hi there. my front brake doesnt work the rear stop light, si i wish to put a hydraulic switch in. any advice, tips would be good. the main thing i want to know is what thread is the stock brake line. think ill tap into the metal line. the switch is 3/8 unc, are the the othr 2 female ports 3/8 unc as well? thanks in advance
T 160 Installation Of Hydraulic Front Brake Switch
- Thread starter 73head
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All original Lockheed hose and pipe threads AP (Automotive Products) supplied to Triumph were 3/8"UNF - Fine; highly surprised if a pressurised thread is really UNC (Coarse). The Lucas pressure switch Triumph used 79 on was also 3/8"UNF.
Ime, difficult.
Easier is to use the off the shelf T piece Triumph also used 79 on, also has 3/8"UNF threads. Turn it so the T horizontal is vertical, screw it on to the end of the rubber hose poking through the lower yoke stanchion eyebolt (use a copper washer as a spacer if necessary). Screw the pressure switch in directly above the rubber hose. As you are in Australia, you have ADR, you need a marked hose - use Goodridge Buildaline (because is has UNF ends as standard) between the T and the standard hose poking through the top yoke.
hi rudie, thanks for taking the time to answer my question. i did mean UNF but for some rreason i put down UNC. sorry fot the confusion.
that sounds like a good plan what you suggest.
so you are sayng connect t piece to part# 60-4175 into # 60-4338 ? i was thinking it might look better spliced into #60-4388 out of the way so to speak. either way i get were youre at.
i dont know why the front lever doesnt work the rear stop light and it would seem easier on face value to simply go with the hydraulic switch. i believe from reports that the internals of the mechanical switch can be fraufgt with danger. id like to pull the lever mechanism apart to service and clean so if the stop light is repairable then good, if not i have the backup of the hydraulic switch.
where do you feel the best place to wire into would be? i will be using correct colour wires and would prefer to keep it as stock looking as possible.
thanks in advance, wayne
Just 60-4175.
60-4338 is shaped to connect between the end of 60-4518 or 60-4177 poking through the top yoke and the end of 60-4175 poking through bottom yoke stanchion clamp eyebolt so, if you connect the 79 on T piece (60-7176) to 60-4175, the bottom end of 60-4338 will not fit.
This is over simplifying - a certain length would have to be cut from 60-4338 to accommodate the T piece, you would need to obtain two 3/8"UNF male steel pipe ends and the flaring tool to secure them to the cut ends of the pipe. Once the T-piece and switch is assembled, it is heavy; 79 on, the Co-op mounted it on a bracket to iirc one of the lower yoke stanchion clamp bolts.
Otoh, fit the T piece as I have suggested, select the correct length of Goodridge Buildaline (it must end up S shaped because hose bends must be minimum 1-1/2" radius) and ends to fit the T piece and the hose end poking through the top yoke, screw the bits together ...
Not "danger", just the standard switch in the T160 master cylinder mounting was poor quality even when new ime.
The Norton Commando already used a pressure switch, NVT only made two bikes, no idea why they contrived completely different parts to do exactly the same job on the other bike? 
Ime.
Another can of worms ...
Mounted as I have suggested, the switch ends up just below the drive side wiring grommet in the bottom of the headlight shell, the switch wires' main loom connections are inside the headlight shell.
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thanks rudie, everything you have said is very easy to get my head around. i am awaiting a t piece in the mail ( not original) but will suffice. i have a flairing tool etc but am not very experienced. this t 160 i bought was imported from america in 2017 by an old man that also has 2 of the orange and yellow 1973 i think they are called xr 75s and about 10 other very nice bikes, if the pile of receipts are to be believed, the man he bought it off in usa spent considerable money on a total nut for nut rebuild (2012-2013) but i dont think anything has been done since so im thinking that if i spend a little bit of money i will have a pretty special bike. im very excited. thanks for your help, wayneJust 60-4175.
60-4338 is shaped to connect between the end of 60-4518 or 60-4177 poking through the top yoke and the end of 60-4175 poking through bottom yoke stanchion clamp eyebolt so, if you connect the 79 on T piece (60-7176) to 60-4175, the bottom end of 60-4338 will not fit.
This is over simplifying - a certain length would have to be cut from 60-4338 to accommodate the T piece, you would need to obtain two 3/8"UNF male steel pipe ends and the flaring tool to secure them to the cut ends of the pipe. Once the T-piece and switch is assembled, it is heavy; 79 on, the Co-op mounted it on a bracket to iirc one of the lower yoke stanchion clamp bolts.
Otoh, fit the T piece as I have suggested, select the correct length of Goodridge Buildaline (it must end up S shaped because hose bends must be minimum 1-1/2" radius) and ends to fit the T piece and the hose end poking through the top yoke, screw the bits together ...
Not "danger", just the standard switch in the T160 master cylinder mounting was poor quality even when new ime.
Ime.
Another can of worms ...
Mounted as I have suggested, the switch ends up just below the drive side wiring grommet in the bottom of the headlight shell, the switch wires' main loom connections are inside the headlight shell.
Lordmac
Well-Known Member
I, for one, would like to see a photo of this when finished.
i will take some before and after shots for sure.
It occurred to me there might be another way of mounting the T piece out of the way - use the pipes either side of the T piece as used on 79 on twins. These are 60-7177 - connects the hose end through the top yoke to the T piece - and 60-7178 - connects the T piece to the hose end through the bottom yoke stanchion clamp.
Connecting the two pipes and the T piece is not completely bolt on because 79 on twin yokes are closer together vertically than T160 yokes so, used on a T160, you have to rebend at least the top pipe to fit between the hose end through the top yoke and the T piece.
thanks mate. im working out which way to go. the way it was before i started thinking about it the join at 60-4338 into 60-4175 was held to the leg by a cable tie. there was some sort of remnant of a bracket that was broken, hence the cable tie. but its not clear at this stage what the broken bracket was fixed to. to have it all looking normal and sweet and after splicing in the tee piece there will be enough length left the fabricate a bracket securing the join to the pinch bolt. the tee piece will be tucked under the headlight somewhere. i cant see the weight playing to big a part. i will give that a crack. maybe get hold of a few feet of new pipe and bend up a nice new fresh shiny one, cheers
If you do not have a parts book already, https://partsbooks.britishonly.com/partsbooks/20-10125C.pdf :-
. the front brake parts are on paper pages 58/59 (pages 60/61 in that pdf);
. 60-4338 is a shaped steel pipe part number 25, 60-4175 is the rubber hose part number 23;
. turn to the "Front Fork" pages (54/55 in the book, 56/57in that pdf), locate part number 7 - 97-4476 "Pinch bolt", note it has an 'eye' drawn on it;
. 97-4476 fits through the bottom yoke beside the drive-side fork stanchion; with one of Nut number 9, the bolt's primary purpose is to clamp ("pinch") the bottom yoke around the drive side stanchion;
. however, the 'eye' on specifically the drive side Pinch bolt is to mount the joint between 60-4175 and 60-4338; if the 60-4175 on your bike is correct, its threaded end is long enough to: pass through the Pinch bolt 'eye', be secured with Locknut 27 (60-4180 on the parts book "Front Brake" pages) and still have enough thread protruding for the nut on the lower end of 60-4338 to connect.
To be clear, the lower end of 60-4175 is also fixed to a bracket by another 60-4180 Locknut - Bracket 29 - 97-5055, mounted on the fork slider with the same 1/4" bolts than secure the drive side of the mudguard mounting to the fork slider.
To be honest, you are reinventing the wheel - Triumph already did all this on 79 onwards twins:-
. parts book https://partsbooks.britishonly.com/partsbooks/20-10114C.pdf;
. pages 58/59 again, the drawing and parts list are exactly the same as the T160 except parts 40-47 replace 60-4338 on a T160, the t piece has a mounting hole already, all the parts are on the shelf in a good dealer; as I have posted already, all you will need to do is rebend parts 40 and 42 a little so they plus part 41 fit between T160 yokes.
on my bike the pinch bolt has no eye to accomadate the join. its simply a plain bolt and nut. now i can see what the broken bracket thingy i was talking about is...the pinch bolt still connected between the top hard line and the rubber line but has been broken and ground down, hence the cable tie. and a pinch bolt matching the other side is in play. i can see the whole deal now. everything has just dropped into place for me. ill try to get part # 977746 and that will sort it all out. not knowing the bike and only having it for 2 weeks the broken pinch bolt that was still being utilised between the hard and soft line made things a bit hard to comprehend. thankyou man. learning where to get bits also is a new thing for me. its easy to just import, there are suppliers on every corner in the uk. here its not so.
"reinventing the wheel" that very funny thanks for your help thus far. ill chase that part up now.
I wish. I dealt by post even when I lived in London, unless one of the then two dealers was between home and wherever I happened to be working.
The two dealers I know of in Oz are Union Jack Motorcycles and Trojan Motorcycles. The next-nearest are two in Unzud; I've dealt with British Spares, no problems.
Most of the T160's front end parts are common to all 73 onwards triples and twins. There are a few gotchas but, if you ask before you buy until you get a feel for spotting differences?
One thing to bear in mind with the T160 brakes is they were "o.k." in the mid 1970's when the bikes were new, but the front brake is exactly the same as on the lighter T150 and much lighter 750 twins. I am relatively certain, had the T160 stayed in production for even only a couple of years, it would have been fitted with a second front disc, as the contemporary CB750, GS750, GPZ750, etc. were. The twin disc parts from the later Triumph twins bolt on and improve the front brake very usefully, just they are not cheap.
thanks rudie
sorry its taken so long to get back. lots has happened. i taught myself how to double flare brake lines and have the switch on now. not wired up, my sparky mate is going to sort that out. i put a kit through the carbies. the rubbers between the head and carb are new ones i put on as well as a t 150 style air filter. any hints on hotw to stabilise the setup. there appears to be a fair bit of flex in the whole unit. waiting on a new battery so will be attempting to start it on wednesday. cheers
