Triumph Trophy SE Rally Prep

I just spent the first part of the week getting the bike rally ready. I had held off on connecting the aux fuel tank since the main tank is going to be replaced under a factory recall. Every tank I've dealt with needed a bulkhead fitting installed and I didn't know how Triumph would feel about a hole in their tank. Since it didn't look like the tank was going to be replaced in time I decided to take my chances.

Getting the plastic off is much easier that with the BMW K1200LT. By easier I mean easier after you figured out where they hid all the bolts. It was time consuming but the next trip will be better.

After getting the left side plastic off I discovered that the main tank is quite interesting.
It bears a striking resemblance to a Klingon Bird of Prey.
There are "wings" that straddle the frame and extend forward and down. Triumph has installed a fuel line from the lower part of each wing that returns to the main tank. This allows gas to be scavenged out of the wings.

To remove the tank you have to split this line. Triumph has put in a handy hose union. From my standpoint of needing to tap into the tank this was great news. I simply removed their straight connector and installed a T. I intended to shoot some pix but managed to forget that task.

The bad news I learned was that, like the LT, the air filter is underneath the fuel tank. The only way to remove the fuel tank is to remove these wing drain lines since they run through the frame. I don't see any way to do this without draining the fuel. So this design, while good for my one time installation, is going to be a nightmare for routine maintenance.

I also got all my electronics wired in. I tapped into the GPS power plug to draw power for my audio components. Power to my GPSs is straight from the battery since I don't want them switched.

It took some engineering but I finally figured out how to route my wiring to the dash shelf without making any ugly holes. I Dremeled  a bit of the plastic near each windshield arm to allow my wires to come through.

 This image is on the right side where I have run the power for my radar detector.

On the left side is the power and audio cables for the shelf mounted GPS.

Triumph Trophy SE Auxiliary Fuel Cell and Luggage

I have gotten really spoiled having an aux fuel tank, so this was high on my list of farkles to add to this bike. It just came back from being powder coated yesterday and is mounted today. Well...the main tank is subject to a recall. I'm waiting on this to get completed before I do the plumbing.

This is a 4.9 gallon tank that brings the total capacity to just under the IBR specification of 11.5 gallons. It has been fully pressure tested. It is constructed of .100" thick marine grade aluminum alloy with internal baffling. The filler neck has a non vented cap attached to the tank with a brass chain lanyard. The total wet weight is less than 35 pounds (14kg).

It was a bit of a challenge in that the pillion seat is used to retain the rider seat. Since I recently built a tank for a BMW R1100RT that had the same problem I know what a challenge it could be. I opted to go with a simpler design that I had used on a BMW F800. This design raises the tank up enough that the seat can be removed from underneath it.

Being mounted this high may not be the most attractive solution (as compared to the R1100RT) but the height really won't impact handling as much as a pillion rider would. I'll post some ride reports as it gets tested. One major advantage of this design is the simplicity which reduces the cost and will give this tank a very competitive pricing structure.

The stock Trophy panniers are very roomy, much more so than what I had on the K1200LT. But...it is impossible to get things into or out of them while they are mounted on the bike. Opening them will spill the contents on the ground.

I have really missed having my quick connect Storm case. Another reason I was in a hurry to finish up the cell.

More pictures detailing the mounting hardware and other views are on my web album.

Triumph Trophy SE Dash Shelf Update

The dash shelf got painted and put back together. I had considered anodize but somebody pointed out that it would be a semi-gloss finish and would show reflections in the windscreen. Excellent point, the raw aluminum was a real irritant. I went with the wrinkle black that I have become fond of putting on the fuel tanks. I think it looks really nice.

Please disregard the wiring. That is the next item on the agenda.

In a 2 hour road test I couldn't see any reflection off of the shelf. Also, I couldn't see any vibration in the shelf. The GPS mounted on it was no more or less blurred by the road vibration than the one mounted on the triple tree,

More pictures showing the completed shelf and how the design and build progressed can be seen on my web album.

Triumph Trophy SE Custom Seat 2 hour ride report

The Trophy got a new seat this last Friday. This is a custom seat made by Seth Laam at Laam's Custom Motorcycle Seats.

I had long ago determined that I wasn't going to mess around with seating as I did with my K1200LT, After years of research I had determined that the Russel Day Long saddle was what I was going to get.

 

A post on the LD Rider forum caused me to look at Laam. I guess since he is getting started and building his business his prices are EXTREMELY low. I figured at 40% of the cost of the Russel I'd take a chance on Seth's seat. So far I am very pleased. It will take some 1000 mile days to determine if this was a good gamble.

From the time of my initial order until I got the seat was a bit lengthy but this was mostly due to some communication problems. Seth was out of town for a bit and then I was. Once we got this sorted out Seth put me at the top of the list and did my seat in one day. I talked with him on Tuesday AM and my seat was in hand on Friday.

Seth is new to the business but after talking with him I was comfortable with his experience (worked for another well known vendor) and his knowledge of the needs of a long distance motorcyclist.

The seat is very attractive with some nice stitching. It has wings made of firm foam with softer foam in the center of the seat.

With the stock seat on the TT I kept sliding forward. Seth's seat keeps me in position. Per my request he moved me back on the seat as far as possible. The seat is higher than stock but this is not a bad thing. For the US market the stock TT seat is 1.2 inches lower than the Euro version. I think this was a mistake since the footpegs will need to be lowered for most riders. With my 32" inseam I had no problems getting both feet on the ground. I didn't notice that I had to scooch forward at a stop.

I took it out Saturday for a good ride. Over 2 hours I had both freeway, city streets, and stop/go traffic. I wasn't rigged for a long ride, just jeans and regular underwear (no LD Comfort shorts). As such, I was getting a little sweaty and hot on the butt. I attribute this mostly to my riding gear and the weather, not the seat.

I was pleased with how it sat and felt. In my short test ride on this bike at the time of purchase my butt was hurting on the stock seat. This is definitely an improvement.

I'll update as I get more saddle time.

New Ride 2013 Triumph Trophy SE

I got a new bike about a month ago, a 2013 Triumph Trophy SE.

This is a new bike out this year to compete with BMWs R1200RT. The RT was on my short list but when I found this very slightly used (2000 miles) bike at the same price as what I would have had to pay for a more used BMW. It seemed to be a no brainer.

I didn't get much opportunity to ride it the first 3 weeks, I was busy with other things and needed to get my "farkles" on it. I made a mount for one GPS  (more pix here)
 
and a shelf to mount my other GPS and electronics stuff. (more pix here)

The wiring was quick and dirty because I was off on a short 500 mile trip to Sacramento, CA to help out at the 2nd checkpoint of the 2013 Iron Butt Rally.

This was the first real ride on the bike and here are my first impressions.

Triumph Trophy SE First Impressions

I finally got a chance to put some miles on the TT SE. I left San Diego Saturday AM to head up to the Iron Butt Rally checkpoint in Sacramento, Ca. These are my impressions of the new scoot. They are in random order as I think of them.

NOTE: You’ll need to temper my commentary with the knowledge that I am coming off of a BMW K1200LT (LT means Luxury Touring not Light Truck) and moving to a standard sport touring bike.

• The TT SE is about 150 pounds lighter than the LT with an extra 35 horsepower so it’s performance is somewhat of a shocker. At one point I was stopped along the highway so had a good opportunity to “wrap it out” a bit. I was easily at merging speed before reaching redline in 3^rd gear. There is no way one can do full throttle roll on through more than 3^rd gear and not be exceeding any posted limit in the USA. Traffic was too heavy for me to give it a good test. I’ll have to wait for some lonely stretch of Nevada highway for that.
• I’d prefer higher gearing. The horsepower to weight ratio of this bike is such that there is no lack of power available for 90+% of street/highway driving conditions. Based on my limited riding, I’d prefer 3500 RPM at 80 MPH instead of 4500 RPM.
• Even though this bike is only 22% lighter than the LT it feels more like 50%. The turning radius is much less. Parking lot maneuvers and low speed U-turns aren’t nearly the scary proposition they are with the LT.
• I rode out of San Diego and made a nature stop 80 miles down the road. I got off the bike and my fingers in both hands were numb from the vibration. There is definitely more vibration from the triple at cruising RPM (4500ish) than with the K bike 4 banger but it isn’t bad. I can’t explain the tingling numbness in my hands but it never occurred again so I can only attribute it to me getting some “break in” period.
• I’m struggling with the handlebar controls but that would be true of any new bike. With the TT SE everything I’m used to is in a different location. Plus I’m having to relearn the turn signal controls.
• Wind protection is excellent. Buffeting is minimal. The adjustable windscreen allows you to get as much or as little wind as you prefer.
• The mirror placement is very good, much better than the LT. I didn’t have any difficulty seeing traffic to the rear and most importantly, with convex mirrors, I didn’t have any problem judging distances.
• I don’t know if it’s suspension or tires but grooves in the pavement and those nasty Bots Dots were barely noticeable. With the LT I hated driving over the Bots Dots since it would rattle my teeth.
• The instrumentation is easy to read and there is LOTS of information: TPMS, DTE, Gallons TE, Gallons Used. Trip mileage, and more. There are two trip displays and you can customize what is shown all the time. All info is available in a center display that can be scrolled.
• I never thought I’d like linked brakes but they are great.
• The seat sucks but don’t all stock seats suck? I have my spare seat pan out for a rework and should get it back by this weekend.
• Foot pegs definitely need to be lowered.
• Engine heat is well managed but I did notice when the temps went over 105 that there is no way to take your foot off of the footpeg without getting a blast of scorching hot air. When it cooled off I didn’t notice excess heat so I can’t say if the engine heat was combining with the ambient air or not. If you are riding in 100+ temps you need to keep your feet on the pegs.
• The radio system is EXCELLENT!. Built in XM, AM, FM, WX, and Bluetooth. There is a USB port for I-phone/I-pod interface. I bought a Bluetooth receiver, connected it to my MixIt2 and got all the bike stuff connected with all my electronics. It was nice having all the bands available again. The stubby antenna is cute, works well with FM but did show some fading with AM.
• The cruise control works well but not quite as well as the BMW. Engagement was sometimes tricky but once set it holds the speed very well. What I don’t like about the CC is that it will only engage in 4^th gear and won’t engage below 30MPH. On the surface this seems quite rational but where I have found CC to be most valuable is in low speed zones. It’s hard to keep most bikes at 25MPH and if you are velocitized it’s even harder. With the BMW I could set the CC at 26mph and then rest assured that I could through the small towns and school zones ticket free. I’ll miss that and be looking for a software hack. I was able to get the CC set to 100MPH but I can’t say if it would hold it there (obviously).
• Speedometer reads about 4 MPH fast across the scale. Odometer is fast by about 1.5%.
• All this horsepower and acceleration didn’t seem to cost much in fuel consumption. Here are my stats:

Date	Time	GPS Dist.	ODO Dist.	ODO Error	ODO Error %	Gallons	GPS MPG	ODO MPG
6-Jul	1340	248	244.5	3.5	1.41%	5.488	45.19	44.55
6-Jul	1700	226	223	3	1.33%	4.879	46.32	45.71
8-Jul	1333	244	242	2	0.82%	5.12	47.66	47.27
8-Jul	1819	264.5	260.5	4	1.51%	5.756	45.95	45.26
summary
		982.5	970	12.5	1.27%	21.243	46.25	45.66

I guess it's about time to update this blog. It's been a while since the last post. The last post referenced a auxiliary cell for a K1200LT. Wow! I sure have come a long way in my design and fabrication abilities. 

I have a web site now that shows most of my work Farkles by MaPLE. 

Three of my products will be in this year's Iron Butt Rally. 

Of course, this has come at a cost. I haven't ridden my motorcycle for over 6 months. My Spotwalla account was suspended for inactivity.  That will soon be corrected I have several rides planned. Hopefully, on a new motorcycle. I've decided that the LT is too big for me nowadays. 

Let me know what you think and I'll try to do a better job of updating.

Latest Fuel Cell

This is my latest iteration of a two up fuel cell for a K1200LT. This is an early look so don't mind the fact that the aluminum is not polished.

Here are some of the features that have been incorporated (some original some borrowed):

• retains pillion seat for 2 up riding
  
• 5.15 gallons (just under Iron Butt Rally maximum for the K1200LT)
• fully baffled
• mounting system and platform are separate entities from the fuel cell
• customizable platform both in size and configuration for any type of case or luggage system desired
• bar on side of mounting system allows for bungee cord or velcro attachment point

I welcome opinions, feedback, and suggestions.