Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Performance Mods Anyone ever figure out the Tbird Sport needles?

Chuck,
I didn't add anything. Just took the stock needles out and put the TBS needles in. I don't feel the bog anymore. The only modification to the air box is removing the snorkle. It was lean even at idle after this but the needles fixed that too.

Dan

Thanks for that Deuce. I wil order the needles this month when I go up to my dealer.

What are the size of the stock jets? I'm thinking in talking with brent that i will need to drop my "freak" jets from 160 to 140 for my setup.

current setup
freak
ai removed
155 jets
stock pipes
thruxton needles

I installed TBS needles Wednesday. Ran a lot better with a broader, smoother power band. Rough idle and a little coughing at first roll on. Turned screws back out to 3.5 turns. A little better. Now an occasional pop on decel. May have to go to 45 pilots. Might even pull snorkel again, just to see if I can achieve a more harmoneous ingress/egress balance.
Dennis

hey boys, thought i would just chime in with some news on the Thruxson needles.

I pulled the Airbox last weekend and replaced it with the K&N's, then pulled the stock needles and replaced them with Thruxson needles. I kept on the stock exhaust, but she still sounds alot better now with the new filters.

Performance was weak at best, checked the plugs and found i was running very lean. Pulled the stock jets and moved them up to 155's.

Man that SOB goes now, but i pulled the plugs after about 15 minutes of riding and they still look very clean, could i still be running lean, even with the richness of the new needles and 155 jets? Should i pull the pilots too? Should i see a difference on the plugs after 10 minutes of riding?

chuck,
You need to open up the exhaust. Match your inflow with your outgo. If it can't pass enough gas, it ain't gonna eat any more....

So what you are saying if i get better pipes with better flow, i should run richer? I would think i would be leaner.... but i don't know much....

chuck you gotta change the stock PIPES!!! The bike cant exhale. If the exhaust cant get out the motor will not breathe if you cant afford the high dollar pipes get a J C whitney catolog and order some cheap pipes. item# argo17037u 72.99$ each thease are 32in long turn-outs You've increased the air&fuel now you gotta get IT OUT OF THERE !!! TRUMPTRASH

Now your starting to make me worry.... Is this bad for my bike, am i going to blow something up not putting new pipes on?

Hey Chuck,

Naw, you aren't going to hurt her, just won't get the power that is waiting to be unleashed!!

Now that you are sucking in air/gas much better, a more open set of pipes will make her run more efficiently and give you more get up and go...

Okay thought I was missing something .... had me worried...

Thanks ....

Well I scraped the money together and ponied up for Long Cannons from Specialty Spares....so we will see how much is being held back sometime next week.

Quote:

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Now, After I do the Big bore I will most deffinetly use the Thruxton needles

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Pat,
Does that mean you're not gonna need the TBS needles anymore? Want to get rid of them? If so I'd be interested, if not I'll just order a set.

Phil,

I put the Freak on last week with the 160 jets that came with it. I turned out my needle screws to 3 turns each. I have the TOR pipes on her and the AI plugged. Wow, a lot more power now! I still need to tweak my carbs and syncronize this weekend. Now the $25 question...I have 2 parts I have no idea where they are supposed to be installed. The stainless wire that holds the drainage tubes together that used to attach near my battery box, and a triangular plastic shroud with "Triumph" pressed on it.
I have had many beers staring at my bike trying to figure out where these parts go. Even went to Palm Beach Triumph this weekend to pick their brains and look at new stock Americas. No luck. Help please??

Alan

Not sure about the wire, but I think the triangular shroud is what used to be under the seat that covered the wiring harness connections.

Yep, that's it Benny.

Alan, toss the plastic piece into whatever dustbin you are keeping your parts and forget about it.

Check out the pic below. The bolt labeled 27 mounts the forward lower battery box and is also the attachment point for that hose keeper.

Thanks guys! I will look to re-install that wire keeper then if I can find where it attaches again. It was not screwed into the airbox was it? Bob of PB Triumph told me to post the question on this site and someone would surely know the answers. He was right.

Put in the TBS needles today. Combined with drilling a 1 1/2" hole in the bottom of the air box/filter it made a HUGE difference (seat of pants). I guess this was what my BUBs needed. Happy, happy!

Ride Safe!

//piper

Ok, one more tweak junkie to chime in on these needles. I have them in with .040" shims and it seems about right. Without the shims the flat spot remained at about 3500rpm. I have the Freak, 160 mains, 42 pilots, air screws at 3 turns, and Sceptres. I also drilled the small vacuum signal hole at the base of the slide out to .125" and cut 3 coils off the slide springs. Throttle response is solid.

I did some measuring of the stock needles and the Tbird needles and found something interesting. While the Tbird needle is actually .001" smaller at the top, both needles start their taper at nearly the same point. Obvously the Tbird needle tapers much faster, but the transition to the taper may not have been reached yet when the bike is in that 3000-4000rpm range. This theory seems to make sense to me as to why my lean flat spot remained until I added shims.

Any opinions?

Just picked up my TBS needles, and will be installing them in a few minutes. Thought you might like a comparison picture to go with this thread...

Put mine in last weekend, had already rejetted to 135 mains, snorkel removed and Thunderpipes. The TBS needles make a noticeable difference in the midrange. Lots smoother throughout that range. Best 10 or 15 bucks I spent!