98 Trophy is home

A couple weeks ago (6 or 7) I took my Trophy 1200 to Eurosport in Ft. Worth to resolve a fuel leak. My son-in-law and I had restored the old beast to a safe ride until the fuel started spilling out when you started the bike. We had taken the carbs out and rebuilt the daylights out of them with all new internals including 4 new float assemblies. Still the dead dinosaurs would not stay put, so it was time to have an expert (or a fresh set of eyes) tackle the project. Turned out the nylon bushes that hold the fuel line T's were cracked and when the floats backed the fuel up in the lines the fuel spilled out of the cracks. So those got replaced, which required pulling the carbs off the rail and splitting the carbs apart. They replaced the bushes and reassembled then took it for a test ride after synching the carbs and adjusting the pilot mixtures. I was called to pay the bill and take the bike home. Went down 2 weeks ago and paid the bill, fired the bike and after idling for a minute, it died. A number of restarts later and then it wouldn't start at all. Tony called me last week and said it was working but wanted to perform more testing before he would release it, I said "OK." I called them yesterday and Martha said it was ready to go. So today I went down to pick it up. Surprise 1: no charge for the extra work, and surprise 2: the bike fired up and idled (albeit a bit lumpy for a 4 pot). I donned my riding gear and away to home I rode. From downtown Ft. Worth to Keller is about 13 miles so I had a chance to play with the throttle a bit. The bike has plenty of power and runs smoothly, but has a hitch in the off idle giddy-up. No loss of power nor does it cause any acceleration problems, just a little weird beat skip as you throttle up. I'm going to run a can of sea foam through it and see if that changes anything. Other than that the bike runs great and will be a nice ride in the spring, fall, and winter. Summer riding in Texas not so much, the heat blowuing off the radiator over my shins was a big plenty (at stop lights I checked for any smoke coming off my trousers). It was merciful at stop lights to allow my legs to cool off a bit. Also noticed a slight tingly buzz in the grips that is probably due to a front cupped tire. It wasn't noticeable below 30mph but above you could feel it. I'll change that out this fall and that will resolve that problem. Son-on-law Tom and I are planning some longer rides in the fall and this will be the correct tool for that job. Comfy seating position, plush suspension, wind protection and luggage capacity.

Not my bike, or my house, just a photo of the same bike (that I haven't gotten round to taking any snaps of........yet)

Update: Put sea foam in the tank, filled the tank up and took it for a morning jog to get the sea foam into the carbs. Went on the curvy bits Tom and I usually ride just to test throttle response and brakes. Found the rear tire feels a bit slippery. The engine pulled well and no problems with brakes. I did rotate the lever adjusters to position 4 to get the lever closeer to the bar on both the clutch and brake. That made it a lot more comfortable on stops and starts. The clutch grabs now just an inch from the bar rather than at 3/4 the end of lever travel. Made starts more predictable and smooth. The clutch on this bike is hydraulic and I'm hoping the pull gets easier over time. My 99 Trophy I had back in the day was a very light pull on the lever. Overall it feels right, runs smooth and goes where you point it. I'll probably change both tires since I have no clue as to how old they are (haven't looked at the date code). Rear tread is looking a bit thin so a change is in order.