Hi, and thank you for accepting me into Triumph Talk. I'm 60 years old living in Scotland and have been riding motorcyles for most of my adult life, mostly on a variety of Japanese machinery but last year I took possession of a Triumph Sprint 1050 GT to replace my Honda Blackbird for Continental touring. Although the Blackbird is an absolutely superb machine and has proved to be reliable, I thought that as she's now 24 years old with 64k miles on the clock she needs to become the weekend fun bike.
The Sprint is a great machine and to date, I haven't made any modifications apart from the fitment of a Tom Tom Satnav unit. Due to the Covid restrictions within the UK, I have only done a couple of thousand miles since buying it but I'm hoping that a trip to Poland and Germany which was cancelled last year can be rescheduled for later in 2021.
The reason for joining the forum is to have available information not usually found within the regular workshop manuals as I am presently in the process of refurbishing an extremely neglected Thunderbird 900 from 1994 (T300). The bike belongs to a fellow club member who, through medical problems, hasn't been able to ride for a couple of years. The bike has sat outside under a cover in all weathers and it was performing really badly prior to that.
Now that it is in my workshop I have made a start on getting this old girl back on the road. The surprising thing was the Motobatt battery taking a charge despite the long time since it saw any action and the electrics all appear to work. The engine turns over and there are fat sparks at the plugs but it won't run so I have taken the carbs off for a strip down and deep clean. When taking the carbs off, I noticed the inlet rubber on Cyl 2 was split and there were signs of perishing on the other two so they will be getting replaced. While the carbs are getting worked on I'll check the valve clearances, change the oil & filter, fit new spark plugs and flush out the cooling system......the existing coolant looks like it hasn't been changed since she left the factory.
Once the engine is sorted out and running nicely I will then turn my attention to the chassis. The brake calipers and front forks will need a rebuild but apart from a thorough cleaning and rereasing, I'm hoping that she will be ready for a roadworthiness test then get her back on the road.
Wish me luck, I reckon I'm going to need it......
The Sprint is a great machine and to date, I haven't made any modifications apart from the fitment of a Tom Tom Satnav unit. Due to the Covid restrictions within the UK, I have only done a couple of thousand miles since buying it but I'm hoping that a trip to Poland and Germany which was cancelled last year can be rescheduled for later in 2021.
The reason for joining the forum is to have available information not usually found within the regular workshop manuals as I am presently in the process of refurbishing an extremely neglected Thunderbird 900 from 1994 (T300). The bike belongs to a fellow club member who, through medical problems, hasn't been able to ride for a couple of years. The bike has sat outside under a cover in all weathers and it was performing really badly prior to that.
Now that it is in my workshop I have made a start on getting this old girl back on the road. The surprising thing was the Motobatt battery taking a charge despite the long time since it saw any action and the electrics all appear to work. The engine turns over and there are fat sparks at the plugs but it won't run so I have taken the carbs off for a strip down and deep clean. When taking the carbs off, I noticed the inlet rubber on Cyl 2 was split and there were signs of perishing on the other two so they will be getting replaced. While the carbs are getting worked on I'll check the valve clearances, change the oil & filter, fit new spark plugs and flush out the cooling system......the existing coolant looks like it hasn't been changed since she left the factory.
Once the engine is sorted out and running nicely I will then turn my attention to the chassis. The brake calipers and front forks will need a rebuild but apart from a thorough cleaning and rereasing, I'm hoping that she will be ready for a roadworthiness test then get her back on the road.
Wish me luck, I reckon I'm going to need it......
Welcome, from Northern California.
TO TT.
