Britbike forum Forums General discussion The Rod and Tappet Modern Triumphs

I'm sure there are modern triumph owners here, can anyone share their experiences (good and/or bad) with the newer bikes? I'm looking at a 2017 Scrambler 900 with approx. 7500 miles on it to run as a commuter bike and weekend rider as an option to the vintage fleet. Mostly interested in the ease of performing maintenance and doing work on them without having to go to the dealer or 3rd party mechanic, reliability, riding experience/enjoyment.

I have a 2017 T100 Bonneville, owned it since new. It's got about 11000 miles on it now and all I've done is oil, tires, one chain and brakes so beyond that I can't speak too much of ease of maintenance. My only worry is that if/when something does go wrong it will be electronic. Throttle by wire and some of the other systems are not my area of expertise so it will require a trip to the dealer $$$$$$ but what can you do? I like the bike just fine, it is plenty powerful enough, handles great and stops great. I use it as my daily commuter and knock around bike. You can look at it as a trade off if you want to. How much would you spend stripping a BSA engine down for sludge trap cleaning vs having the dealer service the fuel injection on a new Triumph? My biggest complaint is the engine service light. Triumph says you can go 10000 miles on an oil change from new...I didn't but at 10000 the light came on. You have a choice of taking it to Triumph to have it turned off or spending $75.00 for a tool to do it your self.

I have a 2011 Tiger 800. It has been reliable. Worst problem, replaced the starter 2 years ago, which was a known issue with early 800’s. Seemed I had to take half the bike apart, but seems I only needed like 1 Allen wrench, 1 socket, and 1 combination wrench as all of the Fasteners were pretty much the same hex size, no matter what they were used for.

I have DealerTool and the cable to connect, so I do my own electronic troubleshooting. So far, not really necessary.

Rich-where did you get your dealer tool?

Good tip on the Dealer Tool, Rich

http://dealertool.co.uk/

What about checking and setting valve clearances, if you think it might ever need it, that is. Involves removing the cams, re-shimming, that sort of thing. Some owners just don't bother.

Maybe browse here https://www.triumphrat.net/forums/tiger-900-mods-workshop.720/

Thanks for the link Kurt, that’s helpful.

Here’s the bike I’m looking at. Pretty sharp and looks a bit like my 67

rich, I need that tool, where did you get it?

Almost any modern bike, (is royal enfield modern?) you will have to lift the cams to shim the valves. but you may never have to do that. My vstrom still hade the original shims at 55000. everything is a trade off, repairs can be harder to ddo, but are very seldom needed.

I know two guys that have the scrambler and they love em. I have a 2021 tiger 900 and it is a fantastic bike.

Vincent posted the link to Dealer Tool above

I owned a '98 Thunderbird Sport for a few years. Was like driving a Toyota Camry......reliable - except for gill coils - low maintenance, just press the button and go. Did everything I wanted and looked sort of Ok if you squinted your eyes a bit. It was also a bit boring tbh. Try as I might I just couldn't fall in love with it. I sold it after approx 60,000km. Was always going to buy one of the 1200 twins, but haven't got around to it, the 270' crank thing puts me off tbh.

My nephew had a 98 thunderbird sport a while back. When he came over from the mainland for a visit we went for ride. He wanted to follow me on my Daytona so he could listen to my exhausts....... I rode it and it was fine but didn't have the feel of the Daytona. Wilf

I would agree with the crowd here about the new Triumphs. I have a 2022 Bonneville Gold Line 120 and it’s been a great bike! As for quality…👍👍👍

These bikes have a fantastic dealer network too. If your into any mods/custom items, there is an endless amount of parts out there. I need the tool too…my lights been on for a time🤪🤪🤪

Really appreciate all of the feedback! I like the Toyota Camry comparison that tridentt150v made, I’m pretty much looking for an “no-brainer” option that I can hop on and go, or ride to the office without having to worry about oil leaks, hard starting, etc.

I’ll keep everyone updated if I end up pulling the trigger on the 2017.

Sharp bike, Vincent.

And my mistake, I was thinking of the Triumph Tiger triple. So you could explore Triumph Rat for the right forum.

I had a 2010 675 triple for a few years, totally reliable, a quality Thai-built machine. (Just one problem, Triumph at the time was using an obsolete R/R, mine melted within the first 100 miles. Triumph was reluctant to admit a problem, but eventually did warranty replacements for a while, but not a recall.)

I recently bought a low miles 2010 Triumph 1050 ST Sprint. A few friends have been on my case to get a modern bike and join them on some rides. They all would have been happier if I had gotten a BMW but I just couldn't bring myself to go that route. Triumph it was even though this one doesn't have much of a vintage vibe to it except for possibly being a three banger!

So, after some local test runs, footpeg and handlebar adjustments and replacing all fluids, took it on a 3 day 800 mile weekend. It was almost completely trouble free. The only problem was a glitchy rear brake light switch that tended to stick in the on position when warm in the afternoon. The Gold Winger in the group was happy to make note of the electrical problem on the British machine, but it will be a simple fix.

My impression so far is that of an immensely competent and useable motorcycle. The fuel injection is spot on, handling is very good and the power is more than adequate. My only real complaint so far is the wind screen. It needs a taller one for my type of riding, which is on order as we speak.

I think that anyone on this forum that is familiar with the needs of a vintage brit bike would find that living with a modern triumph an absolute breeze. It's obviously a whole different world but I'm wondering why I didn't do this sooner.

Bike looks nice. Not as cheap as doing it yourself but cheaper then the dealership , one option is 6th Street Specials . They are working on a lot of modern triumphs these days.

Stuart, if the taller screen doesn't do it for you, I'd suggest looking into a Laminar Lip
https://www.laminarlip.com/tiger.php
I had one one my Kaw 1200 (just sold the bike), and found it very effective -- seemed like it diffused the air flow as well as deflecting it.

Also, I've read that the 1050s often need heavier battery cables, various kits available. I've used the kits that Michael Heth of MotoLectric makes
https://motolectric.com/makes/triumph.html

HTH, FYI, etc.

I have a 2014 Triumph Trophy SE 1215 triple, and it's an immensely competent and enjoyable bike, easy to do regular maintenance on, back wheel comes off in 4 minutes for tire changes. I've ridden a 1050 sport tourer and will probably get one someday.....

Lannis

Thanks for the link and the battery cable info. There have been no cold morning starting issues so far but it's good to know. I wish I had known about Laminar Lip before ordering the touring screen. It looks like an excellent option.

Good thinking Wade, I’ve seen Fumi working on newer bikes here and there.

As an update to the thread, I took the drive up to Mass last Thursday to meet the seller after we chatted over a price we could both live with and took the bike for a test drive. Without getting hung up on not being vintage iron, the thing is an absolute dream to ride. I felt very confident pulling high revs through 2nd and 3rd gear knowing there’s a beefy disc brake up front with ABS. Happy to report it made its way back to Brooklyn and is currently wedged between my 67C and my garagemate’s 69 A65 waiting for plates (honestly it doesn’t look too out of place).

My hedge is that I can probably get back what I bought it for if it doesn’t fit the bill after a full season of riding but for now I’m stoked.

Thanks everyone again for the feedback!

Kurt do the beefed up battery cables help fix the sprag clutch issue brought on by weak battery power?
I have a 2011 Sprint 1050 GT and let the battery wear down without knowing it would cause the sprag clutch failure.

Other than that, the Sprint GT is definitely on the sportier side of the sport touring class, with its sport faring & tiny windscreen and chain final drive. I came to it after a good run with Airhead and K BMWs. I’ve had it about one year and 4 months and until this starter clutch crapped out on me I was just getting to love the bike. Although I haven’t had a chance to travel any distance on it yet, my day rides have increased dramatically in length. I fit rather perfectly in the cockpit and the bike is really a ton of fun.

I believe that by 2011 the sprag clutch/starter assembly was made easier to get to? Way I understand is you remove a section of fairing and pop an access panel off the side of the motor. Supposedly it’s an easy fix but the parts are expensive? And from what I gather the sprag clutch spring and possibly other bits? have been upgraded from original.

Massive engineering fail tho to have a weak link such as this tied directly to battery
power.

If anyone knows more about this issue or has any useful info please PM (or text or email if you can) me rather than hog up this thread.

Great! The seller sounds most accommodating --




rr, short answer: IDK
I installed the MotoLectric battery cables on my Duc 900s, and it went from wear-the-battery-down starting, to instant starting.

Another short answer: search for "1050 sprag" on triumphrat.net and see what comes up.

HTH

A couple of comments:

a) I bought a fairly early Hinckley Triumph in 1992 (when living in England).
It was a naked three cylinder Trident - 750cc.
The 750 was not imported into US I understand and was not produced for long anyway.
I lived at the time about 15 miles from the Hinckley factory.
The Hinckley Triumphs were launched initially only in UK and Germany.
The rationale was that any problems in UK and we are close by to sort them out.
The German market is renowned for being fussy so if we do OK there it will be OK anywhere in the world.
At the end of 1991 Triumph had 6 bikes left over unsold in Germany.
The new models for 1992 were slightly different and they didnt want to be selling last years bike in Germany.
So they brought the six bikes back to the UK factory, registered them for the road, put about 50 miles on each and then sold them off in a local dealers.
That is how I bought basically a new bike for 1/3 off the retail price!
It was a nice bike and I think I would still have it but had to sell ir when I moved to US in 2001.
I could only afford to bring one bike and I chose to bring my 1972 T150V Trident that I had purchased from the Meriden development shop in early 1973.

b) Several years ago I bought a 1975 T160 from a good friend of mine in MA named Kurt Fischer.
It needed a bit of work before I tried to start it.
It was fitted with a Boyer Mk III.
I could not get the damn thing to start.
I had sparks on the outside of the cylinder head but it just would not fire up.
I thought that it might be the Boyer box so swapped it for a Boyer MkIV I had but-- no difference!
I was talking it through with a friend of mine in California.
John French learned his trade as a Triumph mechanic at a dealers in England before moving to CA and working at a dealers there.
When Triumph went down the dealer took on Ducatis.
John impressed the Italians and moved to work for Ducati eventually ending up as National Service Manager for Ducati North America.
He advised me to fit Motoelectric battery cables as they had had a lot of trouble on Ducatis and the Motoelectric cables had solved the problems.
Motoelectric listed a battery cable kit for a T160 so I bought one and fitted it.
The bike still didnt start but the cables are good quality and I certainly didnt regret buying them.
I would recommend their cables.
Incidentally the bike starting problem was solved .
I bought a Trispark ignition set (with the separate black box) and 12 volt coils.
I wired it all in and the time came to try to start it.
Gas on, chokes on, tickle the carbs, ignition on and then my thumb moved towards the starter button.
I still swear that my thumb was still 1/2" from the starter button when the bike fired up.
It has been an exemplary starter ever since.

Sorry for boring you!

^^ Never boring, Richard, always interesting and informative

And to try to preserve my reputation that "I don't sell no junk" -- I did hear the T160 run with points before installing the Boyer and selling it to Richard.

A further word when dealing with MotoLectric -- sometimes Michael Heth seems to go to ground, but he always responds ... eventually, worth the wait IME. Also, he has a cunning sales strategy. The cables are the hook, then one-by-one, he tells you about other must-have items, all great items, so you have to be strong and lash yourself to the mast.