or 0.5mm but I don't have any and I live far away from any such store).
Tomorrow I will also pull the carbs for the 923759374th time and I will polish the slides and internals with some ultra fine grit cloth/sponge to see if that makes a difference. I doubt anything will change though. :icon_scratch:
I would get a length of clear fuel line and go back to the original duckbill and bin the inline. I tried one of those clear glass inline filters on my Legend once, and the fuel rate couldn't keep up at high revs.
If I am thinking logically, it sounds like the symptom is an actual loss of horsepower, as the higher the gear, the more challeging the mechanical advantage - like having a lever that is too short to move a big rock.
Thinking what might cause a loss of hp...
If it were compression related, I think it would be a hard starting cuss, so I don't think it's rings or valves, but a compression or leakdown test would confirm this.
Fuel is still a possibility, but if you install a transparent fuel line you will have a means to verify.
Air in and out you seem to have covered, but always easy to squirt some carb cleaner around to check for vacuum leaks just to be sure.
Sorry I'm not more helpful, but keep at it and you'll get it sorted. I've chased some strange symptoms down on both my triples, and I just keep thinking "air, fuel and spark"; it's got to be one or more of these.
How about some more photos of this 3 into 1 exhaust?
I would ditch the inline filter,the flow rate may not be enough.or it could have been fitted wrong way round,I have heard of this before. if it doesnt help at least it hasnt cost you or taken much time to eliminate
Quote from: P3aK on June 04, 2016, 09:00:08 PM
Ok, I'm back at my parents garage and picking this up again.
Went back to 2 1/4 turns on the mix screws as it should be (was), idle and low is good so I will leave it there. I've opened up the cam cover and re-measured the valve-intakes. No change since I shimmed them, all good.
I've opened up and looked at the cam timing plate and put the whole thing in TDC (or whatever it's called). It all lines up very well.
The two arrows on the cam shaft sprockets pointing towards each other and parallel with the cylinder body and the timing plate towards the pickup coil.
There is almost no slack in the cam chain, we're talking 1-2mm only.
I haven't liked the look of the air filter lately so I ordered one last time I was here and now has it fitted. Spanking new K&N, so it sure as hell breathes now (if it wasn't already). But alas, no change what so ever.
Now what? It's still running and running reasonably well, until I hit 6.5-7k rpms, it kind of stops. And in 4th, 5th 6th, I struggle to even get past 5k rpms.
I'm out of ideas again. Help! :BangHead
The only difference between yours and mine now is the K&N. As these pass more air than the standard, your symptoms may suggest there isn't enough fuel getting through at high revs and that your main jets are a little small.
When you say you changed the air filter, was it just the filter or the housing as well. I changed the whole housing (it comes with a new triumph air filter) recently because after 18 years it was getting various cracks in it and i thought too much air was getting in through these. This improved the throttle response noticeably and the bike starts better - I only need half choke now.
Maybe a combination of K&N and an old cracked air box housing is letting too much air through for your 105 mains?
just a wild though but, is the throttle cable seated and adjusted correctly, ie fully opening? :^_^
I've done the starter gas around airbox/rubber boots and it doesn't pick up any revs until I get too close to the intake snorkel in the back. I've sealed the auxiliaries my self with sealant and inspected the main airbox properly and it doesn't steal any air.
GavD I only changed the air filter as the box is in good condition. I have one rubber boot that is a bit annoying but I sort of mended it 2 days ago and I'm spraying starter gas around to check for leaks.
I know the K&N gives a bit more air, but it hasn't made my problem better or worse. So the impact isn't big enough to make a change in this particular case.
I'll have a look at the throttle wire and see if I can pull any more at the carbs when full throttle. Doubt that's the case as I've dialed it in pretty good, but we'll see.
I'm gonna try without fuel filter and see if it makes a difference.
It's very easy to start since I shimmed the valves. Don't know compression numbers as I don't own tools to test.
Hmm, wonder where I could get a clear fuel line around here on a Sunday?
Is your chassis number 55616 or higher?
the reason I ask is, that is the number that should have keihins fitted as standard. Just wondering if someone has fitted a set of keihins off a different model that weren't correct for the tiger. I believe there were differences in the vacuum slider between models.
It's done!!! :wings
:wheel
Ok so a bit of history first.
When I had the bike apart for changing the sprag clutch I also went through the carbs. Of course I managed to misplace one of the jets but I didn't care much since I'd read on this forum about the 105 mains, 40 pilots (mine came from PO with 38 for some reason) and the 1mm needle shims for Kehins.
So I naturally ordered and fitted that before the engine was finished and when I finally got the bike together I was eager to see what the bike had to offer (I'd only done 250km on it before full strip).
Well, kinda like now it ran like shit. I tried everything and nothing would help. Until my dad told me to take the needle shims out of the carbs. I laughed at him telling him he knew nothing. But eventually I relented and lo and behold, it suddenly worked like it should.
What I did now... was to reverse that decision. I put the 1mm needle shims in again. Suddenly it all works.
So fixing the valves... which is the only thing I really did, made it want shims on the needles? (It's the only way I can read this situation.) Yes I added the K&N air filter later, but I already had this problem before. If anything, it should have worked better before with the OEM air filter if it gets so much less air.
I'm certain that it would run almost as good as now if I put in the old filter.
So fuel starvation was the problem indeed. Just that the fix wasn't that obvious, especially with my previous experience in mind.
This also brings up another thought, shimmed needle would appear to affect the midrange (which it really did) but also the top range (which was non existent before) that is great now. According to the theory I've read it shouldn't.
I feel like I understand this bike less and less the more stuffs I fix. :icon_scratch:
Anyway, I'm putting it together and going for a run tomorrow. I'm gonna celebrate with some beers now. :occasion14
:><
Needle is 1/4 - 3/4 throttle, 3/4 - 4/4 is min jet. By shimming you have made the whole mid range richer.
@Bixxer Bob: Yeah exactly, it does (and should) affect 1/4 to 3/4 (midrange).
But the biggest change for me is that it changed 3/4 to 4/4 (top range) (which it shouldn't).
Semantics perhaps, but top range for me would be 6.5k rpm to 8.5k rpms and that's exactly what was non existent before. Now it's just there.
Happy days!
:><
It's been flogged to death but putting it back to stock works almost every time.
As requested, some pictures of the 3-1 exhaust.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160605_180426.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160605_180455.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160605_180512.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160605_180528.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160605_180535.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160605_180548.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160605_180616.jpg)
And some pictures of the "finished" (does it ever get finished?) product.
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160605_185403.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160605_185428.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160605_185451.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160605_185510.jpg)
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65983152/mc/Steamer%20-%20Optimized%20Images/20160605_185558.jpg)
Looks very smart :thumbsup
In the last but one picture, I can't quite make out how the Wheelbarrow attaches?
Great Luggage though.
3 into 1 looks very nice. Careful how much stuff you put in those coffins panniers. :icon_wink: :*&*
Congratulations on getting your bike sorted.
On the seating, may I suggest that it is simple to create your own saddle based on the standard unit. I have built several for myself for various bikes including my 955i ( excuse me for not being a Steamer owner ) Modern vinyl materials are very stretchy and adaptable and are no problem when you are recovering a saddle. What you need is an electric staple gun and one of those cheap camping mattresses. If you cut that in a series of laminated shapes built up on the old saddle foam with spray adhesive , a final cover over all the cuttings and then on with the vinyl and staple in place. Rebuilding a saddle should cost about £10 plus the cost of the stapler.