Yesterday was another monthly meet-up with the (NZ) BSA Owners club. Having only just picked up the 1947 Triumph Speed Twin I was keen to take it along and have my first decent ride on the machine. It was a beautiful sunny day and I went via the Forestry road to try it out on some remote twisty roads.
Compared to my other bikes the Speed Twin feels peppy, it has good acceleration – we’re talking fifties Brit bike acceleration here, probably nothing startling to any modern bike rider – and it handles pretty well in the corners. Although it did feel a bit ‘tippy’ at times, I’m not sure if the front tyre has too much air in it or the fact that it’s 3.5″ wide rather than the normal 3.25″ – something for me to experiment with. The stand out feature though has to be the smoothness, it feels really smooth and lacks any vibes until the speedo is over 50 mph – unless you thrash it of course!
The turnout at the cafe was really impressive, both in numbers of bikes and also the variety, everything from twenties flat tankers to seventies Ducati’s to ultra modern racers. The guys really liked the Triumph and one guy knew Hugh Anderson and gave me his daughter’s number so I can contact her.
When it was time to leave I fired up the Triumph which started first kick but then died, not sure what the issue is but it’s not idling that well, some fettling required! Trying to get it started again was a bit troublesome, I only managed it after quite a few kicks and opening the throttle wide, I guessed that the carb was flooded, something the remote float Amal carb’s are well known for. I’ve since found out the way to start this bike at the moment is not turn the fuel on or prime the float, as thanks to the leaky carb, it’s actually full and ready to go – so just kick it and then turn the fuel tap on.
Sometime after returning home I checked the fuel and oil tanks to find the oil tank was way down to less than a quarter full – yikes, where did all the oil go? If I’d kept riding I could have run out of oil and seized the engine – disaster! I’ve noticed the bike has been commendably oil leak free and it’s not blowing any smoke so I was mystified as to where it had gone, or more importantly its escape route. I found the breathing tube at the top of the tank had come adrift and there was oil splatter all over the rear mudguard, hmm, perhaps too much oil pressure?
I’ll have to experiment with this – darn, that means more riding! And of course, check the oil level every time I go out.
Leave a Reply