After me banging on about how faultlessly reliable the new Triumphs are, and how I’m waiting until we have money before I do the other upgrades, I decided to start the upgrades. And killed my bike. I thought I’d just do the donkey work while I’m off. The hard bit is removing the air intake baffle, the rest is 2 minutes to swap a part and then follow the instructions to apply a software update.
To remove the air intake baffle I had to remove the back wheel, seat, tank, side panels, rear mudguard, left hand side foot peg and silencer end can. Just to get the air box out. Then it was undo a few screws and it just pulls out. I did all the donkey work, got the baffle out, rebuilt the bike, but could not get the spindle through the back wheel. It was a nightmare. I finally forced it through, but it looked wrong so I took it off again. The goddamn cush bearing had fallen apart. I ordered a new set of bearings and seals. I tried to knock out the other bearings in preparation for the kit’s arrival. Nope. There is a long spacer tube between the two bearings. I ordered a puller but there is insufficient gap between the spacer and the bearing for it to grip. I tried battering them out. The spacer get half destroyed, but again I couldn’t get any purchase on the bearings to move them. I’ve ended up taking the wheel to the shop for them to get them out. That was unnecessarily stressful. The other thing was the back light. To remove the air box you have to unplug the rear light while taking the mudguard off, unplug the electrical connector to the tank, and remove the battery. I put them back and the back light was on. With the ignition off, key out. All the other electrics were working, and turned off, but the light was on.
2 connectors and a battery. I just couldn’t understand why it was doing it. I was awake for literally hours in the middle of the night stressing out. I thought I must have shorted a wire out. I sold one bike because I couldn’t find a short. I thought I’d totally killed my beautiful Bonnie. The next day I took the mudguard off and examined the wiring (good job, there was some cowboy wiring that needed sorting) but the light stayed on. I tried the battery charging thing on different terminal, then removed altogether, the light stayed on. I took the cable for the heated grips off… SUCCESS! The light went out! I was giddy with joy. I put the wire on the other terminal. My heated grips worked and the light was out. So, so happy.
Hopefully I’ll get my wheel back from the shop tomorrow. The bits should arrive over the next day or two, I can pop the new spacer and bearings into place, put the wheel back on, and the Triumph is sorted. Happy days.
The other thing was the Harley. Because I was so stressed over the Bonnie I’d got to thinking the Harley was never going to run. I picked it up today.
And took it for it’s maiden voyage. The first time in 20 years it’s been run. A very anxiety inducing moment for me.
As it’s had so much done, including new pistons/ rings/ rebore, I was taking it easy. I did two 1.5 mile laps, letting it cool down in between. Lisa lives 3.2 miles away, so I took a spin to my old works and back which was about 4 miles. Then I went to Lisa’s to show mother the bike before she flies back to Bulgaria tomorrow. And rode it back. Then to Sainsbury’s and back. I had a moment of panic when it just died around the corner from Sainsbury’s. Oh no! It’s died. I KNEW IT!
Turns out it runs better when you turn the petrol back on. Idiot. I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop, but so far, it seems to be working. Yay!
Still now word from work. To be honest, if they wait a few more days, until the Triumph is back on the road, I’ll be good with it.
Day after.
Damn it! I took the Harley out again today but it was running so rough I just did the mile and half circuit and came back. It was weird. I was running it with lots of choke, then no choke, trying to compensate for the feel. When I got back and ran it stationary it was fine. I thought maybe I was low on fuel so I took it and filled up, but it was still running horrible. It was ticking over great, with no need for choke. But lumpy as buggery when I set off, it felt like you had to over-rev it to keep it running. I’m not even sure where to start with fixing it. I don’t love it like the Triumph, so far, so I may concentrate on the Bonnie until I’ve got some serious money coming in, then take it to the Harley shop and get them to sort it out. I’ll take it for another spin tomorrow, see what it’s like. And write down exactly what the problem feels like while it’s still fresh in my mind. I’ve ordered a tin of Seafoam (a carb and engine cleaner), to see if it’s some crap in the carb. But it’s a brand new carb. With new jets. It really *shouldn’t* be that.
That was a total bummer. Harshed my mellow.
The good news is I got my wheel back from the garage, my new bearing set arrived so I fitted the cush bearing (replacing the one that had exploded), the circlip and new seal, and the bearing, circlip and seal on one side of the wheel. The new spacer should be arriving tomorrow, so it’s just a matter of sliding that into the wheel then fitting the last bearing. Then throw the wheel in the bike, top up my brake fluid, fit the chain guard, silencer, and foot peg, pop the saddle back on and the bike is back on the road.
It was more than just fitting new bearings. I did that one job, removing the baffle, and managed to kill my bike. The bearing must have been utterly shot before I took the wheel off, but the fact my bike was dead, the electrical panic, then being unable to do a job as simple as a bearing change… it shook my confidence. I was thinking everything was going to go wrong and I couldn’t fix it.
I’m wise after the (expensive and stressful) event. I found a video today (couldn’t find one the other day) of some guy changing the bearings on his rear wheel. He bought a specialist bearing kit to get it out, and like me, because of the spacer leaving no space, couldn’t get it to work. He went back to his old trick. An expanding bolt for use in concrete.
It’s heavy duty so you can apply serious pressure. The idea is you pop it into the hole in the centre of the bearing and screw the nut down. That pulls the end bit into the sleeves forcing them to expand and grip the bearing. Then just put a drift through from the other side, tap it, and the bolt and bearing pop out. Unlike the bearing puller and the ‘hit it with a screwdriver’ methods I tried, it doesn’t need a gap between the spacer and the bearing to gain traction. It is simple, cheap, and genius. I’ve had to buy a new spacer and pay the shop to extract my bearings this time. Never again. I’ll take the Bonnie for a spin to B&Q tomorrow and pick one up.
My M bars have arrived for the Triumph, I might fit them tomorrow as well. One of my tyres has arrived. When the other gets here I’ll get them fitted.
As soon as I have a job again I’m going to get a new chain and sprocket set, do a service, and get the engine remapping done. That is that for the Triumph then. It should just be putting petrol in it until the next MOT. I mean, not only is that all the jobs that need doing, it’s all the jobs I want to do. I don’t want to change stuff on it. I wanted a better seat and lower handlebars, which I’ve got. The engine snatchiness needs sorting out (remapping), but the rest is just consumables. Tyres, chain and sprocket set, oil and filter. Then just ride for years and years.
The Harley on the other hand…
When I start earning big bucks again I think I’ll throw some more money at it. Get the Harley shop to set it so it runs right. Then I’ll run it for a while. See what I think. I may end up selling it and just keeping the Bonnie though.
I don’t suppose it’s a fair comparison. On the road, fully operational, modern Bonneville, versus a 20 year dead project that’s not running right. I’ve spent far too much on the Sporty, most of which I won’t get back, but even if I love it when it’s running right, there is a bottomless pit of money I need to spend to turn it into the bike I want. New wheels, new tyres to fit the new wheels, new forks, new tank, new seat, new handlebars and complete respray. That’s well over £2 grand. If I can’t live with it as is, when I’ve got it running right, the options are: spend another £2 -3 grand and lots and lots of work on it to tart the bike up as I want it, sell it and buy a big Harley that’s exactly what I want (probably get £2 grand or so for it, you can get a big Harley from £5 grand), or just cut my losses, sell the Sporty and love the Bonnie.
I dunno. I’m probably just over-reacting because it’s not running right, still, and I’m sick of it. I got it as a project. I did most of the donkey work. I got the shop to finish it off. I should be riding the bloody thing. We’ll see. I look happy as Larry in that video above. I just want it done though. I’ve had enough of it being a project.