A beat up naked forlorn frame from a mid seventies Triumph Trident 750 triple. On offer listen in the local Craigslist…
Given a good hone, feeding up with a generous diet of mechanical bits and bobs it can become a glossy coated steed…
June 5, 2013
Wheel of Fortune
The hefty 60 tooth sprocket finally came free! I had been cajoling it with WD40, heat and careful spannerin’. However the last four bolts (of eight) defeated this softly softly catch ‘e method so I drilled ’em out and yanked the cog free then gripped the stud ends and brutishly twisted them oot…
There was also a spacer behind the sprocket which no doubt is used to keep the chain line away from the wide rim and tire. But it’s a good solid wheel ready to clart on wi’.
June 3, 2013
Heads & Tails
A box arrived today, opening it revealed a head. Not some bloody severed variety but a cylinder head for my Tiger Cub. A clean, specimen with valves, covers, rockers and all. Just need to get the barrel fettled, can gear, a tappet and pair of lifter rods and the engine is ready for full breakdown, assessment and rebuild.
“Bring me da head of Alfredo Garcia!”
June 1, 2013
Tool o’ the Day
You can take apart an old Raleigh 3 speed with this spanner multi-tool. From the pedals, bottom bracket lock ring, brake cable adjusters to the handlebar stem nut. It came in handy for my Cub fork dust cap. It needed the backbone c-spanner to fit a notch. A clout wi’ the hammer and jobs a good un.
It’s simple, elegant and serves its purpose with no fuss or breakable plastic bits.
May 30, 2013
The Trial
Grunting, swearing, wrenching, hammering, gripping, sweating. That was me this evening dismantling the forks from the donor cub. Well, its finally down to its constituent parts: triple tree, stanchion, damping rods, springs, bushes, pinch bolts and dribblings of old stinky oil. To keep the goal in sight here’s a couple if Cub images. I need these visual mantras to keep me on task…
This Tiger may leave a few scratches and bites along the way but I’ll have ‘er purring by the end.
May 27, 2013
Budding Wheelwright
Today the wheels were released from their tight hold in the frame. The front one was also stripped of its oxide adorned rim. I cut the 40 spokes so the hub was quickly freed allowing it to be subsequently serviced and eventually rebuilt it with a more appropriate 21″ alloy rim (its standard 19″ is small for trials geometry). There was some very stubborn bolts that needed plenty of grunt behind the spanner but eventually surrendered their rusty bite!
Looking forward to the lacing, truing and reshodding of the front wheel.
May 26, 2013
A slice of orange peel
This is the ‘seen better days’ chassis I picked up yesterday. It has the front fork I need, a nice chunky rear alloy rim, hubs front and back, and a few more bolts. It looks as though it had a fun previous life though!
WD40 was liberally applied and the bolts are freeing up nicely. I’m about 75% there with major parts I think.
May 2, 2013
Parts start to arrive
A pleasant surprise this afternoon after my midday swim: the postie had dropped of a box, fairly hefty too. My parts search is slowly coming to fruition; and today a plump find arrived. A complete clutch and gearbox for the project. It is in fairly good condition too, but naught a wipe down with oil, renew cush rubbers, new cork on the plates can’t restore to full service. I’m excited!
Now a barrel, cylinder head, tappets and then it’ll be a step-back to evaluate what seals, bearings, bolts, odds, ends and machine work I’ll need for the engine rebuild.
April 29, 2013
Engine Case Sandwich
The matching case components, crankcase, inner timing and outer cover come together like a fine swiss pocket watch. Each holds a different layer if workings that release the wound-up energies from the engine combustions.
The surface still has a rough oxidation; I’m only going to bring it back to a cleaner smooth grey patina. I don’t want a buffed mirror finish; just a day-to-day working bike look.
April 26, 2013
A True Barn Find
The Mountain Cub is a machine that looks at home in a rural setting. A patina of agricultural use, knobbly wheels ready for a nearby green lane into the fields and woods of countryside waiting to be explored. Fill up the true peanut-sized tank, kick ‘er over and rev the diminutive single into action and off you go! This image is a better inspiration for my rebuild than some shiny concours special needing spit ‘n’ polish and a mirror finish. I like the grubbiness of a farmhand who has just cleared out the midden and is off to milk the cows.
It’s just you, bike and nature; the sky above, the ground below…
April 24, 2013
Box o’ Cogs
During the autopsy of the engine I’m getting to know the expected innards and their expected workings and their mechanical interactions. The cams turning rotational energies into linear to open and close the breathing valves up above. A worm gear spinning an eccentric pin to drive an oil pump piston. The other end of the worm drive spins the distributor getting a signal to separate ignition parts and subsequent spark to the cylinder. Then at the other end after the clutch, the main shaft and lay shaft of gears to allow for alternate gearing to ensure correct power gets to the rear drive wheel. A could of other controls interacting with the gearbox being a pawled kick starter and sneck pinned shifting mechanism to shift those aforementioned gears. All fairly straight forward and neatly contained in the engine cases.
Can you rub your belly while scratching your head?
April 21, 2013
…down to the but and bolt.
Oily parts, mucky casing, age-welded bolts. Yup its wrenchin time! Over fifty years since it was assembled. When you open it up like a cracked clam the original machining is as fresh as the day it was on the milling machine in Meriden.
April 20, 2013
Let’s Split
Started tentatively disassembling the engine today. The cases were split; eventually! After much drilling, WD40-ing, cursing, whilst removing a couple of stubborn bolts. The timing side pinion needs to be removed before the crank lifts out. Then I can get to grips with cleaning the case parts for later reassembly. One item I put some elbow grease into was the primary drive cover with name.
“Triumph Tiger Cub”
April 18, 2013
A Sum of Parts
This Tiger Cub was standing behind one of the swap stalls and even though it had a sold sign on it I had a good deek at it to see how thing attach, route, interconnect and just plain get a good feel for how a trials cub could, and should, look.
Simple, spare, sleek and single purposed.
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