Does This Sound Right? 95 Triumph Thunderbird

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Carrot

Member
I've been rebuilding the bike and don't have a reference for how it sounds normally. He is a link to a video. Sounds a little clanking, but I have been through the valve clearances, timing, carbs, etc. Thanks for any input!

Carrot
 
Yup. The noise you are hearing is the valve train thruough the pod filters. When I put pods on my 05 Rocket III I had the same concern because I had somehow loosed the 'crickets' in my motor. Turned out the intake plumbing quelled that noise by routing the sound to the airbox under the seat. I ran that bike with the pods for about 40k miles and zero problems. I just learned to accept the crickets going nuts when I romped on the gas.
 
Can buy mechanics stethoscope to better isolate where the noises are coming from or use a long shank screwdriver and hold on the suspected area and press the handle against your ear if space allows. You'd be surprised how well you can hear the internal noises.
 
Can buy mechanics stethoscope to better isolate where the noises are coming from or use a long shank screwdriver and hold on the suspected area and press the handle against your ear if space allows. You'd be surprised how well you can hear the internal noises.

I always use this method when trying to find any strange sound coming from the motor.
 
I always use this method when trying to find any strange sound coming from the motor.
I agree with Dave in regards to the screw driver. I have both, and I found using my thumb over the handle pressed up against me ear I could not only hear the exact sound, but can feel it as well!
As this is a 1995 model if you have Mikuni carberators, make sure the air/fuel screws are dialed in. They are located under the carberator body. You will need a 90 degree long handled screw driver!
 
I agree with Dave in regards to the screw driver. I have both, and I found using my thumb over the handle pressed up against me ear I could not only hear the exact sound, but can feel it as well!
As this is a 1995 model if you have Mikuni carberators, make sure the air/fuel screws are dialed in. They are located under the carberator body. You will need a 90 degree long handled screw driver!
If you go that route to dial in the idle mix I would recommend getting a color tune (I have one). It's the only way to get the pilot mix perfect.


View: https://youtu.be/9mKQvWM0nMg
 
If you go that route to dial in the idle mix I would recommend getting a color tune (I have one). It's the only way to get the pilot mix perfect.


View: https://youtu.be/9mKQvWM0nMg

Looks good. Previously only read posts deriding the Colourtune. Do mixture presently by ear, no idea how accurate that might be, in my case.

Would need to start bike when hot for accurate setting. On my old Triumph, a hot start is only possible at WOT, then quickly reducing revs. Will this blow the Colourtune to smithereens?

How can one 'plug' work for all engines? Different hotness, gapping, whatever it is that distinguishes plugs?
 
Looks good. Previously only read posts deriding the Colourtune. Do mixture presently by ear, no idea how accurate that might be, in my case.

Would need to start bike when hot for accurate setting. On my old Triumph, a hot start is only possible at WOT, then quickly reducing revs. Will this blow the Colourtune to smithereens?

How can one 'plug' work for all engines? Different hotness, gapping, whatever it is that distinguishes plugs?
The plug can ne used with a number of adapters. I had to get the 12mm adapter for my Trophy 1200 (it plugged into my XS1100 no adapter needed). The plug is fairly robust to deal with different compression ratios. The idea is getting the idle mix correct for all cylinders. Assuming you turned them all out to the same value, get the first cylinder right then adjust the others the same. Or if you want it dead on, tune each cylinder. My old XS had the adjusters on the top of the carb (really easy to adjust) so I did each cylinder.

The idle mix screws for your Triumph are on the bottom and they probably don't adjust fuel, they adjust air (my Trophy is set up that way), so to fatten up the mix you screw in (reduce air). Opposite of my old Yammy.
 
The plug can ne used with a number of adapters. I had to get the 12mm adapter
I didn't mean plug size. I meant, for example, different engines specify different plug hotness. Might this not effect readings, if Colourtune is too cold or hot for a particular engine?
The Triumph is a 14mm, so that's not an issue, nor is access to mixture screw on both carbs.
 
I didn't mean plug size. I meant, for example, different engines specify different plug hotness. Might this not effect readings, if Colourtune is too cold or hot for a particular engine?
The Triumph is a 14mm, so that's not an issue, nor is access to mixture screw on both carbs.
The heat range specified for the plugs is based on engine load. The more air it has to jump under high pressure the hotter the plug has to be. To get the plug to ignite at 8:1 (my old Rocket III) is easier than 13:1 (Haybusa range). There is no load on the engine at idle, so horsepower is moot, and heat range is pretty irrelevant.
 
I've been rebuilding the bike and don't have a reference for how it sounds normally. He is a link to a video. Sounds a little clanking, but I have been through the valve clearances, timing, carbs, etc. Thanks for any input!

Carrot
I have a 96 Triumph Adventurer and it is sounding the same way until you throttle up. I don’t recall it sounding that way last year. Not sure if that is normal. Everything is stock on mine. Triple inline hinkley 900.
 
I have a 96 Triumph Adventurer and it is sounding the same way until you throttle up. I don’t recall it sounding that way last year. Not sure if that is normal. Everything is stock on mine. Triple inline hinkley 900.
Thank you for all the replies! I did a compression test today after having rode it around for about an hour. I'm getting a lot of decel pop, especially out of left exhaust (#1 cyl) all valve clearances have been adjusted, screws at 2 turns. Idle is sporadic from cold to hot. Rebuilt carbs with new pilots and main jets and new gaskets, o-rings and diaphragms. All intake rubbers are new. I have not verified float levels, but all looked even. Here's a link for the video of the test. Thank you for any input.

I should also mention that the pipes are "custom" pencil straight pipes from the previous owner.
 
Decel pop might be an idle mix issue usually caused by too lean a mix at idle. The colortune will tell you how far off it is and allow you to adjust while running. Also check for air leaks on new intake manifolds between engine head and carb.
 

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