Britbike forum Forums British Motorcycle specific Brands Triumph bulletin board I'm back... with a story and a warning.

Hey All... Sorry for trying to be so provocative with my title.

I was looking back through my posts and realized it's been 13 years, 2 houses, 7 cars, 6 motorcycles and a kid, since I last posted on this forum. My last post was actually a "for sale" thread when I released my 1965 Bonneville into the wild. Prior to that, I restored a 1964 T120R with Don Hutchinson, finishing the project in 2006 -- more on that bike in another thread. Anyway, I just acquired another '64 Bonnie from a collection of restored bikes that is currently being liquidated, so I'm officially back into the fold. This is where the warning part comes into the story.

When I purchased this new to me '64, I bought it with the understanding that this bike had been restored to be displayed, not ridden. It had been done to a high standard by a noted restorer; which it was, so that's not a problem. It's actually an incredibly correct bike, minus a few items that I would have done a bit differently. I started into the process of getting this beauty on the road by thinking about what it may take to "commission" a bike that had never had a drop of fluid in any reservoir for the purpose of providing a functioning motorcycle -- gas tank, oil tank, trans, primary, forks... etc. Those were dutifully filled with the proper weights and measures. Some minor leaks were discovered, but once all the fittings were nipped up, that was remedied. So here's what you shouldn't do.... make assumptions about anything you have not checked carefully. Don't assume the bolts are tight on important components that keep the bike safe to ride. Don't assume the valves are adjusted even though there is good compression. Don't assume the wiring was done correctly or that there is a consistency in the conversion to 12 from 6 volts. More importantly, don't ever assume that critical components for the ignition system was set up and wired carefully. Long story short, the Boyer electronic ignition was never actually assembled in the correct orientation wrt timing marks and the wiring was incorrect. This led to a very bad situation vis being highly advanced (running super hot) followed by a lot of head scratching to understand what might be happening. Check Everything TWICE before you kick that motor over or you could find yourself spending a lot of time and a fair bit of money fixing a silly oversight.

Anyway, this was a long way of saying I am glad to be back to British, as it were. I look forward to getting ideas and helping others where I can on this forum.

Cheers,
Dan in MD

I have found when purchasing a restored bike not to be fooled by the way it "looks"

You would be surprised of how many restored bikes are lemons and built only for display..

Glad you got a good one

Beautiful bike Dan, 64 is a favorite year of mine, and welcome back to the forum!

That's a beautiful looking bike.

I would err on the side of caution and strip the engine to check the crank and rods then work my way out from there.

Triumph guy Jon Berglund showed me a motor he was working on, bike was pristine show quality recently bought from a prestigious museum. Fresh rebuilt motor locked up shortly after purchase, he had oil analyzed to find glass beads in the oil.

We had the same problem with a second hand steam turbine we had installed. They hadn't cleaned out all the passages correctly, so when oil started circulating around, it picked up the beads. They can block up critical holes very quickly. The glass is very good at gouging journal surfaces. Damage rolling element bearings effectively as well.
Moral of the story, bead blasting is great, but be ultra cautious when cleaning up afterwards. There are just so many potential hideouts.

I had a 74 XLCH someone routed the oil lines backwards on. It ran, but man it needed some work after he demo'd it to me.

Welcome back Dan!

I'm in SE Carroll County. We should go for a ride out in Frederick/Washington counties sometime. Great roads up there.

Cheers,

Steve

Dan- If you bought the bike on the understanding that it was restored to be displayed and not ridden then you would know that it was bound to require work. It certainly is a very nice looking bike.

My bike looked awful and was awful but after I got it how I wanted it it has been fine for a long time.

Dave

My axiom....If you want the job done right....do it yourself!!!!