Amazing Barn Find!!

[Sidecar Flip]

Jamie:

Any Meriden bikes past '69 I know little about so I take your knowledge to be gospel.

You need to go to your in-box and delete some messages. I cant send you anything, it's full.

 

[Jamie]

Jamie:
You need to go to your in-box and delete some messages. I cant send you anything, it's full.

All these messages are YOURS, Flip

 

[raymond braswell]

Personal E Mails huh?

Cheating on me again Flip? When I first saw this post "Amazing Barn Find" I almost did not open it because I assumed it would have been posted by Jack or Jamie, have nothing to do with motorcycles, and the only photos would have been of smiling barnyard animals. Pleasantly surprised Tomo!

 

[Toystoretom]

The wings are gold, Jamie (under all that dust and crud). The seat is stock Flip. My title says 1978 and that's what I based the model year on. I know that leftover bikes were often titled in subsequent years, but I think it would be impossible for a 1979 model to be titled in 1978 or 1977. It could be a typo, this bike has been knocking around both Missouri and Nebraska.... it now has a Nebraska title but it has Missouri inspection tags on the front forks.

Maybe you can decode the VIN... T140VXX02614

Pretty much the only items on the bike that aren't stock are the mufflers. The tank has been repainted (poorly) so it may have had red wings. The side covers are simply black plastic, no paint.

I figured out why it was so hard to start... when I washed it water must have run down the throttle cables and there was water in the float bowls. The bike was so dirty I actually spent about three hours washing it Saturday and there are still plenty of spots that I missed. The idle circuits on the carbs are plugged up but I had it running for a bit today and it sounds pretty healthy. I did test the compression and both cylinders were pretty healthy.... the left at 115 and the right at 125. This was on a cold engine because when I did the test I hadn't figured out the water in the float bowl deal yet .

 

[Pig9r]

X= December (month of production)

X= 1978 (model year)

So the VIN says it's a '78 that was made in Dec of '77.

There were two versions of the T140 that year. The T140V had the MK-I carbs and the T140E had the MK-II's (E standing for EPA and was called a 1978 1/2 model). Tom, yours should have the old style tickler buttons on the carbs. The MK-II's did away with the ticklers and had a single lever.

There were three color choices available for the T140V and T140E in '78, black with crimson scallops, blue with silver scallops and the rare chocolate with gold scallops, which looks to be what Tom has.

 

[Sidecar Flip]

Cheating on me again Flip? When I first saw this post "Amazing Barn Find" I almost did not open it because I assumed it would have been posted by Jack or Jamie, have nothing to do with motorcycles, and the only photos would have been of smiling barnyard animals. Pleasantly surprised Tomo!

No way Raymond. You are my favorite Captain. Anyone that can put up with me has to be a saint. Jamie and I are just having a little fling......

Tomo:

115/125 respectively will fire the piss water gas we buy today. If she don't rattle and she don't burn oil, if it was me, I'd run some flush in the oil, drain it, put in fresh, clean the gauze filter and run 'er....After some new skins of course.

 

[Jamie]

X= December (month of production)

and the rare chocolate (...) which looks to be what Tom has.

What I referred to earlier as barn animals' manure ?

Yours is a '78 all right, despite such interim changes as the badge on the side panels, Tomo. There were other modifications in the course of '78, BTW. One was Triumph's switch from Smith instruments to Veglia.

How do I know?

>>>I have just unearthed Paul Hazeldine's Triumph Bonnerville Year-by-Year book (published in 2002) from my pile of motorcycle publications !!! It features 3 pages on the '78 issue. Rather superficial (compared to his thorough chapters on the previous decade) and nothing is said in there about colors (other than a reference to "the chosen colour scheme")

If you want, I'll photocopy these pages and mail them to you. Best. Jamie

 

[Pig9r]

Jamie- I consulted Roy Bacon and David Gaylin.

 

[Toystoretom]

It may be an early 1978, as it has Mk I carbs. It also has Smiths gauges. Maybe the 1978 1/2 got the Veglia's.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you guys that Triumph liked to use up all the parts it had in the bins before it switched to something new. That accounts for some of the confusion these days.

I'm not too worried about its pedigree. I'm kind of playing with the idea of doing a Cafe racer slant to it like I did with one of my old Lightnings. Its way too early to decide on things like that. First I need to get it mechanically sound and road worthy.

I pulled the carbs and the idle circuits are plugged. I was able to get one opened up but haven't had a chance to work on the second one yet. They aren't warped, but they are pretty loose. I can see them getting sleeved or maybe some new carbs this winter... maybe a Mikuni conversion like someone else I know .

 

[Pig9r]

maybe a Mikuni conversion like someone else I know .

You won't have to worry about the slides wearing. And you know MAP offers a nice primary belt conversion kit too.