Tim's Motorcycle Diaries

Sunday, 5 December 2021

Motorcycling For Sport On a Budget

LOGISTICS

The trickiest part about trying to arrange your motorcycling to provide you with a sporting outlet are the logistics. You can't ride a track/trials/dirt bike to where you're going to ride it in a sporting fashion, so you need transportation options that'll get you and your gear to where you intend to use it.

The obvious choice (if you're looking for a budget choice) is to look at cargo vans - or so I thought. Thanks to COVID, the market for these (like many other things) has gone bonkers as every unemployed rocket scientist in the world rushes out to grab a used van to deliver for Amazon.

Here are some current online choices:

My favourite is the fuggly Transit Connect that isn't even big enough to hold a single bike and is almost a decade old with over two-hundred thousand kilometres on it for ~~$10,500~~, $8,500. Eight and half grand for a heavily used POS. Both my current on-road bikes, an '03 Triumph Tiger and an '10 Kawasaki Concours together cost me less than that, and they're both a joy to look at and operate, though carrying a dirt bike on them isn't likely.

If I want to get my Guy Martin on, New Transits start at thirty-five grand and can easily option up to over fifty. The bigger Ram Promasters start at thirty-seven grand and can option to over twice that. The wee Promaster City starts at thirty-four grand and can be optioned well into the forties. Vans only really do the cargo thing and make any other usage tedious, and they're expensive!

The used car lot down Highway 6 has a 2015 Jeep Wrangler with 90k kms on it that they're asking $35k for it. It isn't cheap but it seems in good nick and comes with the tow package. We rented a Wrangler last year and I was impressed with its ability to carry weight and it's utility - it was also surprisingly fun to drive... and in the summer it'd get the doors and roof off and be able to do the Zoolander thing too.

A trailer goes for about a grand, this one comes with a ramp and he's asking $1300. With a bit of bartering I could sort out a tow capable Wrangler with a useful trailer for under forty grand. The Jeep isn't new, but it's only 6 years old and with a big v6 in it, 90k isn't too much of a stressful life - it actually works out to only fifteen thousand kilometres a year.

What's galling is that you're thirty-five grand into a years old almost 100k kms vehicle but the new ones run fifty-three grand - I guess you've got to have a lot of cash on hand to buy anything these days.

What'd be really nice is a state-ot-the-art Wrangler 4xe. They tow, use very little gasoline and when things get sorted out with in-car fusion generators, I'd be able to take the gas engine out and go fully electric with it. In the meantime, it'd carry all my bike clobber, would be a bulletproof winter vehicle and when the sun arrives I can pop the doors and roof off and enjoy it in an entirely different way; they really are Swiss Army knives!

SPORTS RIDING OPTIONS: Trials

Once I've got the moto-logistics worked out I could then focus on some sporting motorbiking. This ain't cheap either, but some sport motorcycling is cheaper than others. Trials riding is probably at the cheaper end of things with used bikes starting at about two grand and new, high-end performance models going up to about nine grand, though you can get a new, modern, Chinese made machine for under five grand.

I'm partial to older machines as I don't have to deal with dealer servicing and can do the work myself. This mid-80s Yamaha TY350 comes with lots of spares and is in ready-to-go shape for about $2600. Since I'm not looking to take on Dougie Lampkin, this'd more than get me started in trials.

The Amateur Trials Riding Association of Ontario offers regular weekend events throughout the summer and fall and would make for a great target to aim for. I'd be a rookie, but I'm not in it to win it, I'm in it to improve my moto-craft and trials offer a unique focus on balance and control in that regard.

I'm disinclined to exercise for the sake of it, though I've never had trouble exercising in order to compete in sports, it's just hard to find any when you're a fifty-two year old guy in Southwestern Ontario. Having trials events to prepare for would be just the thing to get me into motion.

There is also the Southwestern Ontario Classic Trials group, who also offer a number of events and categories and seem very newbie friendly. That old Yamaha would fit right in with classic trials and would let me do my own spannering.

Our backyard has everything you'd need to practice trials, though tire tracks all over the lawn might not endear me to my better half. Even with all that in mind, trials riding would be the cheapest moto-sport to get going in.

SPORT RIDING OPTIONS: enduro/off-road riding

What's nice about the dirt-bike thing is that I could do it with my son, Max. He got handy with dirt biking last summer at SMART Adventures so if we got into trail riding we could do it together.

Used dirt-bikes start at about $2500 and creep up quickly. Most seem quite abused but appear to hold their value regardless. For about six grand I could get us into two 21st Century machines that should be pretty dependable on the trails, the problem is there aren't any around here. We'd have to drive for hours to get to the few that are left in Central Ontario.

The Ontario Federation of Trail Riders would be a good place to start in terms of working out trails and connecting with others interested in the sport. Off Road Ontario offers access to enduro and motocross racing, but I'm not really into the yee-haw MX thing, though long distance enduro gets my attention (every January I'm glued to the Dakar Rally). I also watch a lot of British television and I've seen a number of endurance off-road events on there that are appealing, so I wouldn't wave off enduro without looking into it a bit more.

SPORT RIDING OPTIONS: track racing

There are motorcycle track days around Ontario from May to October. The Vintage Road Racing Association seems like the best way in for someone not interested in becoming the next Marc Marquez but who is looking for some time on a bike working at the extreme ends of two-wheeled dynamics without having to worry about traffic. The VRRA also offers a racing school to get people up to speed (so to speak). I can't say that having a racing licence wouldn't be a cool thing to have.

The challenge with racing on pavement is that everything gets more expensive, from membership and training fees to the cost of equipment and bikes, and of course what it costs to fix them when you chuck them down the road. Road racing offers a degree of speed and has obvious connections to road riding that are appealing, it's only the costs that make it seem like a step too far.

Sport motorcycling is tricky to get into. You need the equipment to transport yourself and your bike and gear to where you're competing and then you also need the specialist motorbike itself, but there are options that can make it possible on not to extreme of a budget. I'm hoping to find a way into this over the next few years.

Sunday, 28 November 2021

1971 Triumph Bonneville Restoration: Front Fork Rebuild

It's all snow and wind outside so I spent a good six hours in the garage this weekend rebuilding the front forks and the triple tree on the '71 Bonneville winter project.

The forks on the bike had been 'choppered' with massive fork tubes and spacers in them. The bike came with new stock fork tubes so after a cleanup both front forks got rebuilt with stock fork tubes. I'll put the chopper ones up for sale and see if it'll make a dent in the new parts order I got in.

The internals on the forks were in good shape (it has always been stored inside). After a cleanup they went back together again nicely. The picture on the right gives you an idea of just how long those fork tubes were (almost as long as the whole shock!).

The right side front fork went right back in no problem, but the left side one won't fit in the lower triple tree mount (it has a bolt that squeezes it on but the circular clamp is too tight. I've tried heating it up and wedging a screwdriver in the gap to respread it enough to accept a fork. I shouldn't complain, this is the only thing that's being difficult on this fifty year old machine so far.

The lower fork unit as it came out of the giant chopper tubes.

The same piece cleaned up.

Parts diagram from the '71 Triumph's parts manual.

Meanwhile, the first parts order came in from British Cycle Parts. They were great helping me clarify what I needed to get started. The order was about $450 including shipping and got here quickly (within a week), one box from their Canadian warehouse and the other from their U.S. one. I haven't started installing anything yet, but I now have what I need to rebuild the Amal carbs, sort out the electrical system and take apart the motor to prep it to run for the first time.

Motor gasket set!

Electronic ignition system and coils!

Amal carburetor rebuild kits!

Rubber bits! This time 'round I got a new kickstart rubber & the gear shift rubber.

That's a stock style new rubber to replace whatever the f*** was on it.

The monkey who was choppering the bike put massive footpegs on the rear peg position,
but that doesn't make any sense on a chopper (they're usually feet up and forward).
These are the stock footrests.

Stock foot rests (and hardware)!

The plan is to rebuild the carbs, get the motor sorted, install the upgraded ignition system (which I suspect will also involve creating a new electrical loom) and then see if I can get it all to run. Once I've got it a step closer to running I'll be back in touch with BritCycle to get the other bits and pieces I need to get it rideable. The plan is still to get it to a place of getting a safety and putting it on the road next season.

I'm not a big fan of lost causes and I wrench to ride, so the point is to get the Bonneville back into service. After watching a lot of Henry Cole on TV, I like the idea of a 'rat bike', which also means I can focus on the mechanics rather than how it looks. If I can get the mechanics sorted to the point where I can ride it, I'll do a season with it rough but rideable and then consider my options. I got the bike and spares for $1500 and I've just put another $450 into it. I think I can get it roadworthy for under $4000 and a non-running barn find bike of similar era was going for a grand more than that a few weeks ago online, so no matter what the Bonnie project won't ever drip red.

In a perfect world I'll get it sorted and some one will offer me more than I've put into it (cost, not time, I'm happy to put time in keeping bikes on the road). Whether that's once it's roadworthy or once it's been cleaned up too, I'm easy. Meanwhile the Bonneville is doing what I wanted it to: giving me an opportunity to go deep on a motorcycle restoration and learn a lot in the process.

The motor's getting cleaned up and recommissioned.

Once the (now stock) forks are back in I'll wheel it out for a deep clean on the motor
and then start with the electrics before rebuilding the carbs. With any luck the old Bonnie
will be to the point of starting by the new year.

Somewhere in between all this deep surgery, the Concours needs new brake pads and the Tiger has some new sprockets and a chain to install. To be honest, these minor maintenance jobs are something to look forward to after the deep diving into the restoration project.

Last winter was a deep maintenance round on the Tiger, but even that pales in comparison to the scale and scope of the Bonneville restoration. Practical Sportsbikes and Classic Bike are both magazines focused on hands-on motorcycle mechanics and both have talked about the dreaded project stallout that can happen when it all gets too much. I'm taking the advice of both mags and breaking this up into chunks and then solving things subsystem by subsystem. The small wins help me feel like like the project is progressing and prevent the dreaded project-stallout from being overwhelmed by the whole thing.

On the upside, the fact that we got 15cm of snow over the weekend isn't really on my mind as I'm keeping track of many things-to-do in the garage.

Sunday, 14 November 2021

The Curtain Closes on the 2021 Riding Season

Squeezed in one after work ride last week before the curtain fell on this year's riding season (I hang 'em up when it takes me longer to clean the salt off the bike than the ride was). We're looking at a weather warning tonight and snow all week. Yay...

Over the weekend I got the end of year maintenance done. Both bikes got a deep clean and an oil and filter change and can now hibernate with clean oil, ready for snows to recede in 2022. Over the winter the Tiger's getting new chain and sprockets and the Concours is pretty much just ready to go, which is good because that's why I got it.

Meanwhile, the '71 Bonneville continues to be dismantled in an archeological manner and I'm waiting on my first order from British Cycle Supply Co.. They should get me to a point where I can actually start the motor for the first time!

1971 Triumph Bonneville Parts Research

Air Filter Pods for 1971 Triumph Bonneville:

https://www.classicbritishspares.com/products/amal-replacement-air-filters

https://www.ebay.com/itm/382380768469?chn=ps

https://www.speedandsport.com/product/air-filter-vokes-style-for-amal/

https://steadfastcycles.com/collections/amal-carbs?page=2

https://www.knfilters.com/air-filters/universal.html

Electronic Ignition Options

https://www.lowbrowcustoms.com/products/pazon-electronic-ignition-for-triumph-bsa-norton-twin-12v-motorcycles

https://www.motorcycleid.com/1971-triumph-bonneville-t120-ignition-system-parts/

https://meandthismotorcycle.blogspot.com/2010/03/installed-boyer-electronic-ignition.html

http://raskcycle.com/techtip/webdoc16a.html

https://wiringdiagram.2bitboer.com/1971-triumph-650-wiring-diagram/

https://www.classicbritishspares.com/blogs/news/why-you-should-upgrade-to-a-podtronics-regulator-rectifier

Seat:

https://www.classicmotorcyclespares.com/index.php/default/dual-seat-triumph-bonneville-t120-oif-1971-us-spec-suitcase-catch-71-3634.html

Sunday, 31 October 2021

50 Year Old Triumph Bonneville Restoration: Amal Carbs and the Fuel Tank

A place where logic, precision and cause and
effect still matter in a world gone mad.

After the random weirdness of work, time in the garage with the old Bonneville is remarkably
straightforward and logical. I suspect the bike was in the middle of a Captain America Easy Rider customization in the early/mid eighties when it got parked and time left it behind. I got it from Brian's storage shipping container where it was out of the weather and raised off the ground. I don't know where Brian got it from but I suspect it was always stored inside. I battled with a mid-nineties Kawasaki that had been left outside back in 2014 and this much older machine is nothing like as seized, rusted and difficult to get into.

Anything that doesn't immediately loosen gets a bit of heat and then comes free without any headaches. Not being in a rush and leaning on the spannering skills I've refreshed over the past decade is making this an enjoyable and meditative process.

The surface rust came off the tank with a bit of sanding. I'm going to see if I can knock out the dent and then strip it all back. I used Metal Rescue on the Honda Fireblade tank in my last project and it did a fantastic job of cleaning that unused and rust tank out. I'll let it sit overnight and then do the power wash tomorrow and hopefully the tank'll come back to me.

The Amal carburetors on the bike are remarkably simple compared to what I've been up against before. Last time around it was a bank of four last-generation-before-fuel-injection carbs on a '97 Honda Fireblade. Before that it was a bank-of-four on a '94 Kawasaki GTR1000 and then another complex bank of four on an '81 Yamaha XS1100. The old Bonnie's single Amal carb per cylinder is a simpler design from a simpler time compared to those complex Japanese four-pot carbs.

Airbox sleeves off.

Carb clean up with a fine wire brush and wd40.

Some aluminum corrosion in the bottom of the carb bowls but it cleaned out nicely.

They've been sitting for a long while, but all the hard parts look to be in good shape.

After an initial cleanup I'm going to break down each carb and clean the hard parts in a ultrasonic cleaning bath before reassembling with new gasketry from British Cycle Supply Co..

Ultrasonic bath bringing the carbs back to clean and ready to breathe for the Bonnie again.

My plan is to get the bike operational mechanically and have it going next spring having cleaned up and rust painted the frame and body. Once it's operational I'll ride it for a season rough and get to know it before looking to a complete engine rebuild and deeper restoration of frame and body panels at a later date.

In order to get it back to rideable, these are the parts I think I'll need:

carb gasket rebuild kit x 2
exhaust pipes x2
mufflers x2
ignition cables (and possibly some other electrics)
headlight
indicators
battery
head and sump gaskets for the motor (I intend to go in and clean things out/have a look around before I run it)

Monday, 25 October 2021

1971 Triumph Bonneville T120 Online Resources

Searching the internet for parts and technical details for a 1971 T120 Triumph Bonneville 650cc air cooled twin. Here's what I've found - hope it helps if you're looking for similarly vintage parts and details.