Baxter's called today......

Sidecar Flip

Living Legend
Joined
Jul 16, 2006
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6,356
Location
20150 Mc Carty Rd. Deerfield, Michigan 49238
Gus from Randy Baxter's called me today to give me an update on my Classic.

Gus told me that he dropped the sump plate and there was just a bit of filings on the plate itself. The oil filter had a bunch as well as the 2 fine mesh internal screens in the motor.

The TDU bearing was intact but the race was very rough. He attributed it staying intact by my careful riding back from Eureka Springs last summer. I now have a completely new TDU with the bearing facing the correct way.

I also had paint can rattle. That was addressed with a completely new set of sprockets, upper 2 and lower, a new key, new timing chain and new cam chain followers plus a new improved cam chain tensioner and slipper plate.

My false neutral that I believe was amplified by the crap floating around in the motor was addressed with a new shift detent drum, spring set and plunger. Some of the gears in the transmission were replaced, the synchromesh rings updated and the thrust washers replaced as well as the shift forks.

The engine is back together but still out of the motorcycle. After Gus gets it back together, he's going to make it his personal bike for a week or two to make sure it's running correctly and that everything operates as it should.
It would be nice if Baxter's was a bit closer to me, like down the street, but even though I had to take the bike 645 miles to get it serviced, I feel that I am receiving the best service available. It would be nice if all Triumph dealerships operated the way Baxter's in Marne, Iowa operates. Thank you Tomo for steering me to the right people.:)

I took a pile of pictures at Baxter Triumph 2 weeks ago when I was there with Tomo and Brian. Randy has what I would consider to be a premier collection of vintage British motorcycles which I got to enjoy close up and personal. You'll find the pictures in my album. I hope you enjoy the pictures 1/10 as much as I enjoyed admiring the bikes at close range.
 
Update....

Randy baxter called Friday. The Classic is back together and Gus is going to keep it for a while to make sure everything is as it should be. Randy said it's running fine. I asked Gus not to modify the tune, which Triumph wants modified to address some idle issue I don't have plus I'm getting 40mpg so if it ain't broke, why fock with it.

Randy says there is a pile of parts that was replaced, They will be in a box for me to see when I get there...next month sometime.

I need to wait until Randy returns from Daytona to collect the bike. I'm taking 3 vintage bikes back out with me, 2 Triumph's and a Matchless, plus Randy and I have some business to discuss.

More on that later.

I really want to get her back. Her parking spot looks empty......it is.

When we were all talking in the parking lot when I first dropped the bike off, Gus mentioned that the majority of R3 Classics and Standards had the TDU bearing installed backwards but it seems that most of them get just enough lubrication to keep them from self destructing. I find that very interesting.:eek:
 
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Randy baxter called Friday. The Classic is back together and Gus is going to keep it for a while to make sure everything is as it should be. Randy said it's running fine. I asked Gus not to modify the tune, which Triumph wants modified to address some idle issue I don't have plus I'm getting 40mpg so if it ain't broke, why fock with it.

Randy says there is a pile of parts that was replaced, They will be in a box for me to see when I get there...next month sometime.

I need to wait until Randy returns from Daytona to collect the bike. I'm taking 3 vintage bikes back out with me, 2 Triumph's and a Matchless, plus Randy and I have some business to discuss.

More on that later.

I really want to get her back. Her parking spot looks empty......it is.

When we were all talking in the parking lot when I first dropped the bike off, Gus mentioned that the majority of R3 Classics and Standards had the TDU bearing installed backwards but it seems that most of them get just enough lubrication to keep them from self destructing. I find that very interesting.:eek:
That's great to know. Hope mine dosen't crap out on me on vacation this year:eek: How many miles did you have when it crapped out? I've got around 2300 on mine now.
 
Snuff....

I found the comment Gus made was especially interesting. He said on the majority of the bikes, the bearing passes enough lubricant past the shield to keep it lubricated. I'd go with that. I noticed that the closer I ran to 80 on the way home, the quieter it ran and if I was in transition (between power on and power off), it was silent. That tells me the bearing isn't loaded too heavily, obviously, a good thing.

I had just under 7K when it got noisy (TDU) almost to Eureka Springs. I rode it the whole time (as you know), plus all the way home so I put another 1400 miles on the noisy bearing. Gus told me that so long as you don't beat on the bike, when the TDU starts making noise, it will stay together, for how long, he's not sure, but mine never came completely apart, the retainer was still intact in the bearing (some fall out) and the outer race was rough and some rollers had flaked off metal.

I'd say, if it gets noisy, just be gentle and keep on keeping on. According to Baxter's, one defect enables the dealer to replace everything suspect, which they did with mine. I did develop the 'paint can rattle' between ES and home (I'm thinking it was agitated by the particles in the oil) so everything out front was replaced plus the shift detent drum, shift forks, some gear sets. thrust washers (Gus told me that Triumph is replacing thrust washers and gear sets to tighten up the play in the gear sets to alleviate the hard to shift into first gear syndrome).

I find it utterly amazing that some dealers play ignorant (I've read that here) and I take the bike to Baxter's, take it off the trailer, Gus starts it, hears the rattle, rides it 20 feet and looks at me and says....'Yep, it's sick alright, (big grin...) we will take care of that' and that was the end of it. No muss, no fuss, it's handled.

Again, I have to thank Tomo for steering me right. When I talked to Randy on the phone he said they have 3 more Rockets to do, one fairly local and two long distance....like mine.
 
You've only got 2300 miles on that bike? and half of that had to be RAA III! Good Lord boy, you need to get out and ride!.. lol

That's great to know. Hope mine dosen't crap out on me on vacation this year:eek: How many miles did you have when it crapped out? I've got around 2300 on mine now.
 
maybe?

nawww, Dave.



me thinks he (snuff) might have left a 0 off the end. I'm guessin' 23,000. if not, then yes, the boy need's to ride a bit more....:D


greg
 
Flip, I'm sure I missed it but how many miles did you have on your Rocket when this happened?
Dennis

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