"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay)
06/08/2016 at 12:38 • Filed to: Craigslist Triumph, Thunderbird Sport
7
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"Decay buys too many beaters" (decay)
06/08/2016 at 12:38 • Filed to: Craigslist Triumph, Thunderbird Sport | 7
| 19 |
So I’ve done quite a bit over the past week to get the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , fairly sorted out and (hopefully) reliable. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! I had found and corrected an air leak along with some other minor maintenance items.
I started in on an oil change on Thursday which didn’t come a moment too soon. The stuff I took out was some of the blackest I’ve seen come out of a bike. Thankfully if looked clear of debris and didn’t have any obvious fuel or coolant contamination.
I went to put everything back together and noticed I was missing a few pieces. Two washers, one on each side of the filter were strangely absent from the assembly I removed. This is exactly the reason I make sure to have a service manual for everything I work on, I’d have never known those existed without mine.
Now at this point it’s about 9pm, the local Triumph dealer (who is less than two miles away!) is closed, and the smart thing to do is call it for the night to pick up the right pieces on the following day. But me? No, I hate leaving things half done in the garage. I took a few measurements and headed to Home Depot to find a suitable replacement to tide me over until the following oil change (at which point I plan to install the correct washers). Unfortunately Home depot does not carry a 20mm ID X 35mm OD washer, or anything remotely close. So I bought the closest thing then headed home and made an equivalent washer with a step drill and then a dremel when the drill wasn’t quite big enough. I thought I took a picture of my handiwork, but apparently not and I’m not going to drain the oil for one. I elected to only use a bottom washer for now after reading up a bit on some of the Triumph forums.
Next up was the carb issues, I filled the bowls with IPA and let it sit overnight, drained them in the morning, refilled with gas and she ran smoother than ever. Think I might be able to get away with not removing the carbs at all! *Hat tip to BobintheMtns for the idea there*
For the leaky fork seal I intend to replace it along with the 16 year old fork oil, but I wanted a quick fix to make it ridable for the near term. I decided to make my own fork seal cleaner with and old train pass and try removing the dirt that was compromising the seal.
Much to my surprise, it actually worked perfectly! No more leaks, and it’s held fine since Thursday.
And that’s about it, gave her a half-assed wash, tightened a few loose fasteners, topped off the coolant reservoir and been riding basically non stop since them. I’ve put on about 500 miles since the oil change and haven’t had a single problem (well except for one instance of hot start trouble).
On a side note, met up with AMGtech on Sunday and had a pretty good ride in the 103 degree Oregon freak heat wave.
It was the first time I’d taken her out to the twisties, she can hustle pretty well for a big girl with tired suspension! Rear shock was a bit harsh and the front end was a bit soft (probably due to low fork oil), but overall she did everything I asked and didn’t complain much!
Next up on the list is to change the plugs and check the valve clearance, there is a bit of top end ticking happening on cylinder one. It got a lot better once I changed out to Rotella (fantastic oil, I use it in everything that can take 40wt) but it’s definitely still there, and I’m not sure when the last adjustment was. After that, a coolant flush should get it all up to date on service and ready for another 6k miles.
lone_liberal
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/08/2016 at 12:54 |
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When you fill me up with IPA I tend to run much rougher the following morning.
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Decay buys too many beaters
> lone_liberal
06/08/2016 at 13:02 |
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I made sure she drank s lot of water (Oregon pump gas is basically water) afterwards so that helped!
JEM
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/08/2016 at 13:34 |
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Suzuki Katana to the right in that pic?
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Decay buys too many beaters
> JEM
06/08/2016 at 13:52 |
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Yep belongs to one of my co-workers.
bob and john
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/08/2016 at 14:19 |
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Keep in mind rotella is changing the T6 formula. Apperently adding friction modifiers which would ruin our clutchs. Keep an eye out
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Decay buys too many beaters
> bob and john
06/08/2016 at 14:21 |
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Source?
As long as it’s got a Jaso MA rating it will be used in my bikes.
Nisman
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/08/2016 at 15:27 |
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Nice! I read online once that you can use 35mm photographic film to clean the fork seals they way you used your train pass. Never tried it.
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Decay buys too many beaters
> Nisman
06/08/2016 at 15:51 |
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Yeah I read that too, it probably would have worked better (or some plastic shim stock), but I’m really surprised it worked at all. I always thought leaking forks reflected damage to the seals.
BobintheMtns
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/08/2016 at 16:32 |
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Psyched the ethanol trick worked for you! Awesome! And congrats on the bike again.... epic stuff!
And that’s cool that the scraping under the fork seals worked too.. I’ve heard of doing that, but was always skeptical... Looking forward/not looking forward to trying that next time my seals start leaking...
Nice work homie!
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Decay buys too many beaters
> BobintheMtns
06/08/2016 at 16:37 |
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Thanks again!
Yeah I was really skeptical as well on the fork seal thing, but I saw that they actually sell tools to accomplish the same thing with relatively high review scores.
http://www.amazon.com/Motion-Pro-Sea…
I figured it was worth a shot, worst case I’d be no worse off than when I started. Took her out afterwards and hit some speed bumps intentionally hard and was amazed to find the fork tubes still dry.
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bob and john
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/08/2016 at 16:56 |
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I heard it on the SV and buell forums cant find the link now, but next time you buy double check
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Decay buys too many beaters
> bob and john
06/08/2016 at 17:25 |
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Yeah, I’ll keep my eye out for a removal of the rating. I hope they realize just how much business they’re going to lose if they go through with it lol.
There’s only really two types of DIY motorcycle oil jobs... Rotella T6 and something else because the owner doesn’t yet know about T6.
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Decay buys too many beaters
> bob and john
06/08/2016 at 17:31 |
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Also just bought a few extra gallons just in case, the SV likes it way too much to switch out to anything else!
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bob and john
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/08/2016 at 17:48 |
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I use the castrol motorcycle oil actually. Runs great in the black SV. Looking forward to see if it runs good in the yellow.one
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Decay buys too many beaters
> bob and john
06/08/2016 at 18:02 |
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I’ve run that in bikes in the past and it’s great oil, but I just can’t spend $12/quart when I can get a similarly good synth for about $16/gallon. Rotella being so cheap lets me flush all my bikes every 3 months without breaking the bank.
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bob and john
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/08/2016 at 18:58 |
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...$12 a quart wut? its $5 a quart here....
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Decay buys too many beaters
> bob and john
06/08/2016 at 19:04 |
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Wait which Castrol? You can get synth for $5 a quart?!?
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/14476/i/castro…
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bob and john
> Decay buys too many beaters
06/08/2016 at 19:05 |
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dino oil
give-buck-chuck at walmart. my Sv LOVES it.
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Decay buys too many beaters
> bob and john
06/08/2016 at 19:22 |
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I’ll have to give that a try if they do take away my precious T6
Thanks!