Kawasaki Concours C14 1400GTR Valve Check Part 3.2: frame reassembly after a valve job

 Some pictures to help me put this complicated 3d puzzle back together again properly.

https://www.kawasaki.com/en-us/owner-center/parts/5128/2010/ZG1400CAF

https://www.kawasaki.com/en-us/owner-center/parts/5127/2010/ZG1400CAF

Prioritizing Work and Saving My Patience for What Matters

I was talking to Alan Seeley on email who now writes for Classic Bike (UK) Magazine. I told him about the s*** show that was trying to order used parts from eBay to keep the old Tiger in motion. He put me in touch with Chris Jagger and also put my issue into the letters section of the magazine. Chris's advice is that there are weak points on these bikes and as they age they get retired because of the lack of support. If you're going to take on a Hinkley Triumph, even a relatively recent one, don't expect the kind of support you'd get from other manufacturers.

I've sorted out '90s Fireblades and Honda never blinked when I was looking for parts. Suzuki is legendary with how they look after their engineering history, and Kawasaki has also been nothing but solid when I was working on older machines. I actually found it easier to find parts for a 53 year old Meriden Triumph than I have with much newer Hinkley machines. I've said it before and I'll say it again, for a company that markets on their history so heavily, Triumph vanishes when it comes to providing parts support, even for recent machines.

I took Chris's advice and went looking for backup used parts. This time around I found a throttle body that looked like it has spent some time in an archeological dig, and it arrived in a beaten up box but this time the seller padded it well and the plastic bits were intact. I cleaned and dismantled the unit and now have spare throttle bodies, fuel injectors and a complete idle control housing along with all the other odds and ends.

When I put the Tiger back together I tried putting pins in the broken wires on the fuel sender but it didn't work. I got a replacement fuel sender, but this time from a US eBay parts provider. I foolishly thought the shipping would be less but eBay surprised me with a surcharge on delivery that was 3x the shipping costs. Both the throttle body and the fuel sender came in on the same week. The throttle parts were much bigger and heavier and came from the UK with no surprise surcharge and the shipping cost was 30% lower. The moral here? Don't buy used parts on eBay if it's from an American based seller - you'll get caned by US Post surcharges. No so with UK suppliers.

The good news is the new part works well, but not without other teething problems. That age of this bike is really starting to show. The wires had broken in the sender unit but unbeknownst to me they'd also broken on the other side of the connector, so when I first plugged the new unit in I got nothing. After taking the tape off I discovered the broken wire, cut off the connector, crimped on new plugs and it works a treat.

While I was waiting on parts I pulled the valve cover and checked the valves just to make sure they weren't what might be causing the stalling and hesitation.

I'd last done this perhaps ten thousand miles and a couple of years ago - everything was still within spec. It's an afternoon to do it but worth knowing that the valves aren't the issue. That also gave me a chance to go over the seals on the airbox and pipes, clean and check the spark plugs, put a spacer on the throttle return to stop it stalling and wire in a bypass to the battery so it's showing 13 volts when running now (the wiring for the battery is byzantine and loses voltage over time). I also rebalanced the throttle bodies while I was in there.

With the new fuel sender in, I've had the Tiger out multiple times over the past week. It doesn't stall! It starts reasonably easily, Shows 12.8-13.2 volts when running (it used to hover around 12), and the throttle action is close to what it was before things went sideways.

How am I able to apply such patience to the Tiger? I sold the Bonneville!  Got what I paid for it and took a hit on some of the new parts I'd purchased, but with it gone I've got more room both in the garage and in me head to work on the Tiger.

The old Bonnie was interesting to work on during COVID but I'm still young enough to be motivated by riding rather than spending endless days in retirement hunting for expensive parts and installing them. Having two frustrating Triumphs was one too many, and since the Tiger's going to start demanding engineering rather than just mechanics if I want to keep it in motion, it was time to let go of my first attempt at (the eye wateringly expensive world of) vintage restoration. I like my projects to be more recent sidelined bikes - the '97 Fireblade remains a highlight (that I made money on!).

The Bonnie project had stalled out when I realized I was a grand in on new parts and nowhere close to being able to ride the thing. In retrospect I should have picked one of the other running options, but I went for the romantic Triumph option... and regretted it. An alternate reality Tim went for the BSA trials bitza and is deeply involved in vintage trials right now.

Links & Pics

Valve cover off on the Tiger. It's pretty easy to get into - other than having to wiggle the cover out the right side under the frame - which actually caused problems on the reinstall when the gasket didn't sit right and the bike barfed expensive synthetic oil all over the garage floor when I restarted it- but I'm not going to mention that in the blog.

With the Bonnie and bits gone, there is much room (both mentally and physically) to get on with keeping the Tiger in motion. The Kawasaki remains rock solid.

Used on Triumph models up until  four years ago - they don't make these any more.

I'm taking the broken one to bits and measuring all the bits. I currently have two plans: 1) digitally 3d model the part and look into 3d printing options with fuel proof materials. Nylon filament printing seems to be the fuel-proof material of choice. Lots of services out there. 2) is to build my own copper/steampunk version of this plastic bit using copper piping and fittings.

My pins in the connectors attempt with the old fuel sender didn't cut it.

I thought the C14 might have an oil leak, but it turned out to be the oil in the fairing after the spring oil change. After a thorough cleaning it's running like a (oil tight) top.

Here are some details on the voltage fixes for 955i Tigers. Running the wire from the reg/rec to the battery was straightforward:

Sasquatch voltage fix:

https://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php?topic=3843.75  is lost to the internet (those Hinkley Triumph support forums are dying out).

https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/sasquatch-link-please.1267616/

https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/tiger-electrical-upgrades.496199/

Reg/Rec update:

https://www.triumphrat.net/threads/charging-system-diagnostics-rectifier-regulator-upgrade.104504/

This is the Fuel Level Sender: Part Number: T2400526 that needed a swap...

Thanks to the massive shipping surprise it would have been cheaper for me to buy this new from a dealer (assuming they haven't discontinued it). Don't buy used parts from U.S. based eBay parts providers! It's not their fault, but eBay makes a mess of US/Canada shipping.

Going Aftermarket with Kawasaki GTR1400/C14 Tire Pressure Sensors

I soldered a new battery into the rear temperature sensor on the Concours when I changed the back tire last year after picking up a puncture. The front was starting to get sluggish when connecting wirelessly, suggesting the battery was dying and the front tire was due a change, so I did that one in the fall. Unfortunately the sensor didn't pick up signal after reinstallation. Rather than beat up that old sensor again I started looking for alternative options.

I love a good hack, and Big Red walks you through one here on how to take aftermarket tire pressure sensors, program them to your stock Kawasaki and then use them instead of expensive stock items. The coding unit is $230, but works on anything, meaning I'm not beholden to a dealer for tire pressure sensors on the cars in the future either. A pack of 2 sensors is $95, so all together a full sensor replacement on the bike including the tool needed to program them was $325. The stock sensors are $258 each, so an eye watering $516 for the pair. $200 cheaper and I have the tool that's usable across a wide range of vehicles. That's my kind of hack!

How did it go? After all the frustrations with the Tiger and Triumph, the C14 reminded me how nice it is to work on a bike that's supported by its manufacturer, riders and the aftermarket.. When I compare the thriving online communities at COG and other online forums that support Kawasaki ownership, I can only think, 'way to go team green.' By comparison I read a post on one of the Triumph forums that said, 'these forums are dead. Everyone is giving up on these old bikes..." Except the bikes in question are not that old.

When I walked into my local Kawasaki dealer and ordered parts for my mid-nineties C10 there a few years ago there was never an issue. If I hop into an online forum for the Kwak I see an active community full of ideas and support.  Most of the Hinckley Triumph forums for anything over 15 years old are derelict. The posts on them are at least five years old giving you some idea of what trying to keep an older Hinckley Triumph on the road is like (ie: impossible - the manufacture considers them disposable bikes). It makes me question owning another one, which is a real shame because I wanted to believe in the brand, but they only market their history, they don't honour it by supporting owners in keeping old Hinckley machines in motion.

Back in the land of the living, Big Red's walkthrough was spot on. I popped one side of the new front tire off the rim and removed the 14 year old sensor. I couldn't see why it wasn't getting power - my soldering looked good - maybe a bad battery? No matter, new parts are going in.

If you know Big Red's Mazda 3 2004 sensor hack matches Concours ones, then the rest is straightforward. I set the MaxiTPMS unit to the Mazda settings and then put in the ID number from the old C14 sensor. The wireless upload only took a few seconds.

I could also check the sensor once it was programmed, which gave me some piece of mind before putting it all back in the tire. Though an alternative is to set the sensor when it's installed, which is also an option (the programming unit could still see and modify the sensor in situ). This also means I can test and even reset sensors without having to pull the tire in the future!

The whole process was straightforward, aided by a warm March day where I could leave the tire in the sun while I set the sensor. Warm tires are much easier to stretch over the rim!

I installed the new sensor which fits snugly in the rim. All the parts including the tool from Autel felt like quality pieces that will last. With the tire reinflated I put the wheel back in and torqued everything to spec while also making sure everything was grease free (especially the brake bits).

I took it up the street with the intention of riding around the block because that's how long it usually takes to get the dash reading the wheel pressures, but this new sensor had it showing in seconds - before I even got a hundred yards up the road. I checked it against the digital tire pressure gauge and it's right on the money in terms of accuracy.

It felt good to have a win in the garage after banging my head against the Tiger for so long. Speaking of which, I recently attempted to plastic weld the part they won't supply any more and as I was putting it back together the wiring broke off on the fuel level unit (because I've had the tank off so many f***ing times!).

I'm so bloody minded I'm going to try and solder the wire back on even though it broke in the worst possible spot (right at the unit so there isn't much to work with). The stock unit probably isn't available and is a salty $155 even if it is.  I'm doing this in part just to see if the latest attempt at keeping the old thing in motion works. The plastic welding on the idle speed control valve (which they don't even list in parts now) went well and the piece seems serviceable. I want to see if it works.

If I had more time I'd see if I could find an industrial CAD shop who could 3d scan it and then get me a file that I could use to 3d print a replacement. What would be even nicer would be if Triumph shared that CAD file with us all since they aren't bothered to produce the part anymore. With a bit of collaboration, the aftermarket could help keep older Hinckley Triumphs in motion.

As much as it pains me, I think I'm going to take Triumph's hint and let the Tiger go... which is something I never thought I'd say. So much for my goal of hitting 100k with it.

Links

Big Red's how to: https://zggtr.org/index.php?topic=25416.0

The parts you need: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07YYDDXXH?smid=A2S0RW9CKA3NU3&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp&th=1

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09QC4T48J?psc=1&smid=A3AMY38QRT4FIZ&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

What not to do...

$258 each for stock: https://www.blackfootonline.ca/sensor-tpms-315mhz-21176-1179

$175 US + shipping + customs on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/175070359610

It is actually nuclear powered - the plutonium goes in under than panel, like on Doc Brown's DeLorean...

The Struggle is Real: Trying to Keep a Triumph 955i Tiger on the Road

The 'Idle Speed Control Valve Housing' (Part Number: T1241064) continues to be a pain in my ass. This housing sits behind the throttle body on my 2003 Triumph Tiger 955i and it seems Triumph isn't supporting them anymore. My local dealer shrugged and said it isn't available any more, so I went further afield.

Blackfoot Motosports in Calgary's site seemed to suggest that they could provide this complex plastic piece that doesn't enjoy Canada's extreme temperature swings (I've gone through 2 of them so far). So I ordered it! Guess what:

That an O-ring should take 3 weeks is one thing, but the housing is obsolete? On a bike that's only just 20 years old? So, I did a little research. It turns out this product fits 84 vehicle variants across four Triumph Models between 1993 and 2020. A part that was in use on models four years ago is obsolete? That doesn't sound right.

No matter where I look the story is the same: this key part of the idle control system on thousands of bikes isn't available?  Being a determined sort, I looked to ebay for options and came across Bike Spares Barn in the UK. They take bikes traded in at dealers that are still running and on the road and dismantle them for parts, which is what I'm reduced to using with my Triumph.

They had a throttle body with the needed idle control housing on it along with an airbox. My airbox isn't in great shape so I got both parts. They worked out with shipping to be about $300CAD. It took a good 3 weeks for the parts to get here (I ordered right after the holidays so I can't really fault the timeline). The seller was very communicative with what was going on so, unlike some ordering experiences, I was never left wondering where things were.

The box finally arrived and looked like someone had been playing football with it. Two corners were mashed in and a piece of the airbox was sticking out of the box. I unwrapped it and everything looked OK so I began to clean and dismantle everything. The airbox was a good idea, this one is in much better shape than my 24 Canadian winters one, but the throttle body didn't fare so well. 

Inevitably, the only broken piece on the damned thing was the fragile idle housing, which was cracked around the base in exactly the same place that the one I'm trying to replace is.

So, I'm back where I started, but with a spare throttle body and two broken idle housings. This damned thing is so complicated that fabricating an alternative isn't likely. The three pipes on the bottom go out to each throttle body and servo sits inside that is moved up and down electrically adjusting the vacuum so passages open up to each throttle and modulate the idle so the bike doesn't stall. When this complex and fragile piece doesn't work as it should the bike hesitates on acceleration and stalls.

Obviously this wasn't the case because the bike it came from was working fine (they tested it before dismantling it), but it didn't survive ebay's international shipping service. I asked Bike Spares Barn what to do and they said to go through ebay's return/refund process, but ebay is cagey about sharing that anyware. Fortunately Peter at Bike Spares Barn helped me navigate the obfuscation and we've now gotten me a refund... but I'm still stuck without this part.

I've asked before and I'll say it again: if you're not willing or able to support your own machines, Triumph Motorbikes, how about sharing publicly the CAD files on this part so after market and crafty types like myself can fabricate our own? With the right fuel resistant plastic in a 3d printer, I could knock up my own version. But before I did I'd reinforce the model and design something more robust so I'm not left out in the cold again.

The happy face getting the solution to my problem in (the box on the bench)... then, well, you know what happened.

Finding Your Way Around OEM's Giving Up on Parts Support: Triumph 955i Fuel Injection Seals

With Triumph giving up on my Tiger before I'm prepared to, I'm going to document the research and give details on what works when you're trying to keep a Triumph 955i's fuel system working by replacing old o-rings.

This has involved a crash course in o-rings and engine operating temperatures. As I work out a fix here I'll post details on o-ring sizing, what type works and include data on measuring the intake manifold at temperature.

It's been all Concours for the past few weeks while the Tiger is laid up. I'm hoping to get the fuel system sorted before the snows fly and I have to wait for next year.

Here are the measurements for the upper and lower fuel injector seals. The classy move by Triumph would be to open source publish the technical details for all the parts they no longer support so that the rest of us can get on with keeping the history of the marquee alive. With that in mind, here are the deets for the upper and lower fuel injector o-rings:

The thick ones go on top where the fuel injector meets the rail. My best guess is 3mm thick by 1.5cm outer circumference.

The skinny ones go on the bottom where the fuel injector slides into the intake manifold.

My best guess there is 2mm wide by 1.4mm outer circumference. 

Unfortunately, buying off the shelf boxes of o-rings isn't likely to get you anything that fits. The two below from Amazon didn't. This thing looks handy: https://www.allorings.com/O-Ring-AS568-Standard-Size-Chart.

The Tiger is a metric bike, so I'll work in mm (if Triumph went imperial on o-ring, what the actual f***). The thicker o-ring is 1.5cm or 15mm outside diameter (OD) and (I think) about 3.5mm cross section (CS). Looking at that chart, the #203 is a 14.58mm outer diameter with a 3.53mm cross section. That makes it mighty close. What would be nicer would be if Triumph just came out and gave us the precise sizes for these parts it has discontinued. Triumph?

The thinner one is also a 1.5 (ish) mm outer diameter (15mm-ish), but the cross section is thinner - perhaps two and a bit mm, and they have a 2.62mm cross section standard o-ring size. You'd have to hope Triumph didn't make bespoke o-rings for their fuel injectors, right? For the skinny o-ring I think I'd take a swing at the 2.62mm cross section / 14.43mm (1.443cm) size.

The All O-Rings site also has a good description of the materials you want to get your o-rings in. Nitrile and Viton are what I went with in the pointless Amazon order, but those are the materials you want in a fuel heavy application like this.

That's the configurator (right) - pretty straightforward, but it sounds like they manufacture each order, which probably won't make this a viable solution for someone just trying to keep their old Triumph on the road.

If only there was some kind of network of retailers who supported Triumph motorcycles who could order this parts to help their customers keep their older Triumphs rolling... some kind of 'dealer' network who understand how parts work and how to order this sort of thing in large enough quantities to make a profit while offering customers what they need.

RESOURCES

How hot motorcycle engines runs: https://blog.amsoil.com/extreme-heat-is-hard-on-your-motorcycle/

Buna (Nitrile or NBR) o-rings: https://sealingdevices.com/o-rings/buna-n-o-rings/

Viton vs. Nitrile o-rings: https://www.nes-ips.com/viton-vs-nitrile-o-rings/

All O-Rings https://www.allorings.com/

They have sizing tools! https://www.allorings.com/o-ring-kits-and-accessories/o-ring-sizing-tools

I'd prefer to use All O-Rings for the parts, but they might be a B2B type of thing, and I'm not a B.

Amazon's kits:

Turns out Amazon's shot-in-the-dark kits didn't work either. There's more to this o-ring sizing caper to come. I wish I could just 3d print the nitrile o-rings I was looking for (doesn't look like it's additive manufacturing friendly).