Bikesure_adrianflux

Forcing another one in!

Mr Gazza

Mr Gazza

Lord of the Rings
Joined
May 26, 2013
Messages
6,417
Location
Norwich
Bike
M900sie
This came home this morning.

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It's a 1977 Triumph TR7RV, that's a 750 single carb version of the Bonneville. A Tiger.
It was returned from America in about 2016, so managed to escape several years of great British road salt.
Seems all fairly good and tidy, obviously it's not brand new, but pretty good for an unrestored bike. I think I might keep it that way, not sure I could face another full resto!
I've already noticed one or two minor things that need attention on top of the usual thorough clean and service. The biggest shocker is the 13 year old tyres, which looked good initially with plenty of tread but the date codes give it away! Close inspection reveals a bit of sidewall cracking.
The front calliper seems a bit stiff and not sure if I can still get seals for these, but a new Lockheed calliper is not too badly priced and will take EBC Greenstuff pads. :p
There's a big curl in the brake line at the top, so it looks like the bars have been changed from the yehaw yankee ones to the lower ones on it now, which seem like they will be quite comfortable.
It starts easily and sounds like it should with the Peashooters and no nasty noises from the engine.

I'm sure I will find plenty to do when I start looking, but I must concentrate on getting the Monster finished, before I play with this one.
Should be a real blast from the past, growling round the lanes.. :cool:
 
Looks like a good buy, especially if it's missed a few British winters. Clean but unrestored is probably the way to go.
There is an earlier one of these at the same place I got the 1100s, but they are looking at silly money for it.
Hope to see you on it soon Dave 👍
 
dreaded oil in Frame Bonny ,,,,,, dont get the frame blasted ever , I have seen at least 9 restorations of oil in Frame bonnys wher ethe rebuilt engines were destroyed by grit , and the frame had to be scrapped
 
Thanks guys.
I've had a closer look this evening and gone in with the cleaning materials.
I'm sure that the way forward is going to be to leave it alone and not restore. Obviously there's a few little tidying jobs and the maintenance to keep on top of. It's actually in remarkably good nick and standard apart from some consumables like the chain and tyres. The front brake will be reviewed and most likely replaced.
I've been looking for a post 1976 Tiger for some time now, having owned several Bonnies and one 650 Tiger. Very few have come up and they do seem to remain unsold at the prices they ask.
I'm really pleased with this one at the right price and only ten miles down the road from me. The guy even delivered it to me on a trailer. Nice sweet deal, the stars aligned.. 👩‍🚀
 
Nice. I've quite fancied something similar myself albeit a bit late in the day. These were out when I started biking on my Fizzie in '73. Nearest I got was riding a friend's T150V which used to burn oil and blow head gaskets at the drop of a hat. It would out perform my Z750 twin though .I think the Triumph twins were better sorted though, even then, if you got a nice one , especially the single carb models.
 
Nice one Garry, and all the better for being single carb….a light refresh is definitely the answer when they’re as good as yours looks…..envious ? Me ? Well maybe a wee bit….😜
 
Looks like a nice clean example, aren't they tiny I'm sure back in the day they were bigger. There always used to be plenty of Bonnies around town, at the traffic lights most ran on one cylinder due to carb balance issues. Always quite fancied a triple myself, cos I love that wailing sound.
 
My first 'big' bike, as soon as I passed my test in the very early 80's I bought a Triumph Tiger 750, the performance blew me away compared to my RD200!
I remember the clutch being very heavy and the ground clearance was dreadful on left handers, loads of sparks from the centre stand, it had 'anglo bike' short reverse cone meggas, you could hear it coming miles away, very fond memories from a long time ago.
 
Really nice Gaz look forward to seeing in the flesh. Having owned lots of marques I still love a British Iron.
 
Thanks mate.
As soon as the Monster is firmly on the road again, I'll start playing with the Tiger.
It won't be long before I'm round yours's again. You should hear this one coming. 🐯
 
Okay, hopefully this will put Kimbo out of my misery.:ROFLMAO:
This is what the postman brought last night.

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It's a very late Moto Guzzi 850-T made in1976, registered in UK in '77. The twin discs are a factory conversion.
Probably to bring it in line with the T-3 which was then on the market as well.
I've done about 40 miles on it this morning in the pouring rain and I love it. Absolutely just what I wanted. :p
I called in on Richard who came up with "Gazza's Guzzi" straight away!

I was actually looking for a T-3, but with an eye open for a nice T, with a view fitting another disc, electronic ignition, a California side stand, carrier and panniers ect.. This one came with all that already done and stainless exhaust system into the bargain and many other things.
The T is a bit less ubiquitous than the T-3s and a little bit more characterful I think, still carries a bit of the essence of the V7 and V7 Sport which I adore.

Big thanks to Christy, who flagged this up to me in a DM. It was a Guzzi club mate of his who was selling, so as far as I know the bike was never even advertised.

In other news, the Triumph has grown a pair!

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I've fitted twin discs and now it stops a lot better and has opened the opportunity to hoon it around with a bit more confidence.
I improved the forks at the same time with 20mm of preload on the springs and slightly thicker fork oil, which now stays in place with the new fork seals. A new pair of shocks finish the picture and the ride quality is much improved. Altogether getting pretty well sorted out and fun to ride. Bejezus it was a bone shaker before though!

The Monster still holds the record for the longest I've owned a bike and I've had two of them. I've just moved on in my riding style and taste and fallen out of love with the Monster. It's nice to go a bit slower sometimes and I've still got the modern bike with flying Saucer tech for going places.
 
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BTW. I'll be on the look out for some proper CEV indicators o replace the not so great BMW ones and also a pair of rigid Moto Guzzi California type panniers.
 
Mr Gazza said:
Okay, hopefully this will put Kimbo out of my misery.:ROFLMAO:
This is what the postman brought last night.

View attachment 530
It's a very late Moto Guzzi 850-T made in1976, registered in UK in '77. The twin discs are a factory conversion.
Probably to bring it in line with the T-3 which was then on the market as well.
I've done about 40 miles on it this morning in the pouring rain and I love it. Absolutely just what I wanted. :p
I called in on Richard who came up with "Gazza's Guzzi" straight away!

I was actually looking for a T-3, but with an eye open for a nice T, with a view fitting another disc, electronic ignition, a California side stand, carrier and panniers ect.. This one came with all that already done and stainless exhaust system into the bargain and many other things.
The T is a bit less ubiquitous than the T-3s and a little bit more characterful I think, still carries a bit of the essence of the V7 and V7 Sport which I adore.

Big thanks to Christy, who flagged this up to me in a DM. It was a Guzzi club mate of his who was selling, so as far as I know the bike was never even advertised.

In other news, the Triumph has grown a pair!

View attachment 531

I've fitted twin discs and now it stops a lot better and has opened the opportunity to hoon it around with a bit more confidence.
I improved the forks at the same time with 20mm of preload on the springs and slightly thicker fork oil, which now stays in place with the new fork seals. A new pair of shocks finish the picture and the ride quality is much improved. Altogether getting pretty well sorted out and fun to ride. Bejezus it was a bone shaker before though!

The Monster still holds the record for the longest I've owned a bike and I've had two of them. I've just moved on in my riding style and taste and fallen out of love with the Monster. It's nice to go a bit slower sometimes and I've still got the modern bike with flying Saucer tech for going places.
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Thats Tiger is looking very nice ,the twin disc are a good move , is it points or RITA ??????
, im on the lookout for a T3 or maybe a T4 guzzi ,, i own too many Ducatis already but have to sell the 2019 Ninja 650 first to free up the cash . and room

you can fit Cali mk1 panniers and frames and seat to the T3 oh i also reckon that the Guzzis forks are wrong way round and the calipers should be on the back ,, that would explain those overly long brake line loops
 
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Proud of you Gary.I know my late model Guzzi isn't really to your taste but nice to see you have one of it's predecessors and a great looking bike it is.I love these big V twins 😀
 
Nice, I'm a bit of A Guzzi fan myself.

It looks to be in great condition though I agree about the indicators (try Gutsibits for the correct type). Fairly sure the forks are period correct, they turned them round to get the calipers behind for later models (my, 1979 Le Mans 2 has them behind but the earlier Le Mans 1 were in front) though, from a technical point of view behind is better - I think they can be changed, simply by swapping the fork legs left to right? But, I believe yours 'should' have them in front.

Shame the Monster is going though.
 
Thanks Kimbo. I don't think I ever said your bike was not to my taste, I just think a Guzzi should have round barrels and wire wheels.. Just get a load of those lovely alloy Borrani rims though.:p (stainless spokes too.)

Thanks for tip re Guzzibits Tim. I've already done business with them and stocked up on the spin on oil filters for inside the sump. (lots of sensible mods like that on this.)
I was told by the previous owner to be careful with Guzzibits as they have been known to sell some duff bits that just don't fit.
No plans to turn the forks round. It is what it is and it aint broke.
Agree about the brake lines though Jerry and it's on my list of things to do. they can be much neater than that with a new pair of Hel lines measured by me.
Most urgent is to lose the handlebar mirror which gets in the way of my hand.. It's horrid!
Then I need to make the throttle lighter. Previous owner parted the bike out after 35 years and over 70000 miles, as he has arthritis in his wrist. Not surprised!

Oh and by the way; have you UKMOC chaps found yourselves another president yet?
 
Mr Gazza said:
I was told by the previous owner to be careful with Guzzibits as they have been known to sell some duff bits that just don't fit.
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I've had no problems with Gutsibits, they've also been helpful with advice etc.

I'd also recommend HMB Guzzi in Germany. Back in 2015 when I got mine and needed parts, I found them to have a bigger range of new stuff at better prices though, since Brexit that will have changed due to exchange rate plus increased import costs so maybe not so competitive now? But certainly worth checking if you want something more 'elusive'.

As for the throttle, I swapped the carb springs (Eurocarb sell all Dellorto stuff). There are 3 weights of spring for the PHF carbs, the originals are the heavy ones so I bought the medium and light to try both types.

The light felt good and seemed OK until the engine was running when the carbs would 'hang' on closing the throttle so I went with the medium, these work great but, although lighter, it's still a heavy throttle and with a long action, requiring two 'bites of the cherry' to get full throttle.

To that end (and also because I replaced the switchgear with, more modern Ducati parts) I fitted a Tommaselli throttle which is a little quicker action (though it increases weight). I'm now sort of accustomed to it now though it still feels odd vs. my Ducatis with 1/4 turn throttles!

Not sure what carbs yours has but they don't appear to have the Bell-crank tops (used with the accelerator pumps) so likely not PHF which might be good from a weight POV because the Bell-cranks also have a return spring that adds to the weight.

I still have the new lighter PHF springs, no idea if they fit your carbs but you're welcome to them if they do as I won't be needing them.
 
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