Tim's Motorcycle Diaries

Sunday, 18 January 2026

The end is nigh

I originally started blogging as reflective practice for my teaching work, but when I got into riding writing about it seemed like a good way to share a new passion and maybe help a few people out if they're stuck with the same technical issues.

TMD is (by far) my most successful blog with almost two million views and posts being published in magazines both in Canada and the UK.

When I first started readership was strong (and human) and every so often someone would recognize me or the bike and ask about the blog, which always felt good. Since COVID readership has fallen, those chance meetings have all but dried up and, from what I can tell, most of the hits these days come from AI engines stealing my words.

On top of that the blogosphere has long since been handed over to corporate marketing schemes that pay 'influencers' to produce (advertising) content that is artificially pushed to the top of your searches and feeds. Good content earning reader eyeballs is a quaint relic of a bygone internet.

Rather than continue to give away my thoughts to big tech AI engines who are more than happy to burn down countries to raise their bottom line, I'm folding up Tim's Motorcycle Diaries. I'll still be leaning into corners and working on bikes in the garage, but I'm not sharing it to the benefit of this broken internet anymore.

What pushed me into action was reading Cory Doctorow's Enshittification. I'd urge you to buy it from your local independent book shop and give it a read. If you get it from Amazon you'll regret it by chapter five. Having wrapped it up now, I know that things are bad (I knew that already), but I also know that things could improve, which is where I think I'll put my energy.

If you've been reading TMD for a while, thank you for your support. If you think today's internet has anything to do with pointing you to your interests, give your head a shake

Rather than reading the paid for content being fed to you, get out and wrench and ride in the real world. That's where I'll be.

Over 1.7 million page views since 2013... most of those pre-COVID.

Saturday, 10 May 2025

Triumph 955i Stalling Issues.... Fixed!?!

Facebook slapped me in the face with this this morning:

...so I went on a mission.

I pulled the tank (for the millionth time?) and set up the 955i Triumph Tiger so I could try many different things to test if the idle was working. Previously I'd followed the manual, but no longer!

I did the usual checks for vacuum leaks and I continue to suspect the overly complicated and no longer supported idle control system. After trying everything I'd tried before, I decided to go OFF BOOK.

If I can't fix this @*&%ing thing perhaps I can hack it! With the bike in test mode (plugged in and ready to run with all sensors attached), now is the moment to try some alternatives, so I pulled the entire idle control system and tried variations without it.

I plugged the servo back in because I figured leaving it unplugged might piss off the computer. I also removed the end of the servo so it wouldn't interfere with the airbox and then blocked off the airbox with Gorilla Tape.

I'd also done my due diligence by balancing the throttle bodies and making sure everything else was plugged in as normal. I also reflashed the computer through Tuneboy with the South African map I found a few years ago.

So what happens when you remove the entire (problematic) idle control system in a Triumph 955i engine and simply connect the vacuum tubes out of the throttle body to each other?

Well, it seems to have fixed everything. The bike idles right where the computer sets it, the backfiring problem is gone and the motor fuels smoothly (though this is probably in large part due to that fantastic South African fuel map). Best of all, no more stalling.

That's the work around. I got some silicon tubing from Amazon along with some T connectors (maybe $30 all in?). The last round of Triumph replacement parts cost me north of $200 and when I had to start buying used parts (because Triumph has stopped supporting their own bikes) and getting them shipped over to Canada it cost even more... but this hack is thirty bucks in parts and I also have a pile of unused silicon tubing and T connectors left over. I attached the silicon hoses to the T connector and then into each of the throttle bodies, so it's a closed loop with no chance of leaks.

In the pic you can see the idle control servo (black object above the intakes on the left side). That's what it looks like with the plunger removed. It still moves up and down but has nothing to do with moderating vacuum between the airbox and the throttle bodies which is what has caused me years of headaches.

I'm so jumpy about the motor falling through idle and stalling (it's a perilous place to be when you're on the road on a bike that keeps cutting out), but this hack hasn't just solved the idle problem, it has also resolved all of the other issues. The bike idles steady right where I set it in Tuneboy, but more surprising is that the backfiring that had crept in is completely gone. The bike feels tight, full powered and like it did years ago. My only thought now is that it might hurt the gas mileage, but I'll keep an eye on that as I get some miles under me this summer.

It still starts like normal. I'm occasionally getting a high idle (3-4 thousand RPM), but as I rode it that happened less - like the computer was figuring out the new normal. I'm curious to see if not having that system in affects cold starting but that's not going to be an issue for the next four months, and I don't mind being my own choke if it means a steady idle.

Saturday, 26 April 2025

Kawasaki Concours C14 1400GTR Valve Check Finished! (finally)

It took the better part of four months over the winter thanks to lots of work travel stretching things out, but the C14 is back together again and runs like a top. The engine doesn't feel as tight, which makes sense as all the valve shims needed were to resolve the overly tight valves.

The Bay of Fundy near Saint John (latest work trip)

It still does the clatter when you first start it (it's to do with the cam chain tensioner needing oil
pressure to fully engage - it's part of the engine design). The bike has always done that but now that I've laid hands on the thing itself it's helpful in understanding how it all works. Knowing how complicated just the top of that motor is gives me a new sense of satisfaction hearing it run well.

I'm back from yet another work trip but managed to take the big Kwak for a spin last weekend and it pulls like it always has (which is to say like a nuclear missile). Today I'm going to finally do the oil change it was owed last fall and we should be on track for regular use this summer.

The question now becomes do I sell it on during the riding season or keep it having done this soul crushing maintenance job. Based on what I saw in there I'm betting I was the first to do it (at 45k kms). Considering the complexity of this job, I can understand why.

Part of that decision will come down to whether or not I've solved the Tiger's fueling issues. If I have, I might sell the big (and expsnsive to insure) Kawasaki and do the summer on a dependable Tiger, though the C14 is a much more comfortable two up appliance if anyone wants to come for a ride with me.