Put together fork legs today. Except that after following step-by-step instructions for first one, when doing the other one after lunch I thought I knew what to do and didn’t follow instructions, big mistake, only went and put seal in before upper bushing and washer. New seal didn’t want to hammer out by yanking stanchion so ended up butchering things prising old seal out. Fortunately minor dings in stanchion and lower leg weren’t below the seal line. It was only then I realised that the reason yanking out old seal didn’t work was because damper was still screwed in and I was hitting against the top-out spring, doh!
I was also planning on replacing steering-head bearings today but I found a problem with the All Balls tapered roller bearings I’d got from Wemoto. The dust seal fouls the lower cup slightly, (looking online this seems to be a design flaw with them) and the ‘fix’ is to pad it out with a washer. Except, from my measurements, even without the washer the upper lip of the dust seal wouldn’t seal in the headstock. Original seals wouldn’t work either (fouls rollers) so I decided to not change bearings after all. (Originals weren’t rusted or pitted, just a bit of shine where the balls seat)
@HelmutVisor and I took a trip on our Triumphs to a classic motorcycle club open house meet this evening at Dom’s Bike Stop near Leominster; it was packed and I managed to actually enjoy doing “people” for the second time in the space of a week which is good going for me .
New primary chain, new rubbers, new clutch centre. Just wouldn’t go right, I was at sixes and sevens today…took me half a dozen tries to get it all back in ok. Come on, get a grip that man…should I put that 10 thou shim in or not…tighten up, line up, unbolt, redo FFS, come along!
Commute again for me today in the lovely sunshine - later shift so lovely and warm and more chilled - out than mixing with the early traffic.
I have also stolen a few photos from Facebook of last night’s bike night - there were some amazing bikes there but I always forget to take photos when I am enjoying myself!!
The Triton next to mine was my favourite of the evening I think…
Parts arrived to get rear light unit assembled and working (but not yet on bike). The obvious place for numberplate light wire routing was though a slot in the centre that serves no other purpose, however it was 1mm too small for connector (which I fixed ).
When I first took unit off, that wire was forced down the side between two plastic parts where there isn’t a proper gap, I guess they changed connector after the mould for plastic part was made and resorted to bodging it during assembly. I tested the wire on the old broken unit and wire was fine, so that wasn’t wasn’t the cause of my light failure.
A trip to the Triumph dealer 40 miles away for the Striple’s annual service - the roads there are nice until the last 8-10 miles. @HelmutVisor finished work early so met me there and we rode home together. I had to wait as I haven’t held my full licence long enough to get a courtesy bike .
He’s a good egg - plus it gave him a reason for a ride in the lovely sunshine . He also likes any excuse to look at bikes, which makes me nervous for our bank account . They had some beautiful bikes in, the paint finish and colour on the red Speed Triple RR gets me every time - it’s stunning.
I had a trip out on the Thruxton today. 200 mile run into Wales via Bala, Porthmadog and Nefyn and home via Ruthin and Chester. Dry sunny roads what a brilliant day, followed by a pint in my local.
Lovely summer evening here too. I’ve just been out a spin, didn’t go far, just felt like a spin. Very enjoyable it was too. I’m off 2 weeks today so a great way to start the holidays. That street triple is just such a joy to ride, I love it dearly
This is what I was explaining to people today when I was being asked what other bikes I fancied; at the moment I don’t. I would certainly like to have a go on all sorts of bikes to experience them but I just cannot think why I would want to change my Street Triple for anything else at all - and I am obviously nowhere near as experienced and skilled as you so perhaps it’s not all First Big Bike Infatuation Syndrome .
You’ll be hard pushed to do better than the bike you have. Of course there are other styles of bikes wich bring there own experiences and no doubt worth a dabble at some point in your biking career. You really aced it with your first big bike though
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