Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge Abondoned in VT

While on vaca last week the miius &I decided to take a little ride, a nice day trip. well the ignition started acting up... and then it just died. After a few magic words & a squeeze on the ground of the battery I was off & running on one cylinder. Lucky for me I was about 10 miles from FRANKS CYCLE in Essex Jct. He told me the ignition pickup was shot, a common problem ( I thought Lucas stopped making components) OF COURSE nothing in stock so I had to go home without the bike. It's been a week & I'M jonesing to ride (seems its been the nicest week of the summer).

Has anyone delt with these guys? How are they?

Sorry to hear about your miss fortune in my fair state. Frank's Motorcycle Sales is were I purchased my 2004 Speedmaster. Frank's is primarily a BMW dealer but he does sale a number of Triumphs. I've only had my bike in for service twice, 500 mile break-in and 6000 mile. Both times were scheduled and I was able to leave it over a few days. I prefer to turn my own wrench when I can. Lester Pelkey the owner is fair but sometime he comes off a little gruff. Typical Vermont some might say. Jeanette his wife is a sweet heart and Dave Bombardier, the sales manager is very personable. I usually talk to one of those two when I call. As you found out Lester doesn't stock a whole lot of spare parts. I have only heard of a rare occurrence where he took a part off a floor model. But Lester is the only BMW/Triumph dealer in the state so he runs his business as he pleases. I will most likely buy my next bike from him, a BMW RT, because he is local. Bottom line he is very knowledgeable on his brands and is fair. I am told he has a fine motorcycle collection. People tell me they have been trying to get Lester to put it display for years with no success. You might have seen a couple if you looked above their stock room / rest room. My buddy who bought his first BMW almost 30 yrs ago from Frank's says don't Lester stature fool you he is a very skilled rider and rides almost anything.

I hope you have your scoot back soon. Every time I order parts it usually take at least a week.

Most of the dealers would have had you back on the road that day but taking from a floor model.

Maybe things have changed.

wow I thought triumphs didn't break down?

99% don't, unlike hardleys

ahh everything breaks if you use it right. nothing some sheer terror and a couple brews cant fix.

no honstly I didn't mean to be a smart A%# but I don't hear of these bikes breaking down much,, I've read reviews all over the internet and these new triumphs are sopposed to be very reliable.

very but there have been some ignitor problems.

I think I've heard the headlights stink but I think mine is fine compared to the harley headlights I was used to..


I still don't like the front brakes,, not used to how touchy they are but like the triumph dealer said--> its nice to feel good brakes again isn't it!

maybe thats why American made HD is using Italian Brembo brakes on the 2K8 Bigtwins..

oops--> sorry for hijacking the thread, got carried away.

what happens or whats the warnings does the bike just die?

had a sporty go down on me and it acted like it was running out of gas but backfiring so loud you could here the report echoing off the fronts of the houses,,, it was the electronic ignition.

It normally starts firing on one cylinder only (don't ask me how I know ). In some cases it dies out altogether.

there was a service bullitin that says to decrease the pick up gap to prevent this.

The gap for the pick up under the side cover of the engine that sends a signal to the CDI to tell the coils when to fire. Origonal spec was 1.0 mm and the new one is .8mm. You have to pull the side cover and it is a wet cover so have a drain pan or do it when you change the oil. Also I have heard that gasket can not be reused so should have one of those too. The page in the OEM manual that shows what to do is in section 16 page is 46.

The cover to pull is the one on the same side as the sprocket cover.

Many many thanks. I suspect you may save a lot of people (who read this and act on it) a lot of problems.
I'll have my mechanic do that next time I take the bike in.
Having been a CDI victim once, it's potential failure is the only thing about the bike that scares me (especially in some of the neighbourhoods I sometimes travel through ).

I didn't come up with the info just repeating it. I no longer remember who it was that first posted it.But you are welcome anyway!

So I go back to VT 2 weeks later to pick up the bike- a 4 hour drive.
Get there in plenty of time before closing. I 'm paying the bill and hear a really nice sounding bike pull up, I turned around to see IT'S MY BIKE! pay the bill go for a quick scoot & everything rocks. Go back to the shop , Lester helps me get the bike onto the p/u truck (no easy task, had to pull the speedo & rotate the bars to get it under the cap) get home. Monday comes get onto the bike for the commute and the same thing starts happening again.
so now it's at Rockwell Cycles in Ft Montgomery and it looks like another 2 weeks of no riding. I'm fuming ****** off 'cuz I just paid the bike off, it's beautiful weather & I'm stuck drivin the POS P/U truck.

'05 America, bought new in Feb of '06..at 11,000 miles,lost 1 igniter on Interstate 85, next to Turner Field in Atlanta at 0600, limped on into work on 1 cylinder...changed out battery at 12,000 miles after wife left key on all day, new set of Dunlops, other than that, perfect, very happy....schweet bike.

Mike, did they say what they thought the problem was? What did they attempt to fix? Can you get your money back, since they didnt really fix "the" problem?

Soren

Lester told me they tested the pickup for continuity & resistance & said it was totally shot. Changed my spark plugs & adjusted the carbs. $185 later same problem. Lester said he rode it for 10 mi or so & it ran fine, I rode it and it was fine. Took it home & it's running like ****** again. Nick at Rockwell suspects the coil, or possibly the CDI. I guess I'll see.