The Steamer Experience

[Nick Calne]

Mend it
ride it
love it
break it
hate it
mend it
ride it
love it
break it
hate it

And that's just the trip to work.  It's so unreliable it's untrue.  I used to be a biker now I'm a mechanic. Does it get better over time or is this just how it is?  :roll:

[Mustang]

you bought second hand did'nt you ?

my experience is more like :
Buy it new
ride it
ride it some more
maintain it
ride
ride ride
ride some more
time for maint.
ride it
ride
ride it
always love it ......... :D


Just sayin..............

[Nick Calne]

Yup second hand.  From a steamer abuser, so it's kinda like a dog from a rescue home.  It runs alright, but has funny turns now and again.  Today it's the speedo not working.  I replaced the cable and it worked for 7 miles and am too hacked off to investigate further tonight.   Was nice while it lasted though.

....so if I follow your logic and mend it enough, maintain it carefully,repair what other have done, I could, just possibly maybe perhaps could have a reliable bike?

[Mustang]

with enough replacement of parts it will be a new bike  

I treat mine right and am leaving in a week for a 6 to 7000 mile trip , she's reliable enuff !

She usually treats me right

[JetdocX]

Mend it
ride it
love it
break it
hate it
mend it
ride it
love it
break it
hate it

And that's just the trip to work.  It's so unreliable it's untrue.  I used to be a biker now I'm a mechanic. Does it get better over time or is this just how it is?  :roll:

I can TOTALLY identify with the above statement.  Triumph, turning bikers into mechanics since 1902. :lol:

Mustang?  Where the fuck, exactly, is one to buy a new Steamer in 2009? :P

[Nick Calne]

Ah Jetdocx, Mustang is right - the only way to acquire a new steamer is to do it in the time honoured fashion...  The same method we are all using consciously or otherwise...

In little plastic bags, one piece at a time from the triumph dealer!  Not so much a motorbike more of a 10,000 piece 3D jigsaw puzzle.

Right, I'm off to fix the speedo, replace some rusty fasteners, have a think about the sidestand being bent and who knows, I might even go for a ride later today....
 :lol:

[Sin_Tiger]

I hear you guys being I think a 6th or 7th owner  :roll:

Maybe it's the fact that they are generally very reliable from new that previous owners just ride them into the ground and then move on  

Still, when they go, they are such a hoot  :lol: Never see an angry new Blade owner, take off and leave one standing at the lights and you will, 13 yr old bike with front brakes that either do nothing or stand me on my nose, throttle control that's all or nothing, sounds like a tractor with a jet engine strapped to it, speedo cable flapping in the breeze, I still get off laughing to myself like a hyena  :lol:

What is it about this bike, I own a Roadie as well but this thing is just Mad.

[JetdocX]

Yeah, it's really hard to graph that on some kind of performance chart. :lol:

I did 200 miles yesterday and 100 on dirt.  No problems whatsoever.  Sometimes I love this green bike to bits.  Others, well.....

Then there's the whole,"Is that a British bike?" question thing at random gas stops, grocery stores and video rental, etc.  I absolutely love the MILF in the grocery store parking lot offering to take a bag or two because she can't see how it all fits onto this behemoth.  

Then I keep up with the fast group sport riding the mountains in CA and NV.  They are genuinely amazed I'm able to keep up. Must be the grand I spent on suspension?

It's definitely the small things that keep this bike in my garage.

[abruzzi]

Just got back from 2300 miles in 7 days.  The only problems I encountered:

Occasionally, when in reserve, vacuum built up in the tank, causing sh*tty running until I opened the cap.

The bike would weave at speeds over 85.  That may have been the TKCs (I didn't have time/cash to put on a set of more street tires.) It may have been the weight (luggage) on the rear of the bike.

Other than that, it was a tank.

Geof

[JetdocX]

Glad all went well for you, Geof.  Mine never has left me far from home, but I want to think it's due to the large amount of work in the off-season I put in on her.

[Mustang]

Just got back from 2300 miles in 7 days.  The only problems I encountered:

Occasionally, when in reserve, vacuum built up in the tank, causing sh*tty running until I opened the cap.

The bike would weave at speeds over 85.  That may have been the TKCs (I didn't have time/cash to put on a set of more street tires.) It may have been the weight (luggage) on the rear of the bike.

Other than that, it was a tank.

Geof

Plugged tank vent .stick a pc of wire(like a coat hanger) thru the nipple on the bottom of the tank and clean out the corrosion that is inside the vent pipe .

weave over 85 mph IS caused by the luggage weight . to compensate if it bugs ya , try adding a little more preload to the rear and pull the forks up in the trees by about 1/2 to 3/4 inch . it will help get some weight on the front tire which will help the weave .

[abruzzi]

weave over 85 mph IS caused by the luggage weight . to compensate if it bugs ya , try adding a little more preload to the rear and pull the forks up in the trees by about 1/2 to 3/4 inch . it will help get some weight on the front tire which will help the weave .

I found the easiest trick was if I needed the speed, lying forward in the tank would stop the weave.

I'm lucky, in that I'm the third owner of the bike and the PO was a triumph mechanic, so I know it wasn't abused.  I suspect that a few lemons were made, but most of the steamer issues have something to do with the fact that these are 15 year old bikes, and have had time to pass through the hands of an abusive owner.

Geof

[97tiger885]

My experience with the '97 Tiger tells me that the reliability/durability factor is acceptable.  It is not great and it is not terrible.  This after having owned a '73 and '74 T150V (Trident) and a '97 BMW K75.  

I rode the '74 T150V in '80 from PA to FL to CA to WA to PA over the course of a summer.  Let's say that I learned a lot about mechanics that summer.  The speedo never worked the whole time I ran it (Dead and very expensive speedo gearbox.)  The valves needed replacement every 12000 miles.  Points went about every 4000 miles.  Clutch cables went every 5000.  The left side cover broke off every 2000.  The gas tank needed brazed every 3000 miles.  Fork seals went every 4000.  That mc needed constant maintenance.  Great when it ran, but if you didn't maintain it regularly (every week), it was a total nightmare.  

The BMW needed valves at 155,000 miles and that is because I didn't set them myself.  Set properly those valves go 200,000+.  The valves do need checked every 12,000.  The alternator goes at about 180,000.  The clutch goes at 90,000 as does the fan.  The rings were untouched at 230,000.  The  main seal went at 175,000.   The clutch and final drive splines need lubed every 30,000 if you ran in rain frequently.  The front bulb lasted 60,000.   For a typical rider the K75 needed gas and oil.  Minimal maintenance.   If basic maintence was done, it was dead reliable and durable.   Even when there were problems, it was not a sensitive machine.  It would get you home or to the nearest mc shop.   You get on and you ride.  For high mileage riders, maintenance costs were very high if you had the shop do the work, but reliability and durabiliy were very high as a result.  

The Tiger is nowhere near as reliable or durable as the K75.  It has the DAR, bad stock coils,  front bulbs that blow once a year, a tiny battery case which contributes to possible destruction of the sprag clutch, no stock power outlets, a small alternator with no upgrades available and other niggling problems.   It requires a bit of fiddling to keep it going but nowhere near as much as the T150V.  I get the impression that things wear out much faster on the Tiger than the K75.   Valves at-what-60,000?  OTOH, it is a machine I love.  I just recognize its shortcomings.

[oxnsox]

(edit)
It's definitely the small things that keep this bike in my garage.

... like waiting for the parts to arrive... :lol:  :lol:

[Nick Calne]

Well today I rode to work and back and loved it.  The torque, the well... just plain bigness of the thing.  Like riding a horse - a bit.  Skimming through the ranks of queuing cars on the outskirts of Bath, I was in heaven.  I even overlooked the fact that since the speedo went tits-up last week I am having to use a bicycle speedo bodged on with cable ties.  Which works brilliantly incidentally - recomended.  Certainly a good stop gap until the replacement parts can be found at a reasonable price.

Parked the steamer next to a honda in the car park that must have cost 3 times as much.  The honda just looked totally rubbish by comparison.

It couldn't last.

Temp gauge not working now and a strange rattly noisy from the alternator area.  Oh well...

I'll add that to the speedo problem, the wonky side stand and the fact the valves need doing.

And the wobbly gear lever.