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
