1971 Triumph Tiger 650 restoration

Made in England Made in England There's been lots of progress. I have received my new classic-style black and silver number plate and fitted it. The repaired rev counter core is back and I have reassembled and refitted that too. I had a change of heart and removed the old contact breaker points igntion system, replacing it with a Boyer Mk4 electronic ignition and new 6V Lucas coils for better reliability.  These units replace the mechanical auto-advance mechanism with a simple magnet, and the contact breaker points plate assembly with a couple of contact-free pickup coils. These connect to a 'little black box' using the existing wiring, and the box then has outputs for the igntion coils. It precisely controls the ignition timing without any moving parts, giving a more stable idle, easier pull-away from low revs and more advance at high revs for greater power. And it's fit-and-forget, unlike the fiddly contact breakers. Not bad for £90 I think. And there are a few fini...

I had a very welcome envelope from the DVLA last week, containing the long awaited V5 registration document (the "log book"), finally making Bagheera road legal. This was followed two days later by another DVLA letter kindly informing me that my registration application had been successful and to expect my V5 soon.  A bit more bureaucratic faffing is now required to secure a actual number plate, which these days seems to need a lot of paperwork. I send off for a nice tidy 'classic' black-and-silver plate to put on the back of Bagheera. The Smiths 3003 series instruments may look the part, but it's best if they actually work too . While waiting for it to arrive, I decide to take the rev counter apart to see if I can fix it. The manufacturer, Smiths, clearly did want you to do this — why else did they seal the glass permanently on by crimping the metal bezel onto the case all the way around instead of screwing it on?  Some very patient encouragment with a variety of...

Could this be the day? Some sunshine is, at long last, forecast. There’s no excuse not to push her out of the  garage for some photos, at least.  Because the beast is very nearly complete. Since last time, I have found and fitted a nice new timing side cover, reset the contact breaker timing and this time screwed in the correct oil pressure switch.  I’ve fixed ALL the oil leaks, making this a rare beast indeed — a classic Triumph that you can safely park on your favourite carpet.  I have refitted the nicely polished exhaust system, with brand new fin clamps and balancer pipe up front.  I’ve replaced the bushes in the shock absorbers.  I’ve painted the rear light cluster to the original grey and fitted it with the new indicators.  I’ve even splashed out on a ready-painted glossy black chain guard. Now I simply refit the fuel tank and give it a polish and, while I am at it, fit the new fuel lines and clamps too. Bagheera is complete and looking... well ...

Hello everyone, welcome back and a very happy 2021 to you all. While we  may have had even more free time than usual this Christmas -- normally perfect shed time -- my better half decided it was a good time to redecorate the bedroom. That is to say, it was a good time for me to decorate the bedroom. Or perhaps I say it was a good time for me to rebuild the bedroom.  So there has not been very much progress on the bike for a while. When I have been able to escape into the workshop I have mostly been cleaning things. Degreasing, derusting, wire-brushing, polishing (but not too much) all sorts of parts from footpegs to exhaust pipes. It is a gentle, pleasently mindless process and one that should not be rushed. Part 22... snapped. Part 25... busted. Part 26... loose. One material victory was repairing the kick-start mechanism. No more will it randomly let go and snap ones knee ligaments. Once I had bravely taken the gearbox outer cover off, the cause was very obvious. The kickst...

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...