Wheel alignment

Friday 24 August 2012

Rectification and a rapid ride....

Last week, I had a message from my Triumph dealer in Hamilton that there was general recall for Triumph Street Triples and 675 Daytonas up to a certain VIN number to have the voltage regulator/rectifier replaced.  I've never had any bother in nearly 3 years of ownership but from looking at a couple of Triumph forums, some others have been less fortunate.  There was a similar problem with Honda Blackbirds pre-2002 and although the issue had been present for a number of years, Honda-San made no attempt to sort the problem out with owners who broke down, often in out of the way places.  It therefore came as a delightful surprise to learn that Triumph would be replacing the R/R at their cost, including labour - maximum Kudos to them!

The dealer is some 170 km away but as we've had some nice sunny days for a change, it was a good opportunity today to beat the winter blues and go for a decent, rapid ride.  I must say that before setting off, there was some vague unease as to whether Sod's Law would strike with a R/R failure on its last run before replacement; leaving me stranded somewhere in the countryside. Fears turned out to be unfounded of course.

Radar detector locked and loaded!

Most of the journey is through countryside and a "brisk" pace could be maintained with minimal other traffic about.  Rocking up to the Hamilton Motorcycle Centre is always such a pleasant experience because not only are their team on top of their game in terms of competence, the relationship with their customers is flawless.  On pulling up, Matt, the senior workshop technician and one of his team walked out to say hi and that they were ready for me - still getting my riding gear off whilst it was wheeled inside!

Prepping it before hoisting it to eye level

The photo below shows the old R/R (the finned block) just to the left of the monoshock.  Not only is it directly behind the engine, it runs down the axis of the bike so there isn't much area exposed to cooling air and these mothers run hot!!  It would be a really fiddly job, but the guys simply unbolted the top of the rear shock which made it a straightforward exercise.

Not a job for large hands!

Pristine new R/R

The new R/R has a transverse mounting, exposing a bigger surface area to cool air so that should aid reliability, together with whatever they've done to the internals.

New R/R bolted in place

Whilst the guys were putting it together again, I strolled into the showroom to see what goodies I could drool over.  Readers who have seen previous posts about the Hamilton visits may remember that the dealership covers Triumph, Ducati and Kawasaki. First bike to drool over was a Ducati 848 Corse.  This must be one of the most beautiful bikes on the market - absolute design excellence.  I'm not sure that my knees would bend far enough to get my boots on the pegs but if we won Lotto, I'd buy one as a lounge ornament (err... subject to CEO permission of course).
 

Talk about going weak at the knees!

Every line carefully crafted

The seat is a work of art by itself

The 3 pipes of the Tiger Explorer 1200

Retro chic Bonneville - extremely attractive in the flesh

Blue and white Bonneville - gorgeous, shiny engine

Early 2000's muscle bike - the Kawasaki 1200 ZRX
I love it!

If Darth Vader owned a bike, this would be it - the wicked ZX10R

Ducati 996 race bike - drool, slaver.......

Less than an hour after arriving, I was on my way again.  Is there any better way of spending a morning..... riding 350 km in great weather, looking at some fantastic bikes and dealing with a business which is right at the very top of its game - thanks a million guys for the magnificent service!




20 comments:

  1. Geoff:

    I have always loved the ZX10R, but it is too fast for me

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast
    My Flickr // My YouTube

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob,
      You could say the same for your Corvette...... it's all in the foot or your right wrist ;-)

      Delete
  2. I'm likin' that Ducati 848! Nice!!
    Of course I have a soft spot for the Kawi's, and of course Darth Vader rides the ZX10R. Was there any doubt?

    When I was in high school it used to bug me all the old folks driving sports cars ( I didn't pay attention to bikes back then). Now I'm the old one riding a somewhat sporty bike. Foot and wrist behave most ... er, some of the time.

    We are holding out a few more years for the sports car. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kari:
      Don't think there's any doubt at all - a perfect fit, especially in black!

      Hahahaha! Yeah, just old farts like us drive sports cars, trying to recapture their youth. You're far too young to own one :-)

      Delete
  3. I would say that is a perfectly wonderful morning. Sod's Law? Never heard of it with that moniker, but I like it! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lori, it was indeed! Sod's Law is the alternate name for Murphy's Law. Y'know, toast will always fall sticky side down onto a pristine, light-coloured carpet!

      Delete
  4. Geoff, please send some of that good weather our way - it's still terrible here!

    Glad to hear that Triumph are great with the recalls, every Honda I've ever owned (four of them) has had a RR failure, always out of warranty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jules,
      Trying to make the most of it, more of your second-hand weather is due to hit us on Monday!

      Lordy! You'd think that R/R's would be a straightforward thing to design, wouldn't you? A lot of Blackbird owners replaced the OEM item with one from a Yamaha R1 and that fixed the problem.

      Delete
  5. Nice collection of bikes, I both love and hate walking through a bike shop. Its great you get to look at all the great eye candy, but it's also sad because I can't afford any of them.

    Anyone noticed how ugly most jap bike exhaust systems are these days. Seesh the aftermarket pipes must be running of the shelves.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Steve,
      You're right on the money and I was praying for a Lotto win. Ironic really, seeing as we almost never buy a ticket!

      Yes, aren't the mufflers horrible - the ZX10 is a good example. Mind you, the muffler on the Triumph Explorer must be one of the biggest I've ever seen on a bike!

      Delete
  6. Good dealers are hard to find, great dealers are impossible! Hang on to them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Canajun

      Amen to that!!! I could stand in the showroom of my Honda dealer for 10 minutes without anyone approaching me. When I mentioned to them that I was selling my Blackbird and getting a Street Triple, they asked why I wasn't going for a Predator. There was a lot of shuffling of feet and averted gazes when I said the main reason was their crap service.

      Delete
  7. Geoff:

    I am relieved to find that Rectification isn't the same Rectification that I had conjured up in my mind. One is good, the other Not so good. I was thinking the worse and relieved to find all is okay

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast
    My Flickr // My YouTube

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob:
      Thank you for your concern. I was going to say that had I dropped it, I probably wouldn't have mentioned it on the blog. However,on reflection, seeing how my great mate Roger would have delighted in telling the world; I'd have probably 'fessed up first!

      Delete
  8. The Ducati looks great but very uncomfortable to me. Better stick to the ergo's of the Triple ;-)
    Good to hear that Triumph provided this excellent customer service, and that you had a good reason to get out on the road. Your "winter" must be over by now, so no more excuse for not riding ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sonja,
      Yeah, it's hardly a long distance touring bike, is it? Mind you, blasting over the Coro Hill and back would probably have its compensations!

      Yeah, winter more or less over. Hoping to take the boat out today - getting a bit low on snapper :-)

      Delete
  9. The two photos of the installed R/R look like the old one unless I'm looking at the wrong thing.

    Very nice looking bikes. A great reason for never visiting the dealer...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Richard,
      Your eagle eye is correct - thanks and well done! Simply sloppy with the selection of photos - now corrected!

      Delete
  10. Sounds like a great excuse for a ride. I am glad you have a show that treats you so well.

    When I bought my Gladius they had a R/R recall and had to fix it before I could take delivery. Was hard to wait that two weeks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Brandy,
      I guess truly great dealers are as rare as rocking horse poo, but these guys consistently deliver!

      Well, well - so you had R/R problems too! I'm really scratching my head as to why so many manufacturers get it wrong when it's not really new technology. I might be wrong, but I've never read about Yamaha with these problems so if they can get it right, the rest ought to be able to as well.

      Delete

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