Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech My bike is falling apart (electrical and chain)

I had the perfect week from he||. The worst is detailed here. But leading up to it I had electrical problems and my chain is dying I think.

First, I rode in the rain most of the day on Monday from Helena to Freedom's house. During a stop in Missoula, a bit over half way, it wouldn't start for several minutes. After that it ran without fail the rest of the way to John's.

Tuesday morning after gassing and loading up, it would die, it would miss and pop through the carbs and exhaust then die. It would run ballz out for 10 minute and just shut down, then not restart for about another 10 minutes. Mind you, we were leaving Freedom's house for a little (?) tour of British Columbia. I couldn't trust it.

So we trucked it over to Empire Cycles in Spokane (Tingley's in Missoula didn't have a mechanic on duty all day). We left it for them and they got right on it (I'm pretty impressed overall with Empire), but we returned to T-Falls. The mechanic started tracing out and testing every circuit. He found "a resistance" and repaired some corroded connections in the neutral light and/or kickstand kill switch circuits. He said he noticed that the neutral light was now much brighter. Early Wednesday morning we went back to Spokane and I rode it back to Freedom's so we could load up and salvage some of vacation. We made it to Nelson without any problems.

Thursday morning on the way to do some laundry it ran like crap. Right cylinder wasn't firing at all. Exhaust was dead cold. I was freaking out by now. Thinking it was the coil I started calling all the dealerships in the NW that could've had people coming to Nelson for the Raid. They insisted that the coils generally don't go bad and they don't even stock them. After fiddling with it and trying to swap coils (at the laundromat) to test it and having no joy, I put everything back and limped it back to the hotel and started poking around some more. A new friend from Wyoming started helping me and wonder of wonders, he found the right coil wire wouldn't stay in the coil. So that was fixed. Zmilin said this happened on Karen's bike. Bike ran great after that.

Also, I ran without my fog lights turned on because they keep blowing fuses.

The last electrical problem manifested itself today on the way home from Spokane. The tach needle is going CRAZY. It's bouncing around all over the place. Nothing else seems wrong.

Next, my friggin chain keeps stretching. I kept adjusting it, probably 3-4 times in the last week. It's sagging a ton right now. I'm assuming that means it's worn out and the o-rings are toast. One guy in Nelson said I should've dropped it in a can of oil when I put it away in 2003 after installing my belt drive kit. Thing has less than 10k miles on it total.

Anyone care to comment on any of this? I'm amazed, after the week we've had, that it got me home. The upside is that the engine is running like a bat out of he||. Basically I'm going to tear the bike apart and go through everything if I ever want to take it out of town again. Probably get a new chain and sprocket set and Nology coils and wires just to be sure.

Eff Lucas.

Well John, you have had the week from HeII, especially with our buddy. But hey, you met me! so it wasn't all bad!

Firstly let me say I'm sorry for your riding mate. it's always bad when a rider goes down.
Reading of all the electrical faults on our bikes,I'm wondering what'll be next? I thought all these electircal faults had been left in the Meridan Triumph days.[at least I was hoping they had]

Sorry to hear of your troubles John. No real help from me though , those problems are best found by hands on examination. As for the chain , depending where it sat I supposed the O rings could have dried out but never heard of that before. at 10,000 miles that chain should have plenty of life left in it, strange. I never let a chain sit that long before I used it but I have to imagine they sit on warehouse shelves for a while.( probably not 6 years though)

John, this is a long shot but did you manage to put the chain and sprockets back on in the same direction they were on when you took them off?

Dont bother...Ill give you $500 for the bike as is!

You didnt tell everyone that the chain was rusting. Makes a cool jingling sound while riding...its be perfect for the holidays

Tach needle...Id follow your plan...go through all the connections and grease em up. You know this but Ill say it anyway...check your wires while your at it...look for pinches and sharp bends that can cause shorts and breaks.

Good luck...and if you get frustrated my offer stands

The only bike you're buying for $500 is Freedom's...

As far as the rear chain stretching, as I remember, the rear sprocket is offset a little. If you put it on reversed, the sprocket is no longer "inline" or in the same "plane" as the front sprocket, and that will cause the chain to wear very fast, as it is "tweaked" sideways. That rear sprocket, as I remember has a clearly visible offset, maybe 3/16 inch wider on one side. It was not reversible, IF I REMEMBER RIGHT!!

Also, my Knology coils & wires did seem to be much better designed than the stock, and have served me well for many years.

It's strange that some have so much trouble with the electrical system on the bikes. I swapped to the Nology coils and wires at like 5000 miles and haven't had one problem. There were no problems before that either. I agree, 5 times in a truck for 24k miles is quite a bit considering mine has never seen the inside of one. In fact, the only two items to break on my bike were the chain guard, which Triumph replaced 4 years out of warranty, and the throttle grip from Kuryakyn that failed last weekend. The thing that troubles me the most are all the stories from guys here and the hassle they go through with the dealers who can't seem to diagnose an electrical problem correctly. I feel very fortunate that I have a Triumph only dealer only 30 something miles from here. Seems the ones that sell 6 different brand of bikes seem to have some serious knuckleheads working in the service department.

my nology wires gone mad cousing problem when got wet was back to old stock wires and no problems during rain ..now have some home made NGK wires

Just for the record, the mechanic at Empire did find the problem he was supposed to find and fairly quickly. He surmised that the corrosion in the kill switch connector cause a resistance in the circuit that "told" my bike that intermittently the kickstand was down and shut off the engine. That particular symptom didn't happen after I got the bike back. But it's odd that so many different electrical problems happened in such a short succession.

My bike ran so good after that he may have found a problem or two I didn't realize I had. The coil wire was an easy fix once found. But now I gotta wonder if there was a short that damaged other components or wiring. Or maybe there are more corroded connectors.

check behind fuse box lots of wires and crap there..... mine main fuse wire corroded and one day just broke...before braking had some electrical issues after repair none

But Dave, with all due respect, you don't know if your techs would find the issues any better than ours. My first bout was in FT. Lauderdale with a Triumph only shop and my last 4 were Triumph/BMW only and an independent. The independent fixed it 6k ago and it is still good. Go figure.

I can just imagine talking to the Toyota guy.

Toyota guy: Oh yeah these Solara models are great. All you have to do is swap all the electrics for a good components and you are set to go. Oh, and don't get it too wet unless you coat all the fittings with dialectic grease. After that buddy, you are rolling down the road in style. Its not a problem, just the way they are. But at least its not a Ford huh,

Customer: Really, ah, ok, let me think on that one a bit.

I guess what I was trying to say is that I would rather have a tech who works on Triumphs every day than one who sees one every other week or so... but you have a point. I wasn't trying to start a "my mechanic is better than your mechanic" war.
I don't know if they would be able to diagnose the problem immediately, but they do have a better chance of seeing similar problems before.
Regardless, it sucks that you can't trust your bike for a long ride.

I have ridden mine across several states more than once. I am at about 22,000 miles if I remember right without looking and my bike has never so much as missed a beat. It has been in driving rain more than once too. I haven't even opened the right side cover of my engine so my pick up coil is still at the 04 factory setting.

My point John, was in reply to Rons assertion that he wouldn't ride his bike far. Basicly saying don't lose faith, most of these bikes are extremely dependable but being machines and man made problems can arise.

Yeah, that's probably too harsh but his posts have become increasingly negative.

Yes, they can be very reliable, but they're not all reliable and simply saying "mine is reliable" isn't a valid statical sampling. In other words, I'm happy for you, but it has no bearing on my problems.

After two quotes of around $500 for a replacement igniter, I happened to recall the phrase "goodwill claim" that I'd heard when pursuing my warped front discs issue. A dealer put my dead igniter through as a goodwill claim, and I got it for free.

While I can agree in the survival of the company aspect that Triumph corporate wouldn't be inclined to take a full page ad in the NY Times admitting to defective electricals, I shouldn't have had to ask for the magic / secret "goodwill claim", but there it is if anyone may need it.

If I had to choose one bike for a desert isle, it would indeed be a Speedmaster or America, but at the same time, I have to agree that some of the electrical design and install is less than stellar. The placement of the igniter over the hot engine, and some skinny little wires hanging out in the wind without loom or any protection from chafe, and too small of wiring that will not allow for the full potential of the charging system come to mind first. If I can wrangle my bike into a dry warm spot for the Winter, I'd like to do over a great deal of the wiring.

Re: Probs with K&N pod filters staying on [Re: woodley74]
#398938 - 06/15/09 11:57 PM Edit Reply Quote Quick Reply



Hey Brandon, is there a thread somewhere in which you talk about the reasons for chopping up your wiring harness?

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Friar's Ride - Bookmark it in case BA.com ever disappears. Not that I want to freak anybody out or anything...

Post Extras:

(Chopping up) my harness eliminated all of these probs for me. If I have trouble now all the bs unnecessery wires and plugs are out of the way and the important ones out in the open making shorts and ground issues easy to find.

To answer your question- Yes there is. This one.

We have no problems per exchanged pms.

The problem with Triumph is they really don't care. I predict our bikes will be phased out soon anyhow. I know mine is not for sale even though the company that built it could care less about the electrics and the problems they cause. I still am very attached to the bike. I just can't take it anywhere and will ride one of the bigger ones on my next trip. Its a great bar hopper and bike night bike though.

I will temper my comments as they do no good anyhow. Mr. Peter in Ga. could not be bothered as he has no production control, just PR in America.

Ian, on the off chance that some of the new guys or new buyers do read these threads, would it not be a good idea to vent? I know you probably had a positive effect, weather you know it or not, on a certain vendor.

Maybe when the shoppers tell dealers about the owners whining about poor workmanship and bad service the company will listen. Maybe not, but I don't know that it does harm.

You can still love a bike and hate its habits. I have an awful lot of oil on my floors from bikes I love You have some of the most problematic motorcycles ever made compared to current standards and you love them. The Prince of Darkness was not a figment of one guys imagination.

Actually it was the connections and Lucas got the bad rap for all of it. Probably less than fair.

Remember the old joke that you take off in a space ship, you look up and it says "Electrics by Lucas" on the control panel.

Point taken, I was not trying to belittle your or Johns problems at all. I also agree that Triumph should do something about the electrical (CDI mostly) problems and the starter gear issue scares the heck outa me and wish they would recall that style case. I know that won't happen due to cost if nothing else. I was just trying to show some pos. in with the neg.

I think Lucas got a bad rap on the old bikes since as you said the most problems were in the wires. The components worked for 50+ years in many cases. That Zener diode was a bad idea though.All the old bikes I rode on a regular basis had my own harness in them.

I have also had a lot of electrical problems, I have replaced 4 coils 1 set of plug wires, a igniter unit, and I have no ideal how many fuses on my 04 America. What I found was if you will take the time to unwrap your entire wiring harness. you will find skinned wires, and even spliced wires. I went through the entire harness and replaced bad wires and recovered them. When you ride in the rain water will get in the loose wiring covers and stay.

That is what Triumph needs to hear! But hey, they are not listening.

That's pretty much what I'm expecting. Not what I wanted to hear, but expected nonetheless.

I (fingers crossed) haven't had any electrical issues whatsoever. Now that my bike is getting a little bit older I'm not sure I won't have issues in the future given what I've read here.

So, would it be possible for anyone who knows better than myself what I should be doing to help prevent any electrical breakdowns in the future.

I remember for instance posts suggesting members use dialectric grease on all the fuse connections.

Is this right and also is there any more good tips?? I just don't like the idea of being stranded with an electical problem because they look like they are hard to fix.