hurley209 said:
I'm still plugging away at this (thanks for the interest hurley). It's been "just about done" for the last I don't know how long, and kind of one issue after another. Not really in a bad way, I guess 'cause each issue is a chance to learn something new, or approach something in a different way, but still... I really miss just having a bike I can ride
Anyway, here are some pics I just took today:
...gotta fix that header wrap.
I'd like to run with no side covers, but I'm not smart enough with electrickery to figure out how to move the mess of wires out from behind the side panels to under the seat like a lot of guys do. I've also decided I don't really like the trail tech unit (the digital speedo thing). It's handy and it displays a lot of info, and I don't mind that it doesn't suit the vintagey look of the thruxton, but I think I would just prefer an alalog speedo and tach. I kinda like what some of the Japanese custom builders do where they put the tacho up front, and the speedo down on the left-hand side, around the top of the oil cooler, so I might try that one day.
The only thing preventing me from getting back on the road now are the front brakes. I've replaced all the seals and even a couple of the caliper pistons, but I just can't get enough pressure in the hydrolic system. The lever is spongey right up to where it hits the grip. I've bled the brakes with a mityvac and I have no idea where air is getting into the system from. I'm suspecting the threads around the bleed nipples, but I'm not sure. So it goes with buying second-hand parts I guess. Sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not.
The front forks are much better than the stock thruxton forks, so overall I'd consider the whole project a success. I've got some racetech springs and cartridge emulators in therenow, and I used 15wt fork oil (although I think I need to bump that up to 20wt), and I need to adjust the preload on the emulators as the front still dives a bit too much under braking (when the brakes are working, that is).
There's still lots to do on this bike. New rear suspension is number 1 after the brakes. Probably new cams would come after that. Some guys over on the triumph forums have bored out their engine to 1087cc (pretty big step up from 865cc), but I think that's a looooong way off for me. I'm way more interested in doing what a lot of the guys on here do (which is why this is my favourite forum) - taking old bikes completely to pieces and building them back up. That, to me, is still the definition of big arse projects, and is way more of an achievement than sticking a few parts onto a new, already working, modern bike.
