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Tuning a 2001 790cc Triumph Bonneville


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My mate reckons it does. Chain may be a bit close to rubber guides at front of swingarm. Time will tell if they wear excessively. Could just fit a bigger rear sprocket, but it's twice the price and we just wanted to try it. May go for a 45 tooth rear at some stage. Valve clearances are important, as another mechanic set them too big , in my opinion, and it may have affected the valve timing a lot. I intend buying a degree wheel and checking the valve timing and maybe adjust it for less top end and more mid range

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No , I was right the first time. You don't get it. If you can't make a meaningful contribution to the thread, then keep your opinions to yourself.

 

Sorry mate I didn't know you were only interested in opinions that you agree with. But I stand by what I said. Buy a better bike. Not a lard arsed Bonnie.


Oh and stu said this

 

If it was me personally I would be buying another bike to go fast on! but thats me!

 

So are you going to have a go at him for having the same opinion? :P

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I think i'd get the bike running sweet as a nut as a priority also upgrade brakes and set up suspension. Then i'd look for more power without taking the bike away from it's roots, it's never going to be quick in sports bike terms but i think with a few mods it would be a great road bike.


I'm very much a person who puts money vs gain on a chart and i don't see the benefit here.


So i'd stay away from big bore kits personally. I know it's no help as he's made his decision but it's my 2 pence worth.


Bikes are meant for fun and modding and doing unusual things is fun. ignoring money i'd stick a f**king turbo on it :D

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No , I was right the first time. You don't get it. If you can't make a meaningful contribution to the thread, then keep your opinions to yourself.

 

Sorry mate I didn't know you were only interested in opinions that you agree with. But I stand by what I said. Buy a better bike. Not a lard arsed Bonnie.


Oh and stu said this

 

If it was me personally I would be buying another bike to go fast on! but thats me!

 

So are you going to have a go at him for having the same opinion? :P

Don't normally get involved in people's debates but can't help it on this. And goes for stu aswel.


The point as it seems isn't to create an r1 killer or do a micheal Dunlop round the tt it's a modern interpritation of the ton up boys from back in the day which you should be familiar with. The old cafe racers who would tune their bikes within an inch of their life for the fun of it, the cult the history the nostalgia.


He obviously likes the bonnie and wants a little more grunt out of it, and like tango said who is going to stand and oggle a bandit......


What your saying is right in the respect that he could go and spend a grand and go balls out but anyone could do that.


Chavs in their lowered cars with drainpipes out the back is a whole different kettle of fish that has done my nut in for years but they are people that don't have a clue tbf

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I think all of you need to re read my post :roll:


I put if it was me personally! Not go out and buy another bike!! Hence why I gave two paragraphs of advice on what to do

Was more to satisfy the other poster really, I know your post wasnt telling him he is doing the wrong thing just basically saying you wouldn't do it.

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Most of what we do to our bikes doesn't make financial sense,

and anything we do to our bikes wont always make sense to others.

But so long as our choices make sense to us, that's all the matters :cheers:

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To my mind the most important consideration before making 'radical' changes to a (non-sports) bike is: Is this bike a 'keeper'? because if not then you are sharply reducing the potential market should you decide to sell after these changes have been made. Most buyers want a bike to be 'stock'.. aside from the fairly mods like lowering - which has its own market. or the more obvious upgrades like 3rd party shock absorbers - which many potential buyers will see as a big plus.


Making more radical changes should be though over very carefully.


but.. if at the end of this process you decide that yes - this bike is definitely a 'keeper' then my attitude is 'why not?' - its your bike, your money, time and effort. if at the end of the work you get a bike thats more suited to you - then in my view thats a huge incentive and well done for taking the plunge.

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Getting back to the original point of this thread, that is, whether to do the big bore kit first or the cylinder head work. My mate, who's bike it is and who will supply the cash for any work done, has decided, after advice from myself and other T100 owners, to buy the big bore kit first.

Unfortunately we may have to work on the head at the same time. Today I checked the valve clearances. All the inlets are in spec and all the exhausts are under minimum tolerance. One of them is 0.05mm, ie 0.20mm less than the minimum. I suspect that the exhaust valves may need some work because of this, so I will be removing the head, stripping it and have the valves refaced and seats cut. While the head is off I was already planning to clean it up and do some minor gas flow mods, but if I can extract some more cash from the owner, we may go for a full gas flow including port re-angling. Probably keeping original valves and cams, but may try some modifications to cam timing.

This could be a long , drawn out job. :mrgreen:

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I would forget porting until you have longer duration cams and things like that


porting is a last resort in getting power out of an engine


you will be surprised at how good the will work already


I would weigh up the cost first


big bore ... new cams ll dialed in and timing sorted not forgetting airbox mods if you can do them then port and polish


you need to increase the flow before you speed it up if the airbox doesnt have the capacity then you may be pissing in the wind

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The point as it seems isn't to create an r1 killer or do a micheal Dunlop round the tt it's a modern interpritation of the ton up boys from back in the day which you should be familiar with. The old cafe racers who would tune their bikes within an inch of their life for the fun of it, the cult the history the nostalgia.


He obviously likes the bonnie and wants a little more grunt out of it, and like tango said who is going to stand and oggle a bandit......


What your saying is right in the respect that he could go and spend a grand and go balls out but anyone could do that.

 

I don't know mate. Who is likely to stand an ogle a Bonnie? Not me unless its a proper pre 70's one. Its a Bonnie (Well its a Bonnie in name alone) . Why Triumph decided to use this name on such a bland and average bike is beyond me. They should have used the name on a rip snorting fast bike (as the originals were). But after watching the Australian video review of the Bonnie all I see now when I look at one is the f***ing stupid head steady bracket at the back of the engine. :lol:


I find all the twin range of Triumphs the most uninspiring range of bikes to look at. As I have said before Kawasaki got the "classic" looks right and so much better than Triumph with their W800 bike.

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The point as it seems isn't to create an r1 killer or do a micheal Dunlop round the tt it's a modern interpritation of the ton up boys from back in the day which you should be familiar with. The old cafe racers who would tune their bikes within an inch of their life for the fun of it, the cult the history the nostalgia.


He obviously likes the bonnie and wants a little more grunt out of it, and like tango said who is going to stand and oggle a bandit......


What your saying is right in the respect that he could go and spend a grand and go balls out but anyone could do that.

 

I don't know mate. Who is likely to stand an ogle a Bonnie? Not me unless its a proper pre 70's one. Its a Bonnie (Well its a Bonnie in name alone) . Why Triumph decided to use this name on such a bland and average bike is beyond me. They should have used the name on a rip snorting fast bike (as the originals were). But after watching the Australian video review of the Bonnie all I see now when I look at one is the f***ing stupid head steady bracket at the back of the engine. :lol:


I find all the twin range of Triumphs the most uninspiring range of bikes to look at. As I have said before Kawasaki got the "classic" looks right and so much better than Triumph with their W800 bike.

Not me personally but I know many that would. Maybe it's not an origional no but it's part of the cult and it's for people who want a bonnie but don't want to have to repair it after and during every journey.

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The point as it seems isn't to create an r1 killer or do a micheal Dunlop round the tt it's a modern interpritation of the ton up boys from back in the day which you should be familiar with. The old cafe racers who would tune their bikes within an inch of their life for the fun of it, the cult the history the nostalgia.


He obviously likes the bonnie and wants a little more grunt out of it, and like tango said who is going to stand and oggle a bandit......


What your saying is right in the respect that he could go and spend a grand and go balls out but anyone could do that.

 

I don't know mate. Who is likely to stand an ogle a Bonnie? Not me unless its a proper pre 70's one. Its a Bonnie (Well its a Bonnie in name alone) . Why Triumph decided to use this name on such a bland and average bike is beyond me. They should have used the name on a rip snorting fast bike (as the originals were). But after watching the Australian video review of the Bonnie all I see now when I look at one is the f***ing stupid head steady bracket at the back of the engine. :lol:


I find all the twin range of Triumphs the most uninspiring range of bikes to look at. As I have said before Kawasaki got the "classic" looks right and so much better than Triumph with their W800 bike.

:offtopic: Please keep this thread on topic......if you want to discuss the bikes styling, feel free to start another thread..... :roll:

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Opening up the ports without a longer duration/higher lift cam could actually slow down the airflow into the cylinder meaning you get less air in every cycle which means less power.

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What model engine is it??

T120? T140? T140v? etc.


Because the number after the T, represents the manufacturers testing top speeds..


A bloke i know has a bonny T140v, said to do 140mph from factory.. 750cc, but his is slightly more due to re-bore..

and it doesnt do 140 at all...

He said he struggled to hit 110 out of it, on a long road.. and he has owned his for 30+ years...


So when you say "get more out of it", i very much doubt it tbh..

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Opening up the ports without a longer duration/higher lift cam could actually slow down the airflow into the cylinder meaning you get less air in every cycle which means less power.

 


porting and polishing isn't about opening the ports up


its about reshaping them to increase the airflow speed through them which could include making them larger or smaller


On the TL particularly the 97 model with the larger valves and ports you have to make the ports smaller to increase the flow :)

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Prime example of what I mean..

Lots of people just get the grinder in there and start making the airways bigger on the misguided belief that larger holes mean more performance. That's simply not the case.

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Interesting thread this (when you filter out the 'off-topic' bits).


There are lots of articles on t'web regarding improving performance and top speed of an engine but... If the rider is a 'lardass' and no streamlining / weight reduction has been done, all that will improve is the 'grunt' and accelleration.


Like Stu - I personally would not look to 'improve' a Bonnie in this way but - I have done similar in the past on a Tiger100!! :shock: Was it worth it? Not really but it was a sense of achievement that I actually completed the project without any outside assistance and had a 'better' engine because of it.


NB. I've seen a fair few people 'ogling' my Bandit - After all, 'it does what it says on the box'.


:cheers:

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  • 2 years later...

I own a 2002 triumph bonneville 790cc I was upset to find after 15000 miles it only produced 48bhp.having been to the isle of mann a couple of times with friends who had powerful Japanese motorcycles I decided to let Bob farnham big bore it. I can tell you I am well happy. It now produces 73bhp will keep up with any Japanese 600 cc bike upto 100mph and let's be honest without a fairing who wants more. It does well over 120mph on the clock but by then your hanging on for dear life. I also was forever hitting the Rev limiter in its old state so I had a new ecu fitted giving it another 500 revs this I'm afraid was a waste of money as with the power it has now wasn't warranted Barely rev it past 7000 revs now. Cost over 2000 pounds but for me money well spent as love the bike and with icon shocks on the back is well chuckable.

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