Triumph Chopper

Was thinking about buying this Triumph Chopper motorcycle, but it will not start. guy has points and a kit to re-build a carberator, anyone have any experience with points, and carb re-build?

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Heh heh, points...yes, old school indeed. They are very easy to install or change, adjust and set.

The carb re-build is the same, easy. Does it have one or two? Amal carbs I am assuming?

What is the guy asking? 2000 or less?

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If it ain't broke, and you mess with it long enough, it will be.

I think I still have my Clymer manual fro Triumphs around here somewhere...do you have or are you willing to invest in some Whitworth tools? You'll need them.

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If it ain't broke, and you mess with it long enough, it will be.

Plus, I'd be a little leery of buying an older Brit bike that doesn't start...could need a lot more than just a carb re-build or points....

Consider all that before you jump. Non-running ORIGINAL bikes aren't much over 1-2000.

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If it ain't broke, and you mess with it long enough, it will be.

have you ever ridden a bike like this? It will beat your kidneys out of you and the springer will make you think your riding a pogo stick. It looks like a bike that one of my friends had back in 1970 it looked good but was very rough to ride.
I rode a chopped pan head Harley then ridged frame and it rode like an ox cart out of control rough as yell but it looked good and sounded good. I was very young then I built the bike from a stock pan head hog 1952 model I spend over $100.00 on just the chrome which back then was big bucks. I even bought a springer front end and ditched the hyd. forks which turned out for me to be a mistake. But if your young and like to ride rough riding machines and you might end up spending large chunks of cash for tools and parts go for it.
Remember its a kick start and that can ruin your knee. My $15000.00 right knee knows all about the kick starting thing. It is a good looking old school chopper at least it looks nice in the picture.
If you can check out a magazine called "The Horse back street choppers" this mag has all kinds of bikes like that in it and places to get parts for that bike.
One thing to check if your planning on tearing it down is to make sure the crank is clean inside they have a plug that you can pull out and clean out the inside of the crank it seems to gather all kinds of bearing eating trash in there. You will have to tear down the engine for that and will need the whitworth wrenches I used to have them but I don't know what ever happened to them.
Norman

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norms-iron-works.tripod.com

Had a Trident that looked like that, It was longer tho

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Only Bikers know why dogs love to stick their heads out of car windows,

looks great depending on price. as others said unknown engine shape drops price values greatly.

you will need to invest in whitworth tools these didnt use SAE nor Metric they used their own sizes it wasnt until the left foot shifting bikes around 1975 that metric fasteners began being used.

if you plan to ride you will need to invest in a nice KIDNEY BELT it will help you deal with the hard tail chop on longer rides the only suspension will be the air in rear tire & people usually lower it to around 25psi to cushion the ride. you can also add a seat on springs to help or even mount a seat on a air bag to smooth the ride out.

also the triumphs are notiorious for needing top end rebuilding faily often.

as said dont forget about kick only which can be a real drag to most people. I myself refuse to own an electric start bike. my old panhead, shovelhead & flathead are kick start only & when bikes are tuned right they will crank easy once you learn their tricks & every bike has a trick to crank.

as for points they are real simple to replace & just adjust often as they wear & replace every so many miles as they burn or pit.

as for carb rebuild I havent rebuild an amal but most carbs are relatively easy to rebuild & shouldnt be a problem.

also the bike was built old school way & the frame is up in the front which can cause problems with oil scavanging & with a passanger the bike can try to do wheel stands uncontrolable most chopper builders try to get frame level in front not raised up.

Later,
Randy

So, what's the asking price?

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If it ain't broke, and you mess with it long enough, it will be.

One other thing that you must watch out for is the shifting . If you switch back and forth from a modern style bike to the older British bike you really have to think about which bike you are on . I used to have a BSA Starfire and a Big Yamaha at the same time . The shifters are on the opposite side . I would go to put on the brake and end up downshifting a gear . It lead to a few butt pucker situations . .... D.J.

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If you don't have dreams , your dreams can't come true .

The guy was asking $3500. I was going to offer about $3000, and get it running myself. He called yesterday and said he had it running. That means he will probably take no less than the asking price the way he was talking. After thinking about it for awhile I will probably just let it go. It was kind of an impulse thing anyway.