Plenty of Down Time Lately

It has been a pretty uneventful few weeks since my last post.

The weather has consistently been hot and rainy, but the mornings are starting out cooler (upper 60s) with slightly lower humidity.  It's still a bit too warm for taking the bike out, but it shouldn't be too long before the motorcycle becomes my daily driver once again!

Speaking of motorcycles, I just dropped mine off at the shop on Saturday to get it's first good tune up and inspection.  It's starting to become "motorcycle season" in Florida again, and I want to make sure the bike is good to go for those long weekend trips I plan on taking.  I also requested a quote for getting my rims powder coated.  I think the bike would look good with black rims instead of the factory silver.

Other than taking the bike to the shop, I haven't been doing much else other than putting in hours at the office.  Mid-late Summer tends to become like Groundhog Day for me as I look foward to Fall.

I should be hearing from my mechanic by the end of the week.  I told him to take as long as he needs, I'm not in a rush.  When I pick up the Versys, I'll have to ask him if he's willing to look at my '76 Triumph.  I look forward to taking that bike out on the road in the future.

I hope for a great riding season this Fall.  I can't wait to be on two wheels again!

-James

Update On The Triumph Tiger

Hello, riders.

As many of you know, I have a Triumph Tiger 750 that requires love.  I had stated in a previous post, which you can read here, that I don't want this bike to be a lab rat.  I wanted to take it to a technician who knows vintage Triumphs, and who I would feel comfortable with turning wrenches on it. 

Well, my first stop was my local dealership.  I figured if anyone would have knowledge, or even access to a parts guide, it would be them.  I've had multiple conversations with their head mechanic (who also owns a couple vintage Triumphs of his own) over the past few months about my Kawasaki Versys.  When I met up with him regarding the Tiger, he told me that Triumph Motorcycle Company does not work on, or keep tabs on parts, for motorcycles over 10 years old. 

Why? Today's Triumph Motorcycle isn't our dad's Triumph.  Some guy bought the rights to the name, but that's the only thing left in common with the old Triumphs.  It's sad.  He was genuine enough to tell me that even if they could work on it, he would strongly suggest against it because my Tiger 750 is older than all of the technicians who work for him.  He gave me a couple resources that he uses (British Only being his best recommendation), and offered to give me any help I need.  There are plenty of shops around Florida that claim to know vintage motorcycles, but I was warned about them as well (I won't name them here). 

So I thought that was the end of the road as far as technicians go.  If he wouldn't let his own shop turn wrenches on his bikes, then neither will I.

Going through my dads library of guides, manuals, and such, I found 4 amazing books on Triumphs published in the 60's-80's.  Speed tuning, repair, service, and, rebuilding manuals.  I even found the original owners manual for the Tiger.  I was so excited! That's a gold mine.  If I can get the part numbers off of what I need to replace, I know I can handle the rest.  It is going to be a long process, but that will give me plenty of time to educate myself.  I can't start working on it just yet.  I don't have the space.  But I'll be sure to document my work once I start!

-J

Versys, Or A Cylon?

I've had people comment and question the stickers I have on my Kawasaki Versys.  People have caught me in the parking lot and asked what these stickers mean, or if it's a new logo that Kawasaki is putting on their bikes.

I personally believe that vehicles can have personality.  I'm not necessarily referring to "ghosts in the machine", or anything like Isaac Asimov wrote in his books, but it is possible, and it makes riding more fun to me.  Especially if you can occasionally talk to your bike, when it does something good or bad.  If you love and take care of your bike, it will take care of you.  It's a basic philosophy that I live by.

If any of you recall, when I first bought my Versys, I was calling her Vanessa.  She's a firey redhead, and I just thought it was fitting.  However, my wife got me watching a totally awesome TV show that used to be on ScyFy Channel a few years ago called Battlestar Galactica.  It's a remake of the original from the 70's, but if you haven't even heard of BSG, I pity you and your children (haha).  But that show got me thinking...the ignition sequence on my Versys sounds very robotic (my wife says it sounds like a printer, but I digress). It's red, fast, and looks beautiful.  So I decided to rename my bike after Tricia Helfer's character, Caprica-6.  She wore a red dress, and was the 6th Cylon-Human model.  But I just refer to my bike as Caprica.  I really love it and think it's fitting.

 

So I searched online and found Battlestar Galactica vehicle stickers for my bike and my wife's GMC Terrain.  The cowlings have Cylon Raider fighters on either side, and I have Starbuck's (Katee Sackhoff) symbol (which basically became the symbol for the entire show in the later seasons), on the front fender.

 



 I've decided that the Triumph Tiger will be named Galactica.  Why?  Because just like the warship Galactica, she's old, simple, antequated, but still a classic fighter, and has beauty in her simplistic design.  But don't expect to see any stickers on her.  That bike will remain original.

So what do you drive?

-J

  

That's One Classy Lady

My dad owned a 1976 Triumph Tiger 750 that he had been fixing up for me.  Mechanically the bike is sound (only 11,735 miles!), but it needs new brakes, tires, cables, and new wiring couldn't hurt.  The previous owner added a secondary headlight and a tail light extension....just a bunch of crap.  But my plan is to remove all of the excess and get back to classic, vintage Triumph.  A few places need to be re-chromed, but the paint is in beautiful shape.
 

 

 

Since his passing, the bike has become mine.  I honestly can't wait to get started.  With vintage Triumph's, I'm not about to start turning wrenches on it.  It doesn't need engine work, but I'll let the professionals handle replacing parts.  My dad never liked taking his bikes in, he was able to fix everything.  My dad was a grease monkey who had the skill to fix anything.  But I do not posess the knowledge this bike deserves yet.  I'd much rather have a technician do it.  I plan on learning, but I do not want this Triumph to be the lab rat. 

The motorcycle is a classic kick-start, and I'm most certainly going to keep that, but unfortunately, my knees cannot handle too much kicking. I'm going to look into an electric ignition, so the bike will more or less be a single kick start.  Go ahead, give me a hard time about it, but it's my knees that are taking the beating, not yours haha.
 

 

Keep your eyes open for more updates coming soon! In the meantime, I'm posting a link to a short YouTube video on my channel for those who want to hear what this Triumph sounds like.  The shifter is a bit sticky, so it needs some TLC, and the video shows me trying to get the bike in neutral.  She sounds sweet. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIfTtOTSDF0&list=UUGjRWJNn0sbINLx8lM0TKCg

-J