The Ace Cafe day was great, if a bit damp! Hopefully the pictures give an impression of the day. To get to and from the Ace I had a 100 mile ride which was really good for giving the bike a bit of shake down following the work on it. Overall the bike ran brilliantly, it isn't fast but it was fine on the road and the smaller front wheel together with the Avon tyres seemed to dial out any evil handling woes...
But there were problems. First the speedo conked out, having pulled it apart I can see that the internals of the unit work and all the cogs turn so I am fairly certain that the fault is either in the cable or the rear wheel mounted drive unit. I will have to replace them as its an MOT failure if the speedo is not working. Second, the front forks, despite being rebuilt, are still a bit limited. They are the original internal spring forks and are well known for bottoming out fairly regularly. So with this in mind I have bought all the parts to convert to later shuttle valve, external spring forks. I have just about built them up which was a pretty easy job. Next job is to take the old forks out of the yokes and replace with the new ones, not difficult but a bit of a pain...
Aside from that it seems fine!! Also, the fork transplant means that I now have a full 5TA front end - yokes, bars, wheel, brake etc; so I'm on the look out for a ridgid frame, I feel a bobber coming on...!
Showing posts with label Triumph 5TA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Triumph 5TA. Show all posts
Monday, 20 September 2010
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Triumph - New front brake
When I got the bike it had the standard single lead front brake on a 19" rim with a pretty manky tyre. Whilst the whole system functioned it didn't actually seem to do anything, least of all actually stop the bike! Seeing as that is pretty much a pre-requisite of a brake, it had to be changed! Coupled with that the old brake was hardly a thing of beauty...
Having picked a twin lead hub a while ago, I cleaned it up, fitted new bearings and brake shoes so that it could be fitted. The biggest issue was that the twin lead hub is wider than the single lead hub, so whilst the forks could be reused - I refurbished these first - the old yokes would have to be changed for later yokes that could take the wider brake. I sourced a set of upper and lower yokes from Burton Bike bits (http://www.burtonbikebits.net/) along with new races. The result was a set of forks that would could take the new brake.
The new brake has been laced into an 18" wheel, which matches the rear wheel, and actually was the size that the bike would have been made with. Over time most old Triumphs will have been converted to a 19" front rim, but 18" was the original. It'll be interesting to see how it handles, but it certainly looks better!! An Avon Road Runner has been fitted to match the tyre that has been put on the rear, the 100 width is fatter than the tyre that came off, but it still fits nicely in the forks.
Next steps are to cable the brake so that it works and then to set it up, could be a bit fiddly... Then I need to find and fit a mudguard. I actually think it looks pretty cool without one, but with the British weather a dry ride can never be fully assured and without a guard, if it does rain, I'll be getting facefull of rain water and maybe more... The old guard is a bit too long and obviously fits a 19" wheel...
I'm coming towards the end of the re-furb of this bike, just the last few jobs to be completed, although they are always the ones that take the longest...
Having picked a twin lead hub a while ago, I cleaned it up, fitted new bearings and brake shoes so that it could be fitted. The biggest issue was that the twin lead hub is wider than the single lead hub, so whilst the forks could be reused - I refurbished these first - the old yokes would have to be changed for later yokes that could take the wider brake. I sourced a set of upper and lower yokes from Burton Bike bits (http://www.burtonbikebits.net/) along with new races. The result was a set of forks that would could take the new brake.
The new brake has been laced into an 18" wheel, which matches the rear wheel, and actually was the size that the bike would have been made with. Over time most old Triumphs will have been converted to a 19" front rim, but 18" was the original. It'll be interesting to see how it handles, but it certainly looks better!! An Avon Road Runner has been fitted to match the tyre that has been put on the rear, the 100 width is fatter than the tyre that came off, but it still fits nicely in the forks.
Next steps are to cable the brake so that it works and then to set it up, could be a bit fiddly... Then I need to find and fit a mudguard. I actually think it looks pretty cool without one, but with the British weather a dry ride can never be fully assured and without a guard, if it does rain, I'll be getting facefull of rain water and maybe more... The old guard is a bit too long and obviously fits a 19" wheel...
I'm coming towards the end of the re-furb of this bike, just the last few jobs to be completed, although they are always the ones that take the longest...
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
The bikes: Triumph 5TA
My current main project is a Triumph 5TA that I am slowly turning into a cafe style bike. Why the 5T, well mainly because 650s are pretty expensive to buy, especially if the intention is pull them apart! Secondly, the 500 engine, whilst not being the most potent in the world is sweet running and smooth. Finally, the bike had a bit of reputation for being a bit of an iffy handler, I reckon that with modern rubber, uprated front springs and decent shocks some of the handling qwerks can be dialled out... We shall see!
The bike arrived like this:
It isn't original in any sense at all and whilst looking pretty enough, to my eyes it looked a bit dull. So first up was to create a mental picture of the bike I wanted; basic essentials were: clip-on's, rear-sets, humped seat and swept exhausts. I also wanted to switch the front wheel from the 19" wheel it had back to the original 18" but also to incorporate a twin lead brake rather than the puny single lead.
So work to date...
The forks have been rebuilt with new seals, springs and legs. At this point I reverted to a set of clip on's and new headlight supports, throttle, grips and levers. At the same time the yokes have been swapped to later ones so that a twin lead brake will now fit between the fork legs; the races were renewed as well.
The effect is pretty cool, but it does mean that by the time the choke and light switches have been put on there is not a lot of space on the bars! One area I did overlook was where to mount the ignition switch; it was on the old, much bigger, fork shroud, but that has now gone, so still need to figure out quite where that is going to mount! The Chronometric clock still works looks much better on the bars than just mounted roughly as it was before.
At the rear the old dated mud guard has been switched for an ali one that has been cut down to accept a new light and plate holder. The aim is try and show as little of the guard as possible whilst still making it useful - I think its tuned out OK! The seat has been switched for a pretty cool humped seat. Initially I wasn't sure about this, but it seems to work well, its certainly more comfy to sit on and induces a more leaid out sporty riding position. The changes have tidied up the back end massively.
To help with the handling the rear shocks have been changed for Hagon items and the rear tyre, which before looked more like a car tyre, has been replaced by an Avon 130/18 Road Runner that just fits in the rear swing arm... Just! The low level pipes have been changed for higher upswept ones and Thruxton silencers. They sound like thunder with the baffles out...! I've now lost the baffles!!! MOT will be interesting!!!
With the new exhaust and the bars, the need to sort out out the foot pegs is pretty obvious! Clip-on's and standard pegs would lead to hop surgery pretty quickly! So I have mounted rear-sets by removing the passenger pegs and mounting the new pegs on the pillion mounts. The brake has been easy to modify but on the gearbox side the selector has had to be turned through 180 degrees so that it sits near the new peg, so reversing the gear selection pattern. Instead of one down and three up, it is now back to the more conventional (for old Brit bikes) one up three down; and of course it is on the right not the left...
That's the progress to date; next on the list is the new front wheel incorporating the twin lead brake - I have already bought and re-furb'd a hub - mount a new front mudguard, sort the electrics, give it a really good clean and polish and then actually ride the bike. The aim is to get it ready for the London to Brighton run later in the year.
The bike arrived like this:
It isn't original in any sense at all and whilst looking pretty enough, to my eyes it looked a bit dull. So first up was to create a mental picture of the bike I wanted; basic essentials were: clip-on's, rear-sets, humped seat and swept exhausts. I also wanted to switch the front wheel from the 19" wheel it had back to the original 18" but also to incorporate a twin lead brake rather than the puny single lead.
So work to date...
The forks have been rebuilt with new seals, springs and legs. At this point I reverted to a set of clip on's and new headlight supports, throttle, grips and levers. At the same time the yokes have been swapped to later ones so that a twin lead brake will now fit between the fork legs; the races were renewed as well.
The effect is pretty cool, but it does mean that by the time the choke and light switches have been put on there is not a lot of space on the bars! One area I did overlook was where to mount the ignition switch; it was on the old, much bigger, fork shroud, but that has now gone, so still need to figure out quite where that is going to mount! The Chronometric clock still works looks much better on the bars than just mounted roughly as it was before.
At the rear the old dated mud guard has been switched for an ali one that has been cut down to accept a new light and plate holder. The aim is try and show as little of the guard as possible whilst still making it useful - I think its tuned out OK! The seat has been switched for a pretty cool humped seat. Initially I wasn't sure about this, but it seems to work well, its certainly more comfy to sit on and induces a more leaid out sporty riding position. The changes have tidied up the back end massively.
To help with the handling the rear shocks have been changed for Hagon items and the rear tyre, which before looked more like a car tyre, has been replaced by an Avon 130/18 Road Runner that just fits in the rear swing arm... Just! The low level pipes have been changed for higher upswept ones and Thruxton silencers. They sound like thunder with the baffles out...! I've now lost the baffles!!! MOT will be interesting!!!
With the new exhaust and the bars, the need to sort out out the foot pegs is pretty obvious! Clip-on's and standard pegs would lead to hop surgery pretty quickly! So I have mounted rear-sets by removing the passenger pegs and mounting the new pegs on the pillion mounts. The brake has been easy to modify but on the gearbox side the selector has had to be turned through 180 degrees so that it sits near the new peg, so reversing the gear selection pattern. Instead of one down and three up, it is now back to the more conventional (for old Brit bikes) one up three down; and of course it is on the right not the left...
That's the progress to date; next on the list is the new front wheel incorporating the twin lead brake - I have already bought and re-furb'd a hub - mount a new front mudguard, sort the electrics, give it a really good clean and polish and then actually ride the bike. The aim is to get it ready for the London to Brighton run later in the year.
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