Motor extracted
This afternoon, while giving the dog a break from his haircut, I decided the time was right to remove what is left of the engine and transmission from the ‘Tri-Beast.’ The hound, much relieved to be away from the scissors, continued to get in the way and even once knocked me over as he tried to interest me in playing ball instead of wrenching.
Here is the result:
Plonker guards his ball while wondering why I have moved his new pissing-post! I’m sure the idiot thinks I bought the bike for him.
Now the rest of the engine strip down can take place. I have a lot of cleaning and polishing ahead of me and a large number of parts to order and make. I can also dismantle the frame and suspension.I have already acquired new fork tubes to replace the rusted originals. The main frame will be cleaned and powder-coated ready for a new rear end to be designed, made and bolted on.
Does anybody have a T160 4.5 gallon gas tank going spare? If you do, please contact me.
Rev me up!Trident clutch and cylinders
Armed with a wrench, pry bar and beer, I was able to remove the cylinders today after work. Thankfully, none of the pistons were siezed and although stiff, everything in the engine moves. A couple of the ringa are stuck but they are all up for replacement so it is of no consequence.
Nothing would turn on the kick-start when we picked it up, so having ruled out the motor, what about the gearbox? I removed the primary cover, chain and clutch with little trouble and ran through the gears and all seemed OK. Back in to neutral and the kicker worked for a while before locking up. As I have stripped it apart there have been numerous clues pointing to the fact that since the bike last ran, the engine/transmission had been rebuilt in a fairly amateur manner. From the license plate I know it has not been on the road since 1992 so I would guess that the last owner rebuilt it and promtly died before he had a chance to find out what he did wrong. Either that or in the intervening period person or persons unknown made an attempt at resurecting the ‘Tri-Beast’.
I’ll probably never really know what happend for sure but am pretty pleased to find that the major mechanical stuff can and will be saved.
Tme to clean up and go for a celebratory beer!
Trident Post-Mortem begins!
Yesterday afternoon was spent with a case of beer and a collection of wrenches (spanners). It started out looking like it does on the previous photo on the trailer. The first photo’s shown of the bike will be the last to show it as I first saw it.
Here is the result of the wrench action, the beer results were hard to photograph!
The sun was shining, Led Zeppelin on the radio and a shit-ton of beer close to hand. Sometimes it don’t get any better than this!
Today Robin managed to procure a 1978 Honda Goldwing and a 1982 Yamaha 750 Maxim with a possible 1978 Honda CB750 to follow! My wrenches could be busy for some time!
Piston broke?The Collection
Here I tell of the long haul to pick up the ‘Tri-Beast.’
After finishing work on Saturday, I picked up the bike trailer from U-Haul and then tinkered with things until Robin went to work. Having made sure to be tired by having had a couple of late nights, I popped down to the local hostelry for a few quick beers to help put me to sleep and then went home and straight to bed at around 6 in the early evening.
Robin got back from her part time bar tending job at 1 in the morning, woke me up, and by 1:30am we were on the road for Southern Indiana, Straight down I39. The weather was cloudy and fairly cool. Robin slept on and off until we hit both daylight and Illinois except for the regular fuel stops every 220 miles or so. As the journey progressed we found that fuel prices dropped steadily with the cheapest we saw being in Indianapolis where it was 35 cents less per gallon than we pay at home!
The landscape changes upon entering Illinois. Gone are the smaller farms and rolling hills of Wisconsin to be replaced with huge fields and a flat and boring landscape. Upon entering the State, you first hit a toll booth where you find that the trailer more than doubles the toll for driving on their sub-standard highways! Also of annoyance was the fact that the speed limit for anyone pulling a trailer is 10mph lower than for the same car without! Cheeky bastards!
No such stupid speed limitations in Indiana and no tolls either. The traffic was fairly heavy around Indianapolis but the were no holdups and we reached our destination which was about 50 miles North of Louisville KY at about 11:30am.
The transaction was taken care of and the bike secured to the trailer. We were directed to a most excellent Chinese eatery for some lunch and then returned to the vendor’s dwelling. He loaded his Wife and 2 dogs into his Range Rover and took us out to view the huge old covered bridges for which the area is known.
Farewells exchanged, we hit the road with the clock fast approaching 3pm, heading back the way we came. Trafic was heavier on the way home due to people going home from their weekend jaunts. Those bastards in Illinois charged us more to get out than the had charged us to get in! Minutes after the toll booths , thinking we were safely back in Wisconsin, a problem arose.
Officer Dibble turned on his State Trooper flashing light display and pulled us over for a faulty tail light. He was young and a little wet behind the ears but only gave us a warning. It was when he leaned in to my car to return my licence that he came out with the strangest thing: “Do I smell burnt Marijuana in this car?” We were floored and denied it as best we could between laughing. He then pointed out various items in the car, demanding to know what they were, thinking, we guess, that they were drug paraphenalia! So we showed him our self charging flashlight and the digital dashboard clock that keeps falling off its velcro mounts! He sent us on our way and we left with much haste, just in case he might start enquiring about our slave trading exploits or connections to Hitler! What the dickhead actually smelled was my engines coolant starting to overheat slightly as we sat by the side of the road for over half an hour!
We finally reached home at around 1am, unloaded the bike and got to straight to bed. the whole journey had taken almost exactly 24 hours, just over 21 of which were driving some 1200 miles. Doing the deal, filling the tank, eating and tourism accounted for the other 3.
Was it worth it? You bet! I am now the prowd owner of a 1975 Triumph Trident that doesn’t run and has plenty of rust. Plenty of work lies ahead before the ‘Tri-Beast’ can show the local Hogs what an extra cylinder can do!
Driven further in a day?1975 Triumph Trident joins the fleet!
I apologise for being a little quiet of late. Numerous social engagements did there bit but I was also do some homework. The time is right for me to be back on 2 wheels again and to this end I have been studying the market for British bikes, here in the States. A Harley or an old Indian would have been nice. A new Triumph would also have been most acceptable. Finances however, do not allow for that kind of spending.
Last night on Ebay, I successfully bid on a 1975 Triumph Trident T160. It is complete but hasn’t been run since 1992. The exhaust, seat and old school sissy bar are not original to the bike and of the three, the seat will be destroyed ASAP! It is just perfect for my needs. I will be stripping it right down and rebuilding it to suit me. I’ll document my progress on these pages with before, during and after photos. You’ll see how a run down and neglected classic becomes a very individual piece of personal transport.
First job will be collecting the beast. Presently it is in Indiana and I hope to be able to go and get it this coming weekend. The drive should take about 8.5 hours each way. I have already made arrangements with the vendor and found a suitable trailer. I find myself somewhat excited by the whole thing. A new adventure is starting!
Kick start me with a comment! [5]