1971 Triumph Tiger 650 restoration

One of the joys of working on motorbikes, rather than cars, is everything is so much more accessible. Ones skin can, largely, remain on ones knuckles and there is rarely the need to grovel around on the floor working upside-down while rust and dirt fall in ones eyes. There is less call too for brute force and grunt as most fastners are more delicately made sensibly placed. Less, but not none. For some reason, the physically tough jobs have all come at once. Firstly, because I am still waiting for parts, I decide to strip down the rear end. Off comes the drive chain, and with only a small tussle the back wheel. Next the shock absorbers and rear mudguard are removed, which is a dirty but easy job. Finally the swing arm itself can be released. The swing arm is the substantial U-shaped frame that supports the back wheel. At the front it is pivoted onto the main frame so it can swing up and down, while a shock absorber on each side cushions and dampens the movement to create a proper suspen...

So much for my plan to work logically through the bike from front to back. It seems to be taking anything from two to twenty days to receive parts from the various suppliers, scrambling my plan of action somewhat. I can't finish the electrics because I am waiting for a headlamp boot and the indicators. I can't change the tyres yet because I am still waiting for inner tubes. I can't set up the control cables because I am still waiting for the new handlebars. Both these need to happen before I can set up the front brakes, although I can't do that anyway because I am waiting for two little washers that secure the brake cable to the lever on the drum. Oil draining from all over the place So I have instead started on the engine. First things first, I drain off the horrible sludgy old oil. On most bikes, one drain plug does it all, but not on this machine. There are not one, not two, but FOUR different drain plugs to remove, all with different sealing washers; the crankcase, ...

Wiring. Don’t panic! There’s something about wiring that strikes fear into the heart of the most competent spannermen. As we all know, electrics work on a kind of magic blue smoke. You have to keep the smoke trapped in the wires and components by connecting them up just right, because if you get it wrong there is a bang and the smoke comes out of the components, they never work again. Like my zener diode in an earlier post. That’s nonsense of course, and vehicle electrics are actually pretty simple, especially on a classic bike. It does not have an ECU, a CDI, a reg/rec or any other modern computery stuff. It does not have any of those lamba sensors or mass air flow sensors or coolant sensors that festoon modern engines. It does not have a clutch or side stand switch, because there is no starter circuit or starter safety circuit, because there is no starter motor. There are no relays anywhere and it does not even have a fuse box. What it has is just enough wiring to create a spark at t...

Inside the front brake. Yuk, right? Driven on by naive early enthusiasm, I’ve been putting in the hours in the workshop this week and have got a lot done. Where you start on restoring a classic motorcycle? I’m sure there are good sensible strategies like stripping it all down and having an expert check over the engine before spending any money.  But I have decided I will start at the front and work back. That way I can be sure to be financially committed before I find any of the really expensive problems. What’s the at the front? Yes, the front wheel. Off it comes, with its badly painted and slightly broken mudguard. A particularly awkward recessed nut (11/16” Whitworth apparently, rare even in 1971) eventually submits to reveal the innards of the front brake. It’s a drum brake, which is fine on a London bus, but was old tech for motorbikes even back then, mainly because they don’t work very well. It will have to be set up very carefully, but that’s for another day. I strip down an...

The kickstart lever (center) and cause of my sore knee. Suitably chastened by my sore knee and blown electrics, I approach the bike a few days later in a more philosophical attitude.  I start to make a list of what is missing, broken or just past its best, and get another surprise -- supplies of spare parts are excellent and they are very reasonably priced, compared to the Japanese stuff. One supplier in particular -- the excellently named Feked -- seems to have everything. I splash a whopping £230 on a ton of parts and consumables, and another £45 for a top quality battery . Plus the £55 registration fee, it's an expensive week, particularly as it does not even run yet. In the cold light of day, I find plenty of good reasons why. 1. Fuel. The carb is gunky, and when I try to remove the main jet to clean it, it breaks in half. No wonder it would not run. But here is another nice surprise. Despite being made back in 1970, the carb -- an Amal 930 -- still has a good supply of parts ...

The Triumph Tiger, popular in the USA. Today, it's coming. Sometime today. I am ready from 9am, even though I know the dealer is two hours away. The morning: nothing. At lunchtime, I call, and the ever friendly-dealer assures me it's just being loaded. The afternoon: nothing. Finally, early evening, I get a call, and he's an hour away.  7pm, it's dark and it's raining, but the phone goes again and IT'S HERE. I go and meet the guy, his van lit up like a Christmas tree, pay him (£140). Poor guy has driven from Blackpool to Stoke on Trent, then to me, then he's going down south and finally back to Blackpool in the small hours. I feel it's a good thing his van is so festooned with lights.  Carefully we back the bike down the ramp. The back tyre is flat, the handlebars feel like they are falling off and both stands are dragging on the ground. He warns me not to touch the brakes in case they lock up. Together we push the bike up the lane into the drive. He han...

It's our second COVID lockdown here in the UK, there's no work to be had and it's winter. A boy needs a project. I'd been toying for a while with the idea of doing up a classic British motorbike -- I've only played with 90s Japanese stuff in the past -- and started watching a few things on ebay. And yes perhaps putting in the odd cheeky bid after a few beers. You guessed it. I 'accidentally' won an auction. I am the new keeper of a 1971 Triumph TR6R Tiger, freshly imported from the US of A. The Tiger is the single-carb version of the famous Bonneville, and is the same model as ridden by Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. Quite a heritage. And now this one , is mine:  Bought sight unseen, for £4300. No history, not even registered in the UK. What had I done? Promptly the next morning, a friendly chap from the dealers calls, we sort out the readies and he also offers delivery at a reasonable price. No going back now. In a few days it will be here... While I wa...