Life with a Triumph T90
Back on the Road Again
For the big end repair, I was recommended to Tom Lewthwaite in Whitehaven - another 70s business that still seems to be going. Tom looked worried and told me to leave the bits with him. I can't remember how long it took to get the bike repaired - it was certainly going by August. One of the con rods had been bent so that had to be replaced. The crankcase welding took some time - the final result was a bit ugly and I never really got it oil tight. I had one other minor mishap in the summer when the electrics packed in again. This was a result of the repair to the lighting switch when I'd used a soldering iron. Never use a soldering iron on a Triumph - always crimp. In my view, soldering and vibration don't go together on bikes.
For the next couple of years, the bike worked well and reliably. However, I was a bit concerned that the barrel was now on maximum piston size so there wasn't any scope for repair if things went wrong again. In March 1977 I was on my way to an outdoor centre in Devon having spent a couple of months on the dole. I wasn't very well off but had just received my first (and only!) dole cheque. As I drove down Fishponds Rd in Bristol, I spotted a Triumph dealer so popped in to have a look. After enquiring about barrels, I was told that they had some "new, old" stock that they wanted to get rid of and they had a T90 barrel for £20. I was surprised when they asked me if I wanted a cylinder head as well - which I could have for a £10. Now remember that the bike still had a broken fin so reluctantly I decided that this was too good an opportunity to miss. Only later I found out that the exhaust stub holes were a diferent size to the original and I couldn't find any stubs that would fit.
I left Outward Bound in 1978 to go to Lancashire. Here I was determined to sort out the bike properly. A contact at work managed to get me a front mudguard for a T90 complete with stays - although these do appear to have come from a 68 model. He also got me a set of engine casings so I could replace the original engine with the ugly welding. Fortunately, I managed to hang on to the original crankcase. A move to Bolton in 1981 also allowed access to the monthly Bolton Fleamarket so I could go searching for bits.
The beginning of the 80 started to see the emergence of some good spares suppliers. Some of the stuff was poor at first until they got it sorted. For example, although I'd used stick on knee pads (as used on later Triumphs) I'd always been after a set of proper ones, i.e. the screw on type. I managed to get some from a supplier of rubber parts at Bolton. What became apparent, after a bit of use, was that they had encapsulated a washer within the rubber so the screws had something to grip on. After a short while, the rubber split round the washer so the knee pads fell off. Another was a lifting handle - pretty good apart from someone had started a saw cut in the wrong place on one of the fixing tabs - they hadn't bothered to file it out. Gradually the quality improved through the decade. My big breakthrough was to find someone who was making the rear number plate/light mounting. OK, it wasn't cheap but it was good quality.
I think it was at this time that I got hold of a rear mudguard. So the early 80s saw the bike looking better although it had a mauve front mudguard and a grey/blue rear mudguard. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of this era as I was mostly engaged in a house restoration. I finally got the Bristol cylinder head sorted - the big problem had been the screw in exhaust stubs. I'd managed to extract the old ones from the cylinder head with the cracked fin but they wouldn't fit the new head. Eventually, I was on a rare trip to Bristol and passed the Triumph dealer in Fishponds Road and they were able to supply a set of stubs that fitted. As an aside, the problems with the stubs and the later running of the bike have made me very suspicious about this cylinder head. The bike never seems to have run as well as with the original head - or is this just rose tinted spectacles? We shall see!