mtnbkr01201
Member
Just wanted to share.
Hi out there Guys and Gals ( I know the ladies are out there too)
I hadn't had a motorcycle under me for more then twenty years, my last one was a fully chopped 73 TR7RV.
Well I got tired of wishing I had another Triumph, and finally committed myself and what ever resources I could come up with and placed an ad on Craig's list, for a Triumph - 73 or earlier, 650cc or bigger, parts missing don't matter, totally apart and in boxes and crates - don't care.
Very shortly after placing the ad - a gentleman (John) near Boston e-mails me telling me he has a bike in his shed he needs to get rid of as he needed the room in the shed for his landscaping business, said it was a 73 750 Tiger, and that it had just sat there for 17 years without moving (at this point I figured everything is frozen - or seized up, and will need a complete rebuild.
I never asked what he wanted for it, I didn't care the cost, all I know is I NEEDED to get my grubby little mitts on it, that it'll cost me big in the end, what I did ask for was if he could send me a picture or two of it, when he sent them - I fell in love, no no - not with my X-wife again, but with the most beautiful piece of crap I've ever seen, I HAD TO HAVE IT.
I e-mailed John back and asked what he wanted for it and can I make a few payments for it, he e-mails back and says (OMFreakinG) he was going to ask $500 to a thousand for it.
So I calmly type back to John "I'VE GOT TO HAVE THIS BIKE" I'll gladly give you the thousand dollars for it, told him it was a beautiful bike, I let him know that my last bike was 73 TR7RV - so I pretty much knew the engine.
He then tells me the bike is no longer for sale...............that when he has MY money - the bike is mine, says payments are just fine, that I can take half a year if I wish, the bike isn't going anywhere, IT TOOK ME ONE MONTH, and my friend Matt from work and I went to get it, it was about the distance of Pittsfield Ma, to just south of the Framingham Ma, area.
Had to drag it out of the shed backwards with the wheels locked up, by the time we got it to the pick-up (Matt's Truck) I had both wheels turning, I'm Irish and far more stubborn then that bike.
Got it home, gave it a good bath, and for the hell of it decided to see how bad the motor was seized up, so got out the Marvel Mystery Oil, took out the plugs, and just before pouring any in - gave the kicker a push - and the engine turned over quite freely, normally, and I think
.
I replace the oil, clean out the fuel system, rebuild the carbs, static time the engine, and with the points the were in the bike - I got a spark, it wouldn't fire, so I started priming the carb with gas, nothing, did this for about half an hour, got out the winter starting fluid, gave it a spray with the throttle wide open, put the can down (away from the bike), gave it a kick and it popped, and it smelled great, well I went through a quarter can of spray and three hours of kicking and I had it idling, and for three days after had no instep on my right foot.
I of course did a few more things to it to make it a bit more reliable for that first year, I got 63 miles to the gallon all year.
Now I had all kinds of grandiose ideas for the bike, for the way it looked, and the way it ran.
I came into a small bit of money, and that winter I rebuilt the engine, just the engine, with almost four grand, I had the chance to do what I've always wanted to do, I grew up in the early 60's with NHRA in my blood, so I was really born with a disease that makes me want to go fast on a quarter mile strip - on a Triumph, so let me list what I did to it in hopes of taking it to the local drag strip in Lebanon NY just to play, and maybe even kick the butt of a larger bike.
First I made sure I got all the essenals, such as complete gasket kits, SHCS for all the covers, then picked up a set of heads on E-bay ( 73 T140V ) so I cam run two carbs, and other assorted smaller items.
Then I started getting to the real meat, Mega cycle cams, a pair of 32mm Mikuni’s, sent the cylinders to a local shop for .040 ( RPM cycle ), sent the heads down to MAP cycle in Florida ( after having polished some of the fins ), Mariano and his crew resurfaced the mating surface, added NASCAR 45 valve guide’s - reamed, new valve surfaces, Black Diamond valves, high performance springs, bead blasted the heads clean first, even went as far as taping off the work I did, heli-coiled one of the rocker bolt holes, the heads came back perfect.
The next big purchase was a belt drive primary and dry clutch pack, a new pair of 40 over high compression tight quench pistons, new copper head gasket opened up to the size of the cylinders for the new pistons, the edge of the piston go’s up higher then the edge of the gasket.
I wanted also the get away from needing to use points, so I added a Pazon Sure Fire elec, ign.
The first box came defective, sent it back, get the new box in place where the rolled up tool pouch go’s.
‘R’ tappets, racing push rods, and KN filters.
650 1 3/4" diameter baffled pipes.
It is said that if you need to make changes - do one or two at a time - in case anything go’s wrong, as sometimes things Do, well, I made a whole mess of changes - and spent the entire next year trying my hardest to keep up with all the new bugs - and habits it developed, I had to literally re-learn the engine completely, it did become a different animal then before.
At the beginning of last year - when I got her out of the cellar, changed the oil, gave it a good taste of gas, everything I did to it - and all the catching up, came together, it ran awesome, and strong, stronger and far faster off the line the ANY bike I’ve owned prior, and sounds great, at idle waiting for a light - it sits there and does a cam three step ( I love that sound ), when I take off and open it up - it gives a load Harley like growl, but only the way a Triumph can.
Since then I’ve had a ball on Tiger, attended a bunch of events around my area, and done a lot of long rides with confidence as she’s been the most reliable bike to date, still gives me a headache from time to time, it eats a lot of chains, I go through a new rear tire a year, and I hardly do any burn outs.
It also eats a spark on average - one plug a week and the right cylinder, I believe it developed a harmonic vibration that kills spark plugs, NGK’s don’t even last my engine more then 3/4 of a single day - no lie.
And out side of slightly more then occasional drip of oil, and keeping up with nuts and bolts that try jumping ship, what a great bike, and it STILL looks like crap.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Bill G. An Irishman on a Limey
Hi out there Guys and Gals ( I know the ladies are out there too)
I hadn't had a motorcycle under me for more then twenty years, my last one was a fully chopped 73 TR7RV.
Well I got tired of wishing I had another Triumph, and finally committed myself and what ever resources I could come up with and placed an ad on Craig's list, for a Triumph - 73 or earlier, 650cc or bigger, parts missing don't matter, totally apart and in boxes and crates - don't care.
Very shortly after placing the ad - a gentleman (John) near Boston e-mails me telling me he has a bike in his shed he needs to get rid of as he needed the room in the shed for his landscaping business, said it was a 73 750 Tiger, and that it had just sat there for 17 years without moving (at this point I figured everything is frozen - or seized up, and will need a complete rebuild.
I never asked what he wanted for it, I didn't care the cost, all I know is I NEEDED to get my grubby little mitts on it, that it'll cost me big in the end, what I did ask for was if he could send me a picture or two of it, when he sent them - I fell in love, no no - not with my X-wife again, but with the most beautiful piece of crap I've ever seen, I HAD TO HAVE IT.
I e-mailed John back and asked what he wanted for it and can I make a few payments for it, he e-mails back and says (OMFreakinG) he was going to ask $500 to a thousand for it.
So I calmly type back to John "I'VE GOT TO HAVE THIS BIKE" I'll gladly give you the thousand dollars for it, told him it was a beautiful bike, I let him know that my last bike was 73 TR7RV - so I pretty much knew the engine.
He then tells me the bike is no longer for sale...............that when he has MY money - the bike is mine, says payments are just fine, that I can take half a year if I wish, the bike isn't going anywhere, IT TOOK ME ONE MONTH, and my friend Matt from work and I went to get it, it was about the distance of Pittsfield Ma, to just south of the Framingham Ma, area.
Had to drag it out of the shed backwards with the wheels locked up, by the time we got it to the pick-up (Matt's Truck) I had both wheels turning, I'm Irish and far more stubborn then that bike.
Got it home, gave it a good bath, and for the hell of it decided to see how bad the motor was seized up, so got out the Marvel Mystery Oil, took out the plugs, and just before pouring any in - gave the kicker a push - and the engine turned over quite freely, normally, and I think
.I replace the oil, clean out the fuel system, rebuild the carbs, static time the engine, and with the points the were in the bike - I got a spark, it wouldn't fire, so I started priming the carb with gas, nothing, did this for about half an hour, got out the winter starting fluid, gave it a spray with the throttle wide open, put the can down (away from the bike), gave it a kick and it popped, and it smelled great, well I went through a quarter can of spray and three hours of kicking and I had it idling, and for three days after had no instep on my right foot.
I of course did a few more things to it to make it a bit more reliable for that first year, I got 63 miles to the gallon all year.
Now I had all kinds of grandiose ideas for the bike, for the way it looked, and the way it ran.
I came into a small bit of money, and that winter I rebuilt the engine, just the engine, with almost four grand, I had the chance to do what I've always wanted to do, I grew up in the early 60's with NHRA in my blood, so I was really born with a disease that makes me want to go fast on a quarter mile strip - on a Triumph, so let me list what I did to it in hopes of taking it to the local drag strip in Lebanon NY just to play, and maybe even kick the butt of a larger bike.
First I made sure I got all the essenals, such as complete gasket kits, SHCS for all the covers, then picked up a set of heads on E-bay ( 73 T140V ) so I cam run two carbs, and other assorted smaller items.
Then I started getting to the real meat, Mega cycle cams, a pair of 32mm Mikuni’s, sent the cylinders to a local shop for .040 ( RPM cycle ), sent the heads down to MAP cycle in Florida ( after having polished some of the fins ), Mariano and his crew resurfaced the mating surface, added NASCAR 45 valve guide’s - reamed, new valve surfaces, Black Diamond valves, high performance springs, bead blasted the heads clean first, even went as far as taping off the work I did, heli-coiled one of the rocker bolt holes, the heads came back perfect.
The next big purchase was a belt drive primary and dry clutch pack, a new pair of 40 over high compression tight quench pistons, new copper head gasket opened up to the size of the cylinders for the new pistons, the edge of the piston go’s up higher then the edge of the gasket.
I wanted also the get away from needing to use points, so I added a Pazon Sure Fire elec, ign.
The first box came defective, sent it back, get the new box in place where the rolled up tool pouch go’s.
‘R’ tappets, racing push rods, and KN filters.
650 1 3/4" diameter baffled pipes.
It is said that if you need to make changes - do one or two at a time - in case anything go’s wrong, as sometimes things Do, well, I made a whole mess of changes - and spent the entire next year trying my hardest to keep up with all the new bugs - and habits it developed, I had to literally re-learn the engine completely, it did become a different animal then before.
At the beginning of last year - when I got her out of the cellar, changed the oil, gave it a good taste of gas, everything I did to it - and all the catching up, came together, it ran awesome, and strong, stronger and far faster off the line the ANY bike I’ve owned prior, and sounds great, at idle waiting for a light - it sits there and does a cam three step ( I love that sound ), when I take off and open it up - it gives a load Harley like growl, but only the way a Triumph can.
Since then I’ve had a ball on Tiger, attended a bunch of events around my area, and done a lot of long rides with confidence as she’s been the most reliable bike to date, still gives me a headache from time to time, it eats a lot of chains, I go through a new rear tire a year, and I hardly do any burn outs.
It also eats a spark on average - one plug a week and the right cylinder, I believe it developed a harmonic vibration that kills spark plugs, NGK’s don’t even last my engine more then 3/4 of a single day - no lie.
And out side of slightly more then occasional drip of oil, and keeping up with nuts and bolts that try jumping ship, what a great bike, and it STILL looks like crap.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Bill G. An Irishman on a Limey
DEAL!!!!
