Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Member's Rides my new Triumph America

Intro is probably appropriate. I am called wiredgeorge. I am in the motorcycle carburetor business (Japanese) and I just purchased a 2002 Triumph America that I am going to pick up on Saturday. I live out in the Texas Hill Country with the missus and my dogs. I currently own a number of bikes such as a 2006 Goldwing for 2-up touring and a bunch of vintage Kawasakis.

Some questions about the 2002 America. It is red with silver on tank. I need to pick up a touch up paint pen. I found some paint pens at motorcyclestore.us in various shades of red. What color red is the 2002? 2nd question... I would like to pick up a service manual. I assume there is a factory service manual and I know there is a Haynes. I am not a fan of the Haynes; are there any other alternatives? Last question; does anyone know the carb spacing of the CVKs?

Have been browsing and have found a ton of info; just not the the things I noted above. God bless! wg

Welcome and congrats on the America! Post pics when you get a chance.

Soren

Welcome to the site WG.....
The color is called Mulberry Red(corrected color is Cardinal Red) and you can obtain paint codes in the Tech Vault.
Your color is not that easy to duplicate due to the layers used in the original spray. Some have had success getting the tank "scanned" at a automotive paint shop for touch up paint.
Carb spacing is right at 6".
Good luck with your bike.

Welcome to the site and thanks for posting that pic of your new bike. She's a beauty!

Quote:

---

The color is called Mulberry Red

---

Just a small correction here... the colour is actually known as Cardinal Red. I know, 'cause I have one too!

Welcome. Great looking bike. It already has plenty of added chrome.

Yeah... a bit of bling has been added. The seat has had the cover pulled and better foam installed according to the owner. The stock seat didn't look like it was an all-day type seat so will have to judge seat quality as it is a 500 plus mile ride home. The paint appears to be multi-coat; I have had this type paint before... red over perhaps silver metallic or the like. The place where touch up is needed is on the bottom edge of the rear fender so it won't be a critical thing to the eye. Cardinal red... thanks. wg

Just got off the phone with my Progressive agent; they want to know if I am going to use the bike for (two choices only):

1. commuting
2. off road riding

Since my business is on my property, I commute on a John Deere lawn tractor and wonder at the off road question. I thought "Flo", the Progressive lady was supposed to be a biker savvy gal?

Hmmmm I wonder what brand KNOBBIES would work best on an America used for riding in the dirt? gessh.

Quote:

---

Just a small correction here... the colour is actually known as Cardinal Red. I know, 'cause I have one too!

---

My mistake there WG.......
I forgot Cardinal Red on the early bikes!!!!!!

one pretty dirt bike! welcome to the site.

Gotta love the red ones

Maybe you should go to GA to ride in the red dirt!

WG,

I like your description of "customer disassembled carburetors" on your Carb Rebuilding page.

Intentional or typo? Did you have one too many customers expect you to work magic with a box of old parts?

Wow, very nice ride! I too just picked up a 2002 America, this is my first Triumph... actually sold an '86 HD FXRS a while back and was looking for a Bonneville T100, but came about an America...love it,as I'm sure you will.
I found a service manual on flea-bay for 35 bucks last month, I know I got lucky with the timing, but I'm sure there are more available used if you look... or pay $100+ for a new one ...
How many miles on yours....mine had about12,500....

Welcome and very nice bike. I love my black Elvira but I would seriously consider adding another in that color. Just beautiful.

I sure hope you attended the British Invasion last month in Concan and Leakey. We had all the old Brit bikes in the Hill Country April 13-15, and we had a fine time.

That a 2002 Bonneville America? Maybe a pre-fire? That may be more of a find than you thought.

You really might want to consider that Ga. Rally. There would be a very nice collection of BA's, there, and you could learn so much, and meet some really great members of this forum.

That's a very nice Triumph, nonetheless. Welcome to the club!

sweeeeeet!

I really am going to try and find a paper manual; I am not a fan of reading on computers and I enjoy seeing black, grimey finger prints on the paper. I have never owned a Brit bike so am not into any of the activity. I have been in the vintage Japanese scene since before the bikes became vintage. I have had a motorcycle endorsement for about 46 years now and have owned MANY Japanese bikes of all brands. I have also never owned a HD but have managed to avoid getting the urge. If you are interested in vintage bikes, drop in at www.vintagebikeforums.org. We have a couple folks who do Brit bikes on the forum. My current ride is a 1979 KZ1000E1 ST, the first Kawasaki that had cast wheels and a drive shaft. The part numbers on the drive shaft are the same today for the Vulcans as for the original.

Oh yeah, I live in the northeast corner of Medina County; about half way between Bandera and Hondo. I live and work on 5 acres and can see Medina Lake if I stand on the roof of my shop. When Medina Dam was built 100 years ago (this year), it was the 4th largest dam in the country and the lake has well over 200 miles of shoreline.

Oh, believe me, I understand. But, I worked part-time as a proofreader in my early years and while I was looking at your webpage, the spelling of "assmemblies" struck me as funny - and probably very appropriate!

Looks like you've got a very unique and highly in-demand business there. And now you've got a test mule for our carbs too.

BTW, nice bike!

Since ethanol has become part of our lives, letting a bike sit for a month or two has brought me a lot of business. I am pretty much swamped and hesitate to move to new markets. The carbs on the America are pretty familiar though as they are on tons of other bikes and are fairly easy to work on. Some of the gyrations folks go through to get more throttle response or performance is kind of incredible. Drilling the slide, clipping the springs... whew... By the way, I am a fan of stock airboxes and stock jetting and nice and quiet stock pipes so will unlikely use my America as a "test mule" hehe I do have a set of Mikuni 29 smoothbores I have been considering mounting if I can figure out how to space them. I would have to have a custom fuel tee but my machinist makes fuel tees and sells them on eBay. 6" spacing and a Sporty is about 4"... hmmmm

Flew up to Tulsa on Sat AM and picked up the America. PO installed a NEW windshield he had at my request. Money changed hands and I took off at about 10AM. Rode about 325 miles; couldn't ride the toll road US44 because I couldn't keep up well; the shield was at a poor angle and I didn't have a hex key to adjust. Once I was going south, I rode into a stout and punishing headwind. Got into Wichita Falls, checked into Motel 6 there and took a quick shower (I always feel like a shower after traveling through Oklahoma (joke). Bought some hex keys at Wallys and at at Cracker Barrel (I am old). Slept like a log and got up at 7:30 and cleaned up, had some breakfast at Dennys and headed down 281 towards home. Ate lunch in Lampasas and spent an hour walking around a small gun show there and then rode on home. It was hot both days but overcast this AM and that helped a lot as I got a sun burned kisser.

The bike performed flawlessly... wished for a tad more power when in the headwind but part of the problem was the windshield was making the situation much worse. With the shield at a more friendly angle it was easy to cruise at 75 mph. Only small complaint was the right footrest. It is a KuryAkn. I would call it a paddle type foot rest and it is at the wrong angle. I saw no way to adjust and have to take my foot completely off the rest to use the brake pedal. Not too thrilled about the location of the ignition key but I am getting the hang of getting the key in the switch while on the bike. I also have to really stretch to reach the sidestand tang to deploy the sidestand. It seems further forward than it needs to be. The pretty aftermarket mirrors on the bike show a good view of my elbows and vibrate seriously... On the positive, the seat never stung me and the KuryAkn iso grips were super comfy... I got 37 mpg. Does this sound about right?

Hi George, check out my thread in this same forum, I'm buying a 2005 America with only 460 miles, the owner told me he hasn't ridden bike since last summer, no stabil in the gas, when I test rode the bike it ran good and pulled hard, but it back fired quite a bit or popped alot after revving it (noticed that more in the garage revving it up some)
Do u think I have bad gas? If I do the airbox removal kit and change the jets do you think that will fix the carb issues I seem to have! Thanks for your input sir.

I would first be suspicious of air leaks; most bikes in the 2005 year range will have the original carb holders; the rubber things that connect the cylinder head to the carbs. These get hard with age and have a tendency to seal poorly. The clamps may also be loose. If the exhaust has been changed, I am sure there must be some crush-type gasket and it may not have been changed. Air will get directly into the combustion chamber if either the carb holders or crush gaskets leak. You can easily check the carb holders by spraying the area with WD40 while the bike is idling; you will get WHITE smoke coming out the pipes and the idle will change. The WD40 actually evaporates fairly quickly if you don't puddle it. The last thing to check is the smog system... they invariably use reed valves which are opened by a vacuum switch of some sort. The problem with this system is the vacuum hose from the carbs to the valve; if it is compromised (leaking), the bike will backfire as described. The last thing I can think of are the vacuum caps. These cover the vacuum fittings on the carbs and if they are rubber they deteriorate and can leak. Replace them with vinyl. As to the carbs, after checking for leaks, yes they can backfire if the pilot circuit, especially the slow jets are gummed up. The hole where gas flows in the slow jet is pretty small and if the bike has sat I would suspect changing the slow jets would be in order. Don't bother try to clean them as this requires using fine serrated wires which tend to enlarge and oval the beveled hole in the jet. Spend the money for new jets. You can check the flow of these jets by removing and spraying carb cleaner through them. The flow out should be fairly diffuse and in a cone-type pattern.

Last, by some reports from my customers, Stabil doesn't work as well as it once did due to the ethanol in the gas. You need to change your gas filter more often as the ethanol also eats the rubber seal in the gas cap. There are alternative products to deal with the ethanol but I haven't tried any as I ride year round.

I have had good luck using Star Tron enzyme gas treatment, 8 Fl. Oz. treats 48 Gals. of gas. Even better is to find non Ethanol if available. My bikes run better on 87 Octane non Alky gas than 92 Octane adulterated.

It should run better on 87 octane than on premium. Octane is put in gas to retard combustion which is necessary on high compression engines otherwise it pre-detonates. For low compression (such as the Bonny America), 87 octane burns better and the octane is actually a negative. The only plus to burning premium is that some companies put better additive packages in the gas... such as cleaners but if a bike is designed to run on regular 87 octane, your plugs will stay cleaner and the engine will burn cleaner on regular.

Thank you very much George!

heck i run premium even in my lawnmower LOL, i like it becasue wih a carb bike it does help with elevation charges and the fuel mixture change's. Uhm, at least thats what i was told. Never had a problem.

Far be it from me to argue with anyone. If premium makes you happy, then by all means fill 'er up with the expensive stuff. No skin off my nose one way or the other; my only advice is to check out advice bwhahaha The internet is the source of all foolishness and rumor!

Just saw your ride. BEEEEEAUTEEFULLL! Color couldn't be better! Have fun on her!

Gorgeous bike. Love the color! Welcome!

Real tidy machine you got yourself there George. But everyone knows black is really the fastest coloUr.