Thursday 9 February 2012

Return of Big Red

My Triumph has been off the road for some time now, but I finally got it back from the dealers yesterday. The problem has been a persistent fuel leak which turned out to be caused by cracked plastic joints in the fuel line. I had managed to sort an earlier, smaller leak myself last summer, but this latest episode was much more serious, with fuel simply pouring out onto the road.


The replacement fuel line kit, complete with new metal joints, has taken what seems like an age to arrive. Whether the delay was down to Triumph or the dealer I don't know, or really care about at this point. In any event, the dealer fitted everything and didn't charge me for the labour as an apology for my having to wait so long, so it's a partial result on that front at least.

The only upside to having a bike off the road at this time of the year is that it was this time of the year. If this had happened over the summer I'd have been climbing the walls long before now.

Anyway, with all the relevant bits nailed back together I collected the bike and rode it home last night. There is still a lingering smell of fuel, but not as strong as before and I assume that its just the residue burning off. I'll give it a thorough clean at the weekend to make sure. I'm just glad to have it back and working properly.

Now that its up and running again, the plan is to use it for a trip to France with some friends this summer. Before that, though, I'll have to look into fitting some adjustable foot-pegs as I find the riding position quite cramped after a while and a Continental trip would just aggravate this problem. Surprisingly, most modern Triumphs don't come with adjustable pegs as standard, so it will have to be an expensive after-market kit if I want to change the riding position. 

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