Classic Triumph Bonneville

[DefTrap]

Oh yes I'm sure Ferret's not cheap.
My old zed I stripped down to about 6 wires running fore and aft. Yeah you don't get a separate circuit for every "system" but you do lose about 3 miles of cabling and a 1000 ancient connector failpoints.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

My Z had so many wiring faults I threw the original wiring in the bin, feck knows what Kawasaki were thinking, more wires than a small telephone exchange, I now have 4 wires to make the bike run, a neutral light, an oil light and a rev counter, that's all it needs, and I'm not convinced I need the neutral light or rev counter.

[cheb]

The rev counter possibly, the neutral light no.

I enjoy doing bike electrics, simple but logical. And not a chock block, preinsulated connector not scotchlock will be used.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I use connectors from either vehicle wiring supplies or Kojaycat they sell ones that fit with the existing connectors on Japanese bikes.

[Mr. Dazzle]

The rev counter and speedo on this bike are both totally mechanical....springs and spinning cables and magnets.

Doesn't have a neutral light anyway. Just high beam and oil pressure. Doesn't have indicators either. Even the alternator only has two wires (single phase). Just the one fuse

There are about 4 or 5 "dead end" cables up by the dials and switches already!

In other news though, I've lost the side panel/tool box from the left side. There was a little bit of bare wire underneath it, so the RAC man carried it home for me incase it was shorting something. He gave it back to me when I got home (~22:30) and I put it on the floor outside my front door. I pushed the bike round the back to put it in the garage, lock it up etc., explained to Mrs D what had happened etc (its her bike after all ) then forgot about the panel.

I remembered yesterday morning and then went to get it (~09:00) Gone. I can't believe someone has knicked it, who the fuck would want one? This is a pretty safe area, I've left my car unlocked with the keys in or my keys in the front door* loads of times. Gonna ask all the neighbours if they picked it up.

*I would say I'm absent minded, but.....ooh squirrel!

[JackyJoll]

That is simultaneously the best and worst website I've seen.

You have never seen Kiwifarms.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I hate myself a little bit for doing this, but I remade the alternator connections today using (or rather, replaced the existing) shitty Halfords terminals. Mostly cause I want to confirm this is actually the problem.

12.9V with nothing on, drops to 12.7V with the ignition. I present to you M'learned friend what happens at 2000rpm.



Also discovered the left foot peg hanger is about to fall off, but that sort of thing is old news now.

I'm also proper getting the knack of starting her now, touch wood.

[JackyJoll]

13.4 V looks good, for 2,000 rpm. Does it go up to 13.8-14.2 V at higher rpm?

That fuse holder is your next roadside failure waiting to happen. They are shit. Water gets in and the metal ends on the glass tube, the contacting terminals on the wires and the spring all corrode to hell.

Also, vibration breaks the fuse wire.

Go modern.



https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/164808546032 ... media=COPY

[Mr. Dazzle]

Yeah it goes up more as the revs go higher. I reckon I'll do a more thorough rewire in winter.

Also noticed this morning that it's blowing a bit around the left exhaust spigot. It doesn't wobble in the head though. I only spotted it cause I saw a tiny puff of oil smoke come out of there.

[JackyJoll]

You can use silicone sealant on the pipes.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Things that wouldn't make it into production these days #387....the exhaust spigot.



That steel spigot is just threaded into the aluminum head, the pipe then simply clamps around the steel. The steel is supposed to butt hard up against the aluminium at the end of it's travel, but its a bit dubious if it actually does. The left and right spigots are also different threads on this particular bike, so clearly its been reworked at some point. I probably should have had this looked at when the head was off.

Anyway...this threaded design has piss poor sealing cause there is no gasket of any kind. It would have been a bit crap even when brand new IMO. I plan to try and seal it up with high temperature gunk, not precisely sure how just yet. It's not blowing massively but it is blowing.

Tis also leaking oil from the rocker boxes, mostly cause either the head or the box seal faces aren't dead flat I reckon. Not leaking very much but you can see the stains for yourself.

[kendo57]

My MZ had the same exhaust fitting and as you can imagine , being two stroke it leaked oil past the threads.
I bought some High temp silicone off EBay and it worked a treat on the threads and exhaust joints.

[Mr. Dazzle]

asbestos

Old school.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Asbestos and Lead are great BTW.

Just a shame they're deadly toxic really.

[JackyJoll]

The rocker box fasteners and cylinder head bolts, are likely likely to need retorquing a couple of times after your first few rides.

Cylinder base nuts too.

Remember to re-check the valve clearances after.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Yeah I've done the bolts and clearances and couple of times now

It's also weeping oil from the blind end of one of the rocker shafts.

[JackyJoll]

It's also weeping oil from the blind end of one of the rocker shafts.

Stick a coin over it, with silicone sealant.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

The rocker box fasteners and cylinder head bolts, are likely likely to need retorquing a couple of times during a 5 mile ride.

Cylinder base nuts too.

Remember to re-check the valve clearances after.

Corrected for you

[Count Steer]

It's also weeping oil from the blind end of one of the rocker shafts.

Stick a coin over it, with silicone sealant.

Bling it up...use a gold sov.

[Mr. Dazzle]

The little set of drawers full of nuts and bolts I inherited did include one filled with old pre-decimal currency...