No offence taken....and appreciate all responses. Not alot of experience with the old British bikes just since I bought this one from my uncle a couple years back. He said the clutches tend to stick a little at times and go through the same procedure you mentioned and it always fired on the first or second kick. But now it feels like something is dragging when kicked over. Pull in the clutch and operate the kick lever everything is free meaning the engine dont turn over. Release the clutch and can feel resistance from the engine but acts like something is dragging. Times I can hear the intake and exhaust stroke and times there is nothing.
Thanks! Spent a lot of time polishing the aluminum.....only has 17000 miles. My uncle found it in a garage and picked it up. Him and my dad had Triumphs back in the 60s and 70s. Uncle still has a 71 BSA lighting and a Triumph / BSA B50Might fine looking bike!
A sheared key is not what I wanted to hear! Hahaha
I'm hoping that's all it is. Have noticed in the past year when I took it out that going up hills the clutch tends to slip a little. I only put about 250 miles on it in the past year.
Thanks Carl
I'm not positive, but they might be two different threads; they changed around '68, can't remember and no longer have my resource books on hand.
Thanks Grandpaul for the what to look for once I get inside. Hopefully this being a long weekend I can pull away from the honey do list and pull the primary cover and take a look see at what might be going on. I'm hoping that the clutch is loose....
Will dew, hopefully will get to it this weekend. Still alot of good riding weather here in the Shenandoah Valley
Absolutely your clutch slipping would make it impossible to kick start your bike. This is the balancing act we always have with the Triumph. Adjust the clutch too much so it doesn't slip and you can get crunchy gear changes or it can be so bad it won't engage first gear from a stand still. Go the other way and adjust the cable to get too much opening (releasing) movement on the clutch plates and it slips and renders the kick start useless. If it started slipping on a ride and you had changed absolutely nothing, including adding or changing oil, I would guess that your clutch plates are worn and need replacing. Fully slacken off the clutch cable with the bike in neutral and see if the kickstart engages the engine. If it doesn't turn over the engine the answer is either worn clutch or the wrong oil. Your bike could be sharing clutch and engine oil. My 67 does not share engine oil but this was changed by Triumph in later models and any year could have been changed by a previous owner as its a very simple mod. What does this mean to you? Using modern engine oil with friction inhibitors are exactly what you don't want near a Triumph clutch. A Triumph clutch needs all the friction it can get! Removing the spark plugs will also help to diagnose the problem. With no compression, even with a dodgy clutch, the engine should turn over. This would then confirm it is simply a slipping clutch problem. Not a big or expensive job for a reasonable mechanic.
Thanks Twin
No. Any '70-on twin vents the crankcase through the primary case to atmosphere. So the same oil must be in both.
No "culprit". In order to ensure oil droplets condensing in the primary from crank venting don't raise the primary oil level to where the main bearing drags in it and power is reduced, there are (usually) three small holes between primary and crankcase behind the alternator stator. Therefore, these set the primary oil level; only enough oil for the primary chain to dip the bottom run is required.
Also good to point out that these three holes can CLOG, resulting in incorrect oil level in the primary. Make sure to poke them clear with a needle or piece of wire.
