1979 Triumph Bonneville Special (T140D)

[BigDick]

Any of you old geezers have experience with these things? I recently inherited one from my dad. She's in pristine shape with very few to no problems. I however, have little to no experience with chain driven bikes. Specifically the maintenance and upkeep of said chain. The clearance around the front sprocket only allows you to run a standard style chain, no o-ring or x-ring or any of that fancy stuff. So chain upkeep is mandatory. Advice? Suggestions?

[GARTHXS]

Rule of thumb is lube chain everytime you fuel up. Does it have a center stand? If so very easy if not you will have to lube a section and roll the bike to expose the next part of the chain or Google scottoiler.

[CatatonicBug]

How about some pictures of your "new" ride??!!

[BigDick]

I'll throw a couple up after work. I don't have any really spectacular ones because it's waiting on new tires.

[shovelhead]

the spring loaded auto tensioners are nice to have...

[BA80]

You think you can keep up with us on that thing Rich?

[mxmikie]

i love my bonnies almost as much as my Ariel Square 4's

[jetmechmarty]

I expect a '79 Bonnie is a pretty rare bird. I expect it's a keeper.

I'd be real surprised if an O'ring chain doesn't fit, but I haven't any experience. The tension needs to be kept up. Too tight can damage the transmission. Also, check the tension all the way around. Sometimes the chain can be stretched in some places and not in others. Alignment of the back wheel is critical too. There are alignment tools for this or some people use a 8 ft fluorescent tube.

[BigDick]

You think you can keep up with us on that thing Rich?

It depends if I can ever afford new tires.

I expect a '79 Bonnie is a pretty rare bird. I expect it's a keeper.

I'd be real surprised if an O'ring chain doesn't fit, but I haven't any experience. The tension needs to be kept up. Too tight can damage the transmission. Also, check the tension all the way around. Sometimes the chain can be stretched in some places and not in others. Alignment of the back wheel is critical too. There are alignment tools for this or some people use a 8 ft fluorescent tube.

Definitely a keeper. I had my first ride on a motorcycle on this bike, around the ripe old age of 6 or 7. My dad's back is too bad off for him to be able to kick it over anymore so I inherited it early. He'd paid to have a shop go through it and do a nut and bolt restoration a while back, so it's pretty damn sharp.

As to the alignment thing, the official workshop manual says use a long 2X4 on either side of the rear wheel with the front wheel straight to check alignment. We'll see once I actually take the wheel off.

[shovelhead]

IMHO...2X4's are ok but not always the straightest...like marty said, i like the two eight foot florescent bulbs...they are usu pretty darn straight. i rubber band the bulbs just fore and aft of the rear tire as well as in front of the front tire, get em up off the ground a couple of inches on the wide part of the tires....worx for me
nice ride tho. congrats.

[fredintoon]

Any of you old geezers have experience with these things? I recently inherited one from my dad. She's in pristine shape with very few to no problems. I however, have little to no experience with chain driven bikes. Specifically the maintenance and upkeep of said chain. The clearance around the front sprocket only allows you to run a standard style chain, no o-ring or x-ring or any of that fancy stuff. So chain upkeep is mandatory. Advice? Suggestions?

Hi Dick,
like they all said, chains are maintenance-prone and need regular attention. They wear out quick compared to a shaftie; be prepared to replace the chain & sprockets at about the same frequency as the front tire.
Yes, replace as a set! Old sprockets eat new chain, old chain eats new sprockets, replaced together they wear mutually like an old married couple.
A Scottoiler or other automatic chain oiler claims to give a 5X to 7X longevity.
Or there's this trick from a half-century ago. Run two chains, keep one in a can of LinkLyfe. Every 1,000 miles melt the LinkLyfe, fish out the chain and swap it for the chain on the bike; wash the old chain off with kerosene and lower it into the LinkLyfe to solidify and be ready for the next swap.

[CatatonicBug]

This all makes me so much more grateful for the shaft drive on the XS. All that extra maintenance would drive me crazy!

[jetmechmarty]

I have a worn out O'ring chain on my XS650. I can not remember when I put it on, but it has been years. I ride that bike HARD! Not a real big deal.

[cywelchjr]

I still have the same chain on my XS400 that I had on it when I got it 24 years ago. It's still reasonably serviceable, and while it does take some servicing it's not as bad as some make it sound (and it's not an o-ring chain either). Just a spray or lube every 300 or so miles, and a good cleaning about every 600 to 1000, and it doesn't HAVE to be removed to clean it, although in some ways it's easier off the bike. I personally have put almost 40,000 miles on that chain, and the magic is keeping it clean and lubed. When I finish with the restore, it will get a new chain, I figure that while this one MIGHT be sort of still ok, it's time to put a new one on.

[TomB]

Sorry to be late here,

Old (real) Triumphs run their drive sprocket inside of the clutch on the output shaft which is hollow and the input shaft going through the output shaft, so theres a good chance that an O'ring chain won't fit. I have an old '66 500 Triumph with a standard chain, not O'ring/X'ring, I ran it with that chain for many miles (currently waiting me having time to ride it once again) and never needed adjusting never mind replacing but it does have its own chain oiler fitted in the primary transmission, so no Scottoiler needed. I'm not sure whether Triumph carried on with the chain oiler on the newer models.

The Triumph T140D is a fantastic bike to ride that all modern bike riders should ride at least once to show them how good a bike can be, a bit like the XS11, not huge BHP but masses of torque. They cannot be compared to a modern bike in their transmission, primary and final drive, more like a Harley.