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Well folks, the Thunderbird LT is back and run in.Got the dealer to do the running in service
BIG MISTAKE
350 miles later and its feeling a bit harsh...nothing I could pinpoint exactly, just a sense of the edge being off the smoothness ....
Today I checked the oil
There wasn't any.
Just a trace on the bottom of the dipstick and, yes, I checked it according to the method given in the manual.
I'm so so sick of this alleged Triumph dealership.....I suspect they just slopped a bit of oil in last service.....I even took it in to them this morning and, no, they said the bike is running fine.
I'm off to Wales on it tomorrow and on return I will make a last trip to this dealer,( who shall remain nameless and be referred to only as Laguna, Maidstone, Kent, UK.)
I intend to tell them very publicly exactly what I think of their competence.
Al

I would drain the oil into a clean container and see just how much was in there to be for sure.

Hope your bike isn't burning oil. Can't believe they did an oil change and forgot to fill it. You wouldn't have gone 350 miles if they had, that's why I'm leaning toward oil consumption. I'd pull the plugs to see if they is any indication or oil contamination.

Bad news.Hope it gets sorted

A friend was to take delivery of a brand new Jaguar V12 a treat to himself for selling a big show for a huge profit. It was almost empty of oil and did not make it out of the car lot in Toronto. OOOPSY! anything can happen.

Yep,me too mine goes to the local shop and they are very good.
I had a valve adjustment at the Triumph dealers once,but now the local shop gets my work.They are very competent.Good to deal with,Service and back up is great.

Around here the stealers charge $80 to $100 an hour for service,they only pay the techs $20 and the oil change guys even less. Then in a screw up the managers blame the poor quality help, nothing ever changes.

Reminds me of a friend who took his classic Dodge to one of those presto-changeo oil change "specialists" because he was very short on time. They drained the transmission, dumped 5 quarts of oil in the engine without checking the level and claimed they were finished. Of course, with a double amount of oil, the engine looked like a village fountain when he started it and the car wouldn't move.

That reminds me of a couple years ago with brand new MC trailer on the back of my Mazda 3 a station attendant (yes there are still a few) suggested I needed a quart of oil so I said yes. About 5 km down the road the Mazda belched a cloud of blue smoke obliterating view of everything behind me then continued to blow smoke out the pipe until I could find a place to pull over. Thought the engine was done but a Mazda dealer close by told me it was just overfilled and did an oil change for me. Funny now, not so then.

PS 100,000 km later still running fine

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised....was I not the one who bought a Heritage Softail from a Harley dealer, rode it 200 miles home and found not a drop of oil in the gearbox?
Anyhow....took it to a real Triumph shop today who reckon a) no damage done and b) that some Thunderbirds do run like this one does.....
As this is a dealer I respect and which has an excellent reputation ( Jack Lilley) I will simply bite the bullet and try to get used to it....the guys above spent 2 hours checking it over, running it at low and high speed and listening carefully to what I said...then refused to accept a penny in payment...so I put what I thought was fair in their charity box.
So...to sum up....I'll ride it over the winter and see how I feel about it next spring.
OK it vibrates more than before and no one knows why.( closer tolerances in the bores?) .
But I came home in a hurry yesterday from Wales-260 miles at 80/90+mph...nothing broke or fell off.
Maybe I should call that good enough for now.....
Al

It's good when you find good service.

Why don't you post this on the Thunderbird1600 board? There will probably be people there with similar issues and maybe are having the same sounds from their new bikes.

Should do, I suppose.....I'm a member but have never posted there....don't know why.
But
It's fixed!
Eureka moment........found a very slight amount of play in the front left screen clamp.....result? Screen blade vibrating against the fork leg and transmitting through the frame.
Thankfully a very easy fix......
I feel bad about some of my rants against Laguna.... though in my defence they really did mess up the engine oil and I also found the coolant level below minimum( nope, no leaks anywhere) so whatever my frustrations with them, they really have provided awful service.
Whilst I'd appreciated that ,screen on, the bike sounded like a bag of bolts in a dishwasher, I'd not reckoned on the vibration as coming from there too...you live and hopefully learn
On the plus side I have a bike which now runs as it should and is the delight it used to be

When I picked up my Rocket and trailered it home last year (snow on the ground) there were several problems that should have been picked up on the inspection. It had a clamp missing for the muffler, the brake lines were not properly secured, the rad reservoir was empty, the valve cover gasket was leaking and tire pressure was very low. They charge me an $800 Bike Prep fee that should have addressed this. All the dealerships in Ontario have this fee.... ripoff!! They sent me the clamp and nothing else when I complained. They did give me 15% off any accessories I purchased from them for a year which I took advantage of but....

Glad your ride survived the dealer handoff.