The British are coming!

I figured I'd throw this in this section too after concluding my Road Trip/adventure thread with my Land Cruiser.

I sold (or traded rather) the Land Cruiser for a pair of old British motorcycles this past weekend. The '73 Triumph Tiger with dual carbs from a Bonneville is a very clean runner that is fun to cruise around in and the '67 BSA 441 Victor Special is one of my favorite bikes of all time and so hard to find up here. The BSA has a recent engine build but I'm in the process of putting in a new Boyer ignition and clutch springs.  The compression on the BSA is SKY HIGH and will rip your leg off starting it if you aren't careful. I'm thinking about shimming the head to lower the compression for the street but who knows I may just get used to it.

I have a new Ecodiesel Ram as a daily driver with an honest to God bed, 4x4, and 3 times the fuel range of the 60 that we will be taking out for further trips this year.  Before moving here, I sold my bikes and I've missed riding but now that my daily driver isn't pulling double duty, I can get some more toys that don't need to be available to take me to work 12 months out of the year.

 Riding a bike in AK isn't the most practical year round but for our short summer, it's better than anywhere I've done it for sure.

The BSA should have provisions for a decompression lever, to make starting easier. A roommate in college had one, 40mph felt fast.

In reply to stafford1500 :

It does and it mostly works but it's still pretty tight.

The much lamented OIF Triumph. I don't hate on them like most people, I just don't like the 'thing' where the oil tank used to be. Just looks wrong. That is a very pretty machine.

Having ridden Triumph, BSA and Norton from that period I can't say I have much love for the BSA. Worst vibrations of the three and the handling and brakes were all 'meh'. Yours is earlier and somewhat customized so it is probably better than what I rode (OIF Lightning).

Shortcomings aside, I like British bikes so much better than the Asian offerings even if they were better.

Wait till you go to kick it, and she throws you over the handle bars. 

ddavidv said:

The much lamented OIF Triumph. I don't hate on them like most people, I just don't like the 'thing' where the oil tank used to be. Just looks wrong.

There's a kit for the OIF bikes that fixes most of the looks issues.  Here's my '71:

A few updates:

Cleaned up the BSA a little.

Fixed that eyesore airbox

Next will be the seat cover but that's where I left off with it.

Pazon/Podtronics electronic ignition goes on the Triumph:

Goodbye points!:

Hello reliability:

Now, spark is great in the Triumph and it's making more power than ever but unfortunately, the right side spark plug blew out and stripped the threads. Off with it's head.

Soaking the pistons in the meantime to try and get a little more carbon off.  A little more carbon on the left side which makes sense because before I went to the electronic ignition, that side always had a weaker spark.

Aaaaand after reassembly........drumroll......the Triumph runs!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqAbTdG2O8w

About 11 inches of snow on the ground already so no riding this year but she has earned her keep in the garage until next year.

As some have mentioned, the factory airbox on the OIF bikes aren't that pretty. Now that she runs better, I got her a present.

Luckily, easy enough there is a retro side cover option that I've been waiting to fit on. Since our riding season is short and our air is clean, I opted to ditch air filters and just run the screened velocity stacks.

The wiring from all the electronic ignition and regulator are kind of ugly when they're not hidden by something.

I took advantage of the warm spell we had this week to take the first ride after the work was performed on the Triumph. This is almost unheard of to have clear enough roads in my neighborhood the week of Thanksgiving.

First ride of the season was a success. Once the heating Gerbing gloves come in, I'll be taking her out exploring further. 

Finally summer is here. I added a new side stand and exhaust hardware and other than that the Triumph has been a champ so far this season. 

I put about 500 miles on my single cylinder Royal Enfield this weekend. Confused a lot of Harley riders.

I've put a couple hundred on my iron barrel in the last week or so. Yours is probably smoother being a UCE model. My tolerable duration is about an hour.

ddavidv said:

I've put a couple hundred on my iron barrel in the last week or so. Yours is probably smoother being a UCE model. My tolerable duration is about an hour.

Ditching the factory Bosch spark plug made the biggest difference. A cheap NGK bp6es and the bike is much more tolerable. And idles without help now which is a plus.

Goddamn it. I've been wanting to buy a Triumph.

I was having terrible luck with the tank for the Triumph. I had a leak at the seam on on the bottom plus the gas ate away at the paint.

Chrome everything and don’t deal with paint I say!

crankwalk said:

I put about 500 miles on my single cylinder Royal Enfield this weekend. Confused a lot of Harley riders.

 

 

 

 

 

Is that one of the made in India versions?  

Yes. That is the latest fuel injected version. They stopped UK production around 1970.

They may be built in India but are an authentic British bike experience. I have an older 'iron barrel' model and it may have a 2007 production date but is straight out of 1955. Video detailing mine here: Royal Enfield Bullet 2007

I briefly owned a Royal Enfield 750 Interceptor. It was marvelous but really bad brakes. No where near worthy of its speed potential.  

In reply to crankwalk :I loved my BSA 440 Victor. Always thought that muffler had the best sound of any muffler ever made  

But you are absolutely right about the compression of that engine.  It is brutal!  You really had to put a serious commitment in your starting attempts or the consequences would be brutal.  

When it was time to sell it ( I was entering the Navy ) in fact that’s how I sold it.  I explained that kick  starting it took a real man and if he couldn’t start it on the first try I wouldn’t consider selling it to him.  

The challenge had them lining up.  

I stalled a high compression Honda CR500 motocross bike on the top of a dune.   Shaved head bored cylinder past some weird decompression porting or something.  A few came by and asked if I needed help, I told them if I wasn't man enough to start it I wouldn't ride it.  Wasn't my bike so the details are fuzzy.

It would pull the front end at 70 with just a twist of the grip, on sand with a paddle we went up a tooth on the front sprocket to try to tame it, that just made it faster.

Now back to our scheduled programming.

First ride of the year on the 73 yesterday. Fired up on the first kick since October. (Thanks Pazon electronic ignition)

New Matchless Euro touring bars to ditch the westerns. No fuel leaks, wet sumping, or drama. That's a first for this old gal. 

Beautiful shots!

Nice bikes and beautiful locations

frenchyd said:

In reply to crankwalk :I loved my BSA 440 Victor. Always thought that muffler had the best sound of any muffler ever made  

 

 

I love the smaller Burgess style mufflers as well. Today the new EMGO front pads and extended inlet Burgess style mufflers got installed on the Triumph.

Exhaust P/N: 70-5866EXT Purchased from The Bonneville Shop. It took some tweaking and drilling slightly larger mounting holes but it's on. It's a bit louder but it's got much more punch now. Straight through design as opposed to heavy and lots of baffling on the original cigar style.