Monday, March 30, 2015

Getting the Bike Ready for Spring

Here on the Middle Coast, the weather is threatening to actually, you know, be halfway decent for riding.  I've seen some other folks out on the road already (including one guy on a Road King whose passenger was a Pomeranian wearing doggles), but I haven't been keen to get my bike all full of deicing chemicals, and deal with leftover gravel on the road and...

Well, actually, those reasons are complete bullshit.  I haven't had Triumph out because I've been waiting for parts. Also, about a week ago, there was a snowstorm that made sure I wouldn't be overly tempted to get Triumph out until I had the new parts installed.

The parts I specifically needed were a new clutch cable, and a battery hold-down strap.  Thankfully, they arrived just in time for me to install them this weekend.

It could have fallen into several spots that
would have been worse.
I've got to say, Triumph is a dream to work on.  Everything seems to be immediately and easily accessible.  On my Suzuki VX800, replacing the clutch cable took an entire afternoon due to all the fiddly little adjustments Suzuki, in their wisdom, decided a clutch needs.  Triumph's engineers, on the other hand, apparently said, "Isn't simply having a clutch lever adjustment enough?"

Changing that cable took me all of twenty minutes.  Five of those were because I dropped a nut into a spot I couldn't easily reach.  Luckily, I had a magnetic screwdriver (I hadn't been aware it was magnetic, so that was a bonus) and I was able to fish it out with minimal difficulty.

More challenging, believe it or not, was getting the battery hold-down strap in place.  That probably took ten minutes on it's own.  There wasn't anything particularly complicated about it, it was just hard to get the sucker into one of the hooks that holds it.

The only thing that remains to be done is to air up the tires a bit, and fix a crack I discovered in the vinyl near the bottom of the saddle.

Triumph should be on the road again soon!

Incidentally, does anyone have any advice on how to fix cracked vinyl?

7 comments:

RichardM said...

No suggestions on the cracked vinyl. On the Beemer, I pre-ran the clutch cable so it's about a 10 minute task to switch to the new cable. The Ural spare is still in the trunk from the previous owner. I'm making up a list of spares for this summers trip.

Trobairitz said...

How big is the crack in the vinyl? Small enough for crazy glue? Electrical tape if it isn't too visible?

I'd check an online motorcycle forum to see if people have had luck with any of the repair kits.

Coop a.k.a. Coopdway said...

You'll be out soon Lucky. Two very good suggestions above and where I'd start in your shoes.

Hope to see you out and about this season!

Lucky said...

Richard M - So you had the new cable already in place on the bike, waiting until you needed to switch it? Wow, that's being prepared!

Trobairitz - I'd guess it's about an inch and a half. I'll dig around online and see what I can find.

Coop - Thanks! I'm sure you will. I hope to see you out there too!

mq01 said...

lucky pomeranian :)

RichardM said...

It's easier to carry the cable with it already installed then coiled up in the bottom of wherever.

Greg Prosmushkin said...

Thanks for sharing this great post with us. I hope you were able to get the ride ready for some spring riding. Have a great rest of your day and keep up these informative posts.
Greg Prosmushkin