1973 Triumph T140 (video on page 5)

Re: 1973 Triumph T140

If anyone want to see these progress pics, they're at Instagram.com/adhguitars right now. As soon as my Internet provider cashes my check and turns my stuff on again, I'll host the pics properly and post them here.

Re: 1973 Triumph T140

Very cool build project man! It makes me miss my old rat trump. I built it completely from parts including the motor. I'll be following too.

Re: 1973 Triumph T140

Alright, Internet is running again... Here's the latest...

We got the frame rolling, and then I was able to fiddle with the seat placement. I'm sort of tall, so I pulled it back pretty far. My last bike had a typical cafe racer style seat, with that scoop thing, and I found myself constantly pushing myself back on the seat to be comfortable, so we made brackets for this seat to sit pretty far back. It actually ended up a good 2 inches further back than in this pic.



I was sent home with the top half of the engine, to clean. I learned the hard way, with the bottom half, what "clean" really meant. So I spent a very long time on these parts, and was advised to wash off all the solvents with warm soapy water afterward.


Before I cleaned the cylinders, we honed them because there was a slight lip where the pistons hit top dead center. This resulted in a .020 over bore.


When it came time to assemble, we ended up using brand new pistons



Also ended up pulling out the valve guides and using brand new ones


By the time we got the engine put together I had put a LOT of brand new parts in it, and had gone three times over my original budget, but was glad to do so. I started making this with a plan to rebuild an old Triumph, but by now this is pretty much a brand new engine, inside of dusty old cases.

Here's that cool headlight I mentioned. An aftermarket part from the 60's


Here are the ammo cans I made into saddle bags... I know I'll end up taking one off about as soon as I start riding this. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to take the other off, too. But I plan on putting a small tool kit in there, extra headlight bulb and brake light bulb, extra fuses, etc...



He says it should be running by this weekend! I think registering it is going to suck, though... I am seriously antsy to ride this thing. I don't even want to ride it so much as I want to listen to it! I'll post videos as soon as it's running...

Re: 1973 Triumph T140

AndrewDoesHair said:

By the time we got the engine put together I had put a LOT of brand new parts in it, and had gone three times over my original budget, but was glad to do so. I started making this with a plan to rebuild an old Triumph, but by now this is pretty much a brand new engine, inside of dusty old cases.

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I remember somebody on page 2 saying you'd spend your entire budget on the engine alone. money well spent, though. I did the same thing. Make sure you tighten everything to spec the first time around or yours will leak as bad as mine does.

Re: 1973 Triumph T140

WeberKid said:

I remember somebody on page 2 saying you'd spend your entire budget on the engine alone. money well spent, though. I did the same thing. Make sure you tighten everything to spec the first time around or yours will leak as bad as mine does.

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Yeah, when I started this I had a box of all the engine parts, and I was looking at only having to buy gaskets and lubricants for the engine. Back then I was quoted $1000-$1,500 for this build, thinking we'd only have to buy tires, chain, fluids, etc... But as we were going through it, I'd see what a worn part looked like, compare it to a new part, ask "how much do you sell those for?" then go down to his warehouse and make a purchase. We're even going to put brand new carbs on here. I think I'm closer to $3,000 now.



And here's just another random picture of her, from a week or two back, for no reason.

Re: 1973 Triumph T140

So Worth it

Re: 1973 Triumph T140

Until last night, I hadn't even seen my bike in 3 weeks- my friend was on a trip. But we've gotten a lot done. Ended up using some very cool looking rusty dented pipes from a 1960 Triumph of some kind. I don't know the story behind them, or exactly what kind of bike they're off of, but I hope they sound like Jesus's motorbike.



Threw on a set of brand new Wassell carbs.





Got the wiring harness all done, too. Lights are functioning now. Was going to run it with no battery, but he says I'll hate the bike that way, the first time I'm trying to start it on a hot day. We're going to put a battery box in there somewhere. When I left his garage last night we had just finished the wiring, and checked that there is in fact spark from the plugs... I guess he did it right... I may be able to go over there and do a little more work tonight, and probably even start it up (JOY!!!). But if I don't get in there tonight, I'm boned for another few weeks, as my friend is about to take another trip. I'll post a video of the first start (unless it catches fire and explodes).

Re: 1973 Triumph T140

AndrewDoesHair said:

Got the wiring harness all done, too. Lights are functioning now. Was going to run it with no battery, but he says I'll hate the bike that way, the first time I'm trying to start it on a hot day. We're going to put a battery box in there somewhere.

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I run a Boyer power box on my Triumph in lieu of a battery. No qualms, but very few first-kick starts. It needs to spin a few times to generate enough juice for spark. Otherwise it runs beautiful.

Re: 1973 Triumph T140

Bittersweet news, everyone!

I received an email from my friend last night. He fired up the bike. Said it makes all the right sounds, and it doesn't leak yet. I'm bummed I wasn't there to get the first kick on film, but I'm stoked that the bike is running. Then I'm bummed again that he left for a trip today and he won't be back until next week, and he plans to ride the bike to work and back for a few days after he returns, so he can iron out any kinks (I wouldn't recognize a funny noise or feel a weird bump if there was one... I rode a 1980 Suzuki for a long time, everything about this bike will be new and foreign to me).

Details whenever I get them...

Re: 1973 Triumph T140

My first time starting it! It was totally cold, started first kick... Sounds SO good... I was trying not to smile, but the excitement leaked out... "I'm so excited... When can we go ride?!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olKBB0ndKYQ&feature=youtu.be

Still needs speedometer installed, then registration....

Re: 1973 Triumph T140

I've mentioned that my bike was built with old and new parts, and that the innards of the engine are shiny and unused, but what I didn't go new with was the ignition system. Upon the first test ride, the coil went out. So I got this to put in there, electronic ignition...


The bike started out with a plan to be as stripped down and simple as possible, with as old school appointments as possible throughout, but then we added a few things to make it a little more comfortable. Disc front brake, battery, electronic ignition... The frame is a little more crowded than we'd originally envisioned, but I think we did the right thing.


The exhaust ended up being way louder than we had anticipated. It was straight up obnoxious. I had to throw some of these in there


I got it registered two days ago. I lucked out, the guy still had the pinks from 1997 or so, and had payed the non-op up until like 4 years ago. I had to pay $265 to get it current and ridable, and it took about 15 minutes. I was worried I'd have to get the bike inspected by the CHP and then jump through hoops to get it back in the system! As soon as we get this ignition system in there, I should be rolling around, terrorizing my neighborhood....

I rode my bike around for the first time today, and I put about 60 miles on it. I rode it up and down my street for about 2 minutes last night. Shifting on the right side was pretty easy to get the hang of, but braking on the left is still hard. My left foot is not graceful at all, lots of back wheel locking up today...

Here's a few clips of the bike. It sounds deliciously obnoxious

http://youtu.be/HfuYnX-oJmk



This is me sitting with Bill, the guy who helped me with this bike.


I lost an air filter on my ride today, I'm going to have to stock up on those, maybe keep a spare in my ammo box... Or maybe I'll just install them better.

What are your thoughts on the Sparx ignition? Easy to setup and works ok?

I've got to change the electrics on mine and looking for options.

Thanks,
Damian.

Sounds like Jesus bike indeed

The air filter falling off is classic. Nice work fellas.

damiansd said:

What are your thoughts on the Sparx ignition? Easy to setup and works ok?

I've got to change the electrics on mine and looking for options.

Thanks,
Damian.

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Well I have very limited experience. We used an old, original ignition system, but it crapped out seconds before I tried to take it for the maiden voyage test ride. He said "I'm putting an electronic ignition in there, then you won't have to worry about setting the points or anything. You'll have enough to learn how to adjust to keep this bike happy" basically he said that the Sparx was his way of making sure we wouldn't have any more issues. He didn't want to be replacing coils and points for me in the future, and just wanted it dealt with from the beginning. Also, I wasn't there when he installed it, so I can't comment on how simple it may be. The two parts of the bike that I missed out on were the clutch and the ignition system. He did both of those things while I was away, because he wanted to get my bucket of bolts out of his garage to work on a shiny BSA.

I learnt a bit about the exhaust on my bike. They're made by mcm and are from the late 60's.

Bike has 100 miles on it now. Oil leak from the frame (we will fix it), license plate rattled off and I had to go find it (been zip tied after bolting it back on), and I still haven't found that air filter, but I ordered 3 replacements.

Bike has 201 miles on it now, and this morning I found the oil level too low to want to ride it. Gotta love these oil leaks. It's coming apart again in a week or two to be fixed up. What a let down.

I just participated in an 85 mile ride through north LA, starting at Hansen Dam, going up through little Tujunga, Soledad canyon, Angeles Crest HWY, big Tujunga, and back. The ride was mostly vintage and mostly British bikes, hundreds of riders. Great fun. I was really worried I wouldn't make it, that my bike would break down, but it held up great! The night before the event, I stripped a long wing nut on my rear brake linkage, and had to ghetto rig a stack of smaller nuts on there in hopes that they wouldn't strip, either (the rod was pretty corroded. It will be replaced shortly). I've also lost 6 air filters now (they're cheap, but it's still annoying) so I zip tied them on. I brought a quart of oil, mostly as a joke, because all the old british bikes leak oil like crazy!



My friend rides a 1970 Bonneville and that morning his alternator took a dump on the way to the meet, so I swapped him batteries and let my bike charge his while he ran his bike off of my battery. Near the end of the ride he had drained my battery dead, and I swapped him back again. It's fun when small problems come up but are easily fixed...

Here's some shots from the meet and the ride






Bike runs better than ever since then.
http://youtu.be/EzsNLTuOLBk