Tbird big bore

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dazco

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Finally got it back and got a couple rides in. The ride home didn't count because i was freezing cold, had 50 Lbs worth of old parts (cams, pistons, sleeves, etc) in a backpack tearing my shoulders out of thier sockets, traffic was horrible, and it was all freeway. But i rode yesterday and today, so i have a good feel for it. What can i say....it hauls a$$. :D really, theres not a lot to say other than it's now a real brute. Seems like it would do just over 2 seconds 0-60 if you got a good start. I don't do that tho....that is, dump the clutch from a stop to get a burning jump like that. But from a slow roll of 3-5 MPH, when you wack the throttle you're at 70 so quick it's nuts. 100 mph is the new 80. You'll hit the ton real quick when on the freeway and you decide to roll it on.

I never rode a sportbike or the tiger or any of those, and no doubt they would slaughter me. But i don't think you're gonna find too make non sporties that will keep up with it. There are some of course, the R3, Vrod, maybe the M109. But it's up there now. The power is considerably better. Not sure how else to put it. It's not shockingly better, it's not disappointing in the least. It's just a very considerable jump in power that i would recommend to any tbird owner. Put it this way...it feels like double the increase percentage wise that i got with the speedmaster by drilling out the airbox, thunderbike pipes, nology coils and wires, side gapped irridium plugs, uni filter, and rejet. It's just hard to describe. But it flat out moves now.....love it ! The bike is otherwise almost the same....no more vibration, just a slightly lower frequency, a slightly deeper tone but not by a lot. The only negative so far, and i'm not sure about this so i may be wrong, but it seems to gulp fuel faster. Granted i've been riding it hard, but when i rode it hard as a 1600 the gauge didn't seem to drop as fast. Oh, and he told me not to baby it during break in so hence the hard riding. One more thing of note....looking at the old jugs i was surprised to find after 12k miles they looked brand new. The cross honing marks look like they were done today and the jugs were never used.....like the rings haven't even marked them in the least! I guess nikasil+water cooling=zero wear. Of course you have a lot of other wearing parts that can go first. But i think it shows the quality triumph puts into these bikes.

Anyways, weather is about to turn again and even the best looking days in the long range forecast aren't great. So it may be a while B4 i get to dump the break in oil and fill her with full synth. I think at that point it's going to be even better. But as is right now it's a beast, and too darn fun. :y115:
 
No, but i'm sure they are the biggest reason for the change since theres no increase in CR. It's very obvious that triumph really de-tuned the heck out of the 1600 on purpose for marketing reasons. The 1700 is street legal yet so much stronger. So the cams for the 1700 are likely not hot at all, just the typical max profile that they could get away with while meeting emissions standards. It's been said and i'm sure it's true that it was developed to be a 1700 then detuned it as a 1600 for a base model. Smart move because it really worked. people bought the 1600 at what was thought to be a fantastic price for such a bike, but then most had the kit installed. This way they profit another $900 for the kit and more importantly create a high profit service fee for the dealers for the BB install. I really believe there was intention there to get more work for the dealers because as we know triumph has a harder time getting and keeping dealers than other brands. Since i first went back to riding with triumph in '05 i have seen 2 dealers close and not one new one. So with the BB kit install at $900 for labor i'm sure it helps them a lot because it's one of the few service jobs nearly no owner would do themselves.

I think it's still a good buy for what you get because while a HD in the same league is about the same cost as a 1700 Tbird with enough chrome accessories to compete cosmetically, the triumph is far superior in performance in all areas. Not sure if a vrod could easily outrun me, but it definitely couldn't in the twisties and no other HD model would even come close. Heck, i use to outrun many of them on my speedmaster. How the %$#@ they gonna outrun this thing ! Of course i ain't gonna run with your new toy silli ! :ya2:
 
Wow Dale this really sounds very cool now the riding begins again just as if it were a new bike. Of course there will be a few more tweaks that you will need to do after a few more month just to get the little bit extra out of it :y114:
 
Well, i WILL consider having the engine replaced with a jet helicpoter engine lake jay leno eventually, but not for 6 months at least. :ya2: Seriously, I'm sure i WILL go for any simple tweaks, but at this point i'm also sure i'm not going to be chomping at the bit for that at all. The shorties almost satisfied me, so as you can imagine this will keep me quite happy. But If and when someone with my setup, or my setup w/small easily done and reversible changes uploads a map that he's showing gains with, i'd certainly go for that since all i'd have to do is connect my laptop and push a button, then do it again if i don't like it. But i'm not about to do anything like airbox removal and all that. I'd rather spend my money on more chrome. I must admit, i love chrome ! :y114:
 
I sure you should be seeing some maps coming your way soon as it has been long enough now. Chrome is nice but not when you start going over the top then it gets a bit too shiny for my taste :y114:
 
I like a pretty good amount of chrome, but i have my limits too. As one Tbird guy called them, i see too many harleys with so much chrome and other gaudy cosmetics they look like a "parade float'. :ya2: But there are 3 more things i would like to get in chrome because they are really crying out for it. No more chrome just for chrome's sake, but only where i feel it needs it and there are 3 places it really does.
 
The pulley because it's got this horrid sandy sorta finish that is one of those things that make you say" what the %$#@ were they thinking". And the upper and lower triple clamps because they are unfinished polished aluminum which looks a lot like chrome, but all you have to do is drag a cleaning cloth across polished aluminum and it gets those fine scratches which keep it looking a bit nasty. I'm sure they did this on purpose to sell accessories. Thats it tho. I already got all the handlebar chrome, IE: switch housings and brake fluid res. cover. Then the Tbars got rid of the risers the stock bars had which were also polished aluminum, and i got the chrome forklegs. I've spent so much now i'm going to wait for a while if and when i decide to get the last 3.
 
Well that is not too much more chrome and it should finish it off nicely. Just had a look at the pic and it sure is looking good but could do with a good clean by the looks of it, rather dirty don't you think :oh: :ya2: :ya2:
 
[quote author=CarlS link=topic=11265.msg54351#msg54351 date=1291208017]
Nice photo of a great looking ride! It looks really good, Dale.:y115:
[/quote]

Thanks, but just wait till i clean it. :y24:
 

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