Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Performance Mods 2 questions

ok first one is do any of you guys use the motul oil? i was thinking of ordering the kit form brent but never heard of this stuff. also my dealer uses mobil 1. just curious how this oil rates with mobil 1 and say amsoil and other major brands of oil.
next question. have about 1600 miles ont he bike. thunderbike pipes and the snorkle removed. stil have the stock jets in. bike runs good and strong all the way to redline but does pop a bit much in decel. i know these come lean form the factory but am curious to what i should use for jets. also should i pull the inner snorkles while i am there? i dont want to do this job twice so i really want to get a good idea which jets would probably work. also would the tbs needles be worth it with the limited mods done? haha and lastly the pilots should be left alone right? sorry for the long post and thanx for reading

Frank

Best person to ask is Pat(Dingue)He is the ultimate carb guru

yea i just dont wanna bug him with a pm cuz he probably gets bugged all the time. i will wait to see what info comes here and maybe shoot him a pm if i dont get any info. thanx stewe

Frank

Frank you remove the AI stuff yet? That and adjusting your air mix screws should take care of the popping... I wouldn't be surprised if you are running lean and would need a re-jet tho. If you ever do consider re-jetting, that would be a great time to ditch any snorkles and possibly drill out the bottom of the filter/airbox too. All at once, ya know?

yea the whole ai system is out. pretty the screws are like 3 and 1/2 turns. i was thinking 130 mains? prob leave the pilots alone and get the tbs needles. this douns right?

Frank

i run the thunderpipes and my mechanic increased the jets 10 percent to 132mains after putting in new plugs and doing extensive plug checks ,he,s quite funny he gets right into his plug checks out with his magnifying glass checking the different color shades ,but it does run real strong,dont know how many turns out he has the screws also a1 removed

If you're at 3.5 turns out on the screws you definitely need to up your mains a size of two, or try the TBS needles or both. When I got my Scepters they came with new mains which I think were 135s and I had basically the same set up as you, but I'd cut the bottom out of my airbox. I still had a little popping on decel, but no backfiring which is what you don't want. I don't believe you will ever get these bikes to not pop some on decel. Afterwards, I got the FREAK which came with 160 mains and just recently I put in the TBS needles as well. The TBS needles work great, but you'll have to play around with possibly shimming them depending on the size main you use. At first I put in one shim and was way too rich because of my large mains, but once I took the shims out it ran like a champ. Try the TBS needles themselves first...if you still need to adjust the screw out more that 3.5 turns, it's time to up the mains. Also remember that the carbs probably won't take the same number of turns out on screws because of the mirrored setup of the carbs which evidently affects the fuel mixture flow inside. My left carb is always about 1 turn less than my right. One other suggestion. The screws in the top of the carbs are crap. They'll strip on you if you just think about it. Order some of the allen head screws to replace them and you'll save yourself a lot of headache. It's much easier to get an allen wrench in there than a screwdriver anyway. Best of luck with the testing.

thanks sniper. i did order those screws already. just trying to get all my facts together before doiin this. want to make this job as painless as possible. thanx for the replies

Frank

Frank,

This may sound dumb.... (moi?), but write down everything you do and check each mod by seat of the pants before you do another mod. That way, if it is good or bad, you'll know what caused it.
I have AI out, snorkel out, no snorkels/restrictors were ever installed between my airbox and carbs so I didn't have to remove them. I have TBike pipes, 130 mains, TBS needles, stock pilot jets, and left pilot screw at 4 turns out/right screw at 5 turns out.
I tried a Uni air filter, didn't like the mess, so went back to stock. My plugs are darker than white, but not cocoa brown, but I am happy with the way the bike runs. Your results may vary.
I installed the allen screws in the carbs - they are a good investment, I also replaced the pilot screws with the knurled thumb screws - they are also a good investment.

There is a t-shirt out there somewhere that says a Triumph will turn a normal man into a mechanic.... that can be a good thing! Tinkering is part of the fun...

If Dinqua doesn't get back to you right away don't fret. I think he went down to the Ga. ralley. In the mean time go through his site and check your mods to everyone elses and see where you stand verses them. That should give you a better idea of where to start.

With AI crap & snorkel removed, a UNI filter, & drilled-out airbox, I'm running 135 mains & stock (42) pilots. Air/fuel is adjusted out 3.5 turns & all runs well, except.... I'm still getting some decel popping.
Am changing the pilots to 45's this afternoon!

You would probably gain a little more power if you pull thr inner snorkles and increase the main jets to around 132 - 136, your sparkplugs will tell you for sure. Also, you can make a quick test by running up beyond mid range and easing the choke out *slightly* with the engine fully warmrd up. If it runs a bit stronger, the main jet is lean.
That won't do anything for the poppping though, with the throttle closed you are running only on the pilot jet. It isn't so easy to check for, but you may have an exhaust leak sucking air when you back off. If you take out the air filter, spray a bit of WD40 or some such in the carbs to make the exhaust smokey and block the end of the pipes with rags, you might see a stream of smoke if there is a leak.

I suspect that part of the cause of exhaust popping is the ignition system. A small or zero throttle opening and above idle engine speed is a sure indicator of a light load condition. In the interest of lower emissions and better economy, the ignition controll will most likely use the max advance curve. To get an idea what this does, tey to watch a vintage hotrod run in a hilly area. The vacuum brake distributer on pre - '49 Fords will go to full advance coasting down hill and the pipes pop and bang much like the Triumph twins.

ye i was trying to match my mods up with others but still figure i ask. pretty sure exhaust is fine i put it on before even gettin the bike form the dealer. will check tho. guess i will try all snorkles out, 130 mains and tbs needles. thanx guys. haha no replys about that oilchangin kit tho huh?

Frank

Frank...The only thing that really tells the story of no matter what you do is how your plugs are burining. It is posted in here somewhere how to do a plug "chop", drive it up to speed for a few miles and teh last mile make sure it is sustained opperation and pull the cliutch and cut the power. This will give you a more accurate indication of how your fuel mix is at operational levels. Should be tan in color away from white! This is the only real indication that what ever you do is right for the bike, what is taking place during combustion.

ed

Yes I ordered the Motul oil change kit from Brent and like it a lot. It meets or exceeds the recommended specs for our bikes and after about 200 miles I noticed it shifted a lot easier. Finding neutral is not an adventure anymore.
Read the post on new Valvoline motorcycle oil. I'm planning on trying it for my next change.