Toystoretom
Living Legend
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2006
- Messages
- 2,449
Now we're getting somewhere 
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Overlubed
- Thread starter 2Hozhoni
- Start date
Sidecar Flip
Living Legend
Rademis:
Just watch your torque specs for various fittings. Triumph's pressure cast aluminum die castings aren't all that robust. There have been quite a few owners of Bonneville's that have over torqued the drain plug and cracked the sump plate which is like the R3, that is, separate from the block/engine itself. On drain plugs, use a new sealing washer every time. The washers are designed to be soft and provide a seal when the cap screw is torqued properly. Again, the same thing in spades for the spark plugs. Remember, they thread in an aluminum head so a little dab of never-seize on the threads and don't crank 'em down, torque 'em properly. Absolutely the worst feeling in the world is backing out a spark plug and it gets tighter and when you finally get it out, the minor diameter of the thread profile is hanging on the threads. That ain't Miller time, it's expensive Helli-Coil insert time. Use that torque wrench and a little never-seize.
Just watch your torque specs for various fittings. Triumph's pressure cast aluminum die castings aren't all that robust. There have been quite a few owners of Bonneville's that have over torqued the drain plug and cracked the sump plate which is like the R3, that is, separate from the block/engine itself. On drain plugs, use a new sealing washer every time. The washers are designed to be soft and provide a seal when the cap screw is torqued properly. Again, the same thing in spades for the spark plugs. Remember, they thread in an aluminum head so a little dab of never-seize on the threads and don't crank 'em down, torque 'em properly. Absolutely the worst feeling in the world is backing out a spark plug and it gets tighter and when you finally get it out, the minor diameter of the thread profile is hanging on the threads. That ain't Miller time, it's expensive Helli-Coil insert time. Use that torque wrench and a little never-seize.
Do what you want to do!
Flip I didn't say I couldn't do it. Now you ask why I wont?? Well I have the tools and the know how. Then you say why not? I will have to say that I have kind of retired and my tools are all rusty, and my days of wrenching and pinching pennies are rapidly disappearing. These times are for me and my enjoyment. For some, doing their own work is a therapy with knowing what they do is right. I'm lucky enough to have a renowned mechanic who knows more than me and I trust his work. I'm done with knuckle busting, cursing, and getting all worked up about stuff I'd rather pay a pro to do. You know, support your dealer mentality, but only to a point, when it starts to hurt you stop.
Flip I didn't say I couldn't do it. Now you ask why I wont?? Well I have the tools and the know how. Then you say why not? I will have to say that I have kind of retired and my tools are all rusty, and my days of wrenching and pinching pennies are rapidly disappearing. These times are for me and my enjoyment. For some, doing their own work is a therapy with knowing what they do is right. I'm lucky enough to have a renowned mechanic who knows more than me and I trust his work. I'm done with knuckle busting, cursing, and getting all worked up about stuff I'd rather pay a pro to do. You know, support your dealer mentality, but only to a point, when it starts to hurt you stop.
Sidecar Flip
Living Legend
Baggage:
I have a handle on the 'rusty tool'.......
Seriously, I'd be willing to bet that there are at least as many people that take their bikes to the dealers for routine maintenance than there are who do it themselves, maybe more and probably for a variety of reasons from time constraints to general knowledge and beyond.
Motorcycles have become way more intimidating with the advent of computerized controls which are supposed to simplify tuning procedures but actually mystify it for more people. In the old days, you could tune your bike with a screwdriver and your ear. Those days are gone, long gone and it's that unknown among other factors that provides the impetus for people taking their bikes to their dealers for routine work. A good example is the sump plate on a T100. Wouldn't you rather take your bike in for an oil change at the dealer and have the dealer crack the sump plate during the oil change? I would because he'd have to eat it, well, he should eat it. Like your car. I know, we all complain about inattentive 'cagers', but we all own one and unless we have a classic, carbureted one, opening the hood reveals nothing other than something you need a PhD in computer science to fiddle with. Probably, most of us do the routine maintenance on our cars, you know, oil changes, air in tires, filling the windshield washer bottle, air filters, oil filters topping off antifreeze....all of the things we can also perform on our bikes (with the exception of the windshield washer bottle) (maybe down in Florida, you have serious bugs there).
I'm going to draw a line at that. Delving into the conglomeration of fittings, wires and mysterious gadgets that comprise the fueling system of this bike, or my car for that matter requires a trip to the local, friendly and knowledgeable dealer and I'm quite comfortable with that. I know there are some Captains here that fiddle with the fueling systems on these bikes via Tune Boy or Power Commander but not me and I suspect those fiddlers are a minority. I'll leave that for the authorized and trained service technician at the local dealer and pay the going rate for their knowledge. For routine stuff, I'll do it myself.
I have a handle on the 'rusty tool'.......
Seriously, I'd be willing to bet that there are at least as many people that take their bikes to the dealers for routine maintenance than there are who do it themselves, maybe more and probably for a variety of reasons from time constraints to general knowledge and beyond.
Motorcycles have become way more intimidating with the advent of computerized controls which are supposed to simplify tuning procedures but actually mystify it for more people. In the old days, you could tune your bike with a screwdriver and your ear. Those days are gone, long gone and it's that unknown among other factors that provides the impetus for people taking their bikes to their dealers for routine work. A good example is the sump plate on a T100. Wouldn't you rather take your bike in for an oil change at the dealer and have the dealer crack the sump plate during the oil change? I would because he'd have to eat it, well, he should eat it. Like your car. I know, we all complain about inattentive 'cagers', but we all own one and unless we have a classic, carbureted one, opening the hood reveals nothing other than something you need a PhD in computer science to fiddle with. Probably, most of us do the routine maintenance on our cars, you know, oil changes, air in tires, filling the windshield washer bottle, air filters, oil filters topping off antifreeze....all of the things we can also perform on our bikes (with the exception of the windshield washer bottle) (maybe down in Florida, you have serious bugs there
). I'm going to draw a line at that. Delving into the conglomeration of fittings, wires and mysterious gadgets that comprise the fueling system of this bike, or my car for that matter requires a trip to the local, friendly and knowledgeable dealer and I'm quite comfortable with that. I know there are some Captains here that fiddle with the fueling systems on these bikes via Tune Boy or Power Commander but not me and I suspect those fiddlers are a minority. I'll leave that for the authorized and trained service technician at the local dealer and pay the going rate for their knowledge. For routine stuff, I'll do it myself.
Alister
.060 Over
I am one of those people. Out of seven cars, not one is newer than '79, and only the Porsche 924 has fuel injection-- mechanical Bosch K-Jetronic, at that (not terribly complicated). I love being able to break out a half-dozen hand tools and completely rebuild the motors!
But, as I've mentioned before, I have had extensive experience in repairing and modifying modern stuff, so that's no big mystery to me either.
I will say, having a heavily modified carburated engine can be every bit as labor-intensive as wrenching on a modern electronic engine: The higher the degree of modification and tune, the more frequently maintenance has to be done in order to keep things running right.
Quick rundown:
'59 Olds Dynamic 88 four-door hardtop, completely stock.
'60 Morris Minor (SU carburators are an issue in and of themselves...), stock.
'66 Olds F-85 four-door sedan (heavily modded inline six, with extensive chassis improvements and six-speed manual. Carb needs cleaning and a re-tune. Got an Olds 455 in the works for it).
'69 Chevy Malibu wagon (Mild mods; carb and intake, some ignition upgrades)
'69 Triumph GT6 (Ever tried synchronizing three Weber DCOEs? Not fun)
'79 MG Midget (swapped that blasted Zenith-Stromberg for a single 44mm Mikuni ESR. No problems now! Has a Pace Setter header and -my- custom 2" exhaust)
'79 Porsche 924 (Most recent addition. Still pretty well stock, though I'm in the process of removing anything emissions-related. Got it as payment for resurrecting an old MR-2)
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20000 mile checkup
I figured about right on the cost of this service at just over 400.00. Now that includes oil and all filters and that gas one isn't cheap, they synced and put a new tune in that is a direct result of the idle issue which has a list of procedures for that problem. It ran like a champ before and it runs like a scalded dog now. Ready for Mashville here I come,
I figured about right on the cost of this service at just over 400.00. Now that includes oil and all filters and that gas one isn't cheap, they synced and put a new tune in that is a direct result of the idle issue which has a list of procedures for that problem. It ran like a champ before and it runs like a scalded dog now. Ready for Mashville here I come,
Molinoman
Living Legend
Fuel filter
YEOWSA! Is that fuel filter made of gold, silver, or platinum?
Dennis
YEOWSA! Is that fuel filter made of gold, silver, or platinum?
Dennis