Roadside Breakdowns with the Triumph Trophy SE

I thought I'd be posting about my finish in the Texas 1836 rally but instead am posting about the latest failure on my 2013 Triumph Trophy SE. Well, I guess there is a finish status DNF (did not finish).

Here is the current state of my bike.

I'll post about the Big Tex Rally later (my pictures and files are stranded with my bike in Texas). For now I'll just review the bike failure and status.

The Trophy wasn't up to another multiday rally. On Friday, 10/17/2014 it started missing at Throckmorton, TX. After some discussions with the tech experts at two dealerships it was determined that nothing could be done at the roadside. The consensus was that it was an injector, an electrical problem, or a mechanical problem. Since I could detect no abnormal noised I was hopeful that it was not mechanical and opted to try to limp back to the dealer in Fort Worth. No joy, even though there were no mechanical noises I could hear, the top end gave up the ghost 20 miles later. 

Incredibly, my breakdown was just as I passed a highway patrolman who was engaged with another driver (he was writing a warning for being 15 over). When he finished he arranged for a local tow into Graham, TX so I wouldn't be stranded on the highway. He was a great guy and stuck around to keep me company. I had to pay this $250 out of pocket. I probably should have called my roadside assistance folks because I may not get this reimbursed. 

Since it was silly to go a closed dealership in Forth Worth, I stayed at a motel in Graham ($110) and arranged for my roadside assistance to tow me into the dealer on Saturday 10/18. This $550 tow was covered by the insurance with no out of pocket expense.

This was my daughter's last week in Austin, TX before she moved to Houston, so I was able to get her to come pick me up. We attended the rally finish banquet and then I went to Austin to help her with the move while I waited the time needed to get a cheap Spirit Airlines ticket from Houston to San Diego ($80).

The dealer said if all the stars align it might be repaired in 2 weeks. He tore it down and found a broken valve and a broken camshaft. He submitted a claim amounting to a major engine rebuild and we waited on Triumph to make a decision. On 10/30 the dealer called and said that Triumph was going to replace the engine.

Here is a what the piston looks like.

We are hopeful that the engine will come in and the bike will be ready by 11/15. Just to cover myself I'm making travel arrangements to arrive at the dealer on 11/22. 

I'll fly into Houston on Friday 11/21 via Spirit Airlines ($68) and then take a one way rental car from Houston to Ft Worth ($120).

By the time I get the bike home I will have been without it for over four weeks. Just one more lengthy repair added to the list of lengthy repairs I've already experienced.

These towing, travel, and lodging expenses are what makes a remote breakdown a dire situation. I'm lucky that I am retired and have no job commitments. A poor working stiff might lose a job over something like this.

Darkside on the Triumph Trophy

UPDATE 05/19/2020
My conclusions below were BEFORE I got the right tire. I subsequently ended up putting over 40,000 miles on the CT and had no regrets at all. I rode many rallies including the '15 Iron Butt Rally. The right tire for me was a Vredestein Sportrac3. It had a symmetrical tread pattern and nice rounded corners. I ran it at about 25PSI. Tire life was 18,000 to 20,000. I did have make my center stand a bit wider to clear the tire.

Darkside is the term used to describe putting a car tire (CT) on a motorcycle.

This has always had some appeal to me since a large part of my travels are on highways and the savings can be significant. Based on user experiences car tire life on a motorcycle will significantly exceed that of a motorcycle tire, with reports of mileage in excess of 25,000. Consider that on my K1200LT, the best mileage I could get was around 12,000 miles. Since I put over 160,000 miles on this bike I estimate that I purchased at least 15 tires at an average cost of $200 for a total of $3000. Could I have run car tires, I would have expected my tire cost to be less than $1000.

The controversy over running a CT on a bike is one of the most fervent discussions you can find on the motorcycle forums. The naysayers are convinced that putting a CT on a bike will result in immediate death and/or dismemberment of the rider. The proponents are equally rabid in their assertion that CTs are the best thing since sliced bread. I have researched both sides and have yet to find any hard science from either side.


On the naysayer side, there is a lengthy tome on the Goldwing forum  that is chock full of scientific data. But, as I gave it a critical read, I found that it was sorely lacking in "information". In my 30 years of experience as a technical writer, I have learned to recognize when a writer is cutting and pasting content with little to no understanding of said content. This is very apparent in this write up. There was nothing but opinion to substantiate the purported risks of putting a CT on a bike.

I was cautioned about the following but was not able to confirm any of the following:

• crashes (regretfully, accident reports don't include any information as to the tire type)
• insurance cancellation 
• ticketing for not having the correct tire
• voiding the warranty (this might be possible if your dealer is a jerk but nobody reported this happening)

On the proponent side, there is no scientific data that I could find, just anecdotal information about CT experiences. While the lack of scientific data appears damning, the experience can't be discounted. There have been thousands of riders, racking up millions of miles, over many decadewebsites, with no evidence of negative consequences, let alone dire consequences. The Darkside web is an excellent resource.

 I determined that the only way I would get an answer that would satisfy my curiosity would be to conduct my own trials.

When I acquired the Triumph Trophy SE, I began looking into putting a car tire on it. I acquired a spare rear wheel so I could easily swap things around. I'd had the bike for over a year before I finally got around to tackling this project. Following are my trials and observations.

First off I had to find a tire that would fit. The stock MC tire is a 190/60 on a 17 inch wheel. I needed to determine the optimal tire size and found a Tire Size Calculator to help me out. There was very little excess space between the stock tire and the swing arm but with careful measurements I determined that a 205 width tire would probably fit. Searching for a specific tire size is virtually impossible, I finally located a site that was immensely helpful, allow you to find tires using specific criteria Dutire.com.

The 17" wheel proved to be extremely problematic. In the North American market there are very few tires options in this size wheel. This was the largest diameter tire I could find in a 205 width, which would change my speedometer and gearing as follows:


While I would have preferred a narrower tire the only tires available tire reduced the tire diameter so much I was concerned it would make it too hard to get onto the center stand. 

Finding a shop that will mount a CT on a motorcycle wheel was the next challenge. After stopping at several places I finally found a tire store that would take on the job AND they had used tires. This was great! I'd be able to verify that a 205/55 would fit since they would take a return. They didn't have a 205/55 so I took the next closest match,  a NEXEN 205/50. I was out the door with a good used tire, mounted and balanced for $30. I started out with 40 psi and, when I mentioned that it was pretty rough some fellow darksiders said that most folks ran low pressure. I dropped it to 32 psi which helped considerably.

I had seen videos of CTs on bikes but none had a good comparison. My first experiment was to shoot some video to see what was going on with this tire. Here are two videos, the first is a side by side comparison, the second is a side view under mid and high speed turns.




Following are my observations and opinions of putting a CT on this bike.
I have ridden it about 5000 miles over a wide variety of roads and road conditions.

Pro's

• I put about 5000 miles on this tire and it showed very little wear. I didn't measure tread depth before I started but comparing my before and after photos it looks like 1 to 2/32s of wear. I can certainly see a new tire going in excess of 20,000 miles.
• Once speeds exceed 30mph there is almost no difference in handling beyond the extra effort required for turns (see con's for lower speed behavior).
• Long stretches of straight road are easier to handle.
• Gravel/dirt roads are less stressful since the tire provides more stability.
• Rain was less stressful since there is more tire on the road.
• On a 2500 mile round trip consisting of mostly interstate and primary highways I was very pleased with the CT. I didn't have any problem navigating twisty mountain highways. (see cons for related opinion). Tire pressure on this trip was 32 PSI

Con's

• The ride of the CT seems to be harsher (you can see this in the first video to some degree)
• It is more difficult to initiate a turn. 
• Once in the turn it requires more effort to maintain the turn since the tire is trying to go back to the flat.
• Low speed maneuvers can be frightening since the tire wants to stay flat and continue going straight.
  At low speed any variation in the pavement can cause the bike to lean. As a radical example consider a pavement transition from low to high, if this is encountered at an angle the CT will tip to the low side of the angle. This can cause the bike to tip over if you are unprepared for this behavior. I almost lost is as I was backing up to a curb (California law on motorcycle parking). When the tire touched the curb, the bike lurched, and I barely was able to hold it up. 
• At highway speeds it requires more effort to maintain a track and requires experience to compensate for this behavior. If you are drifting out of your desired track you must immediately apply enough force to regain the track or you might find yourself in the wrong lane (as I did on more than one occasion).
• On a rally in northern California last month I rode over at 12 hour period I navigated 350 miles of extremely technical mountain highways. That 30mph average should give you an idea of the complexity of these roads. By the end of the day I absolutely hated the CT and regretted that I had decided to use it on the rally. The extra effort required for turning becomes quite tiresome and can certainly raise your fatigue level beyond what most long distance riders would want. Tire pressure had been raised on this rally to 35 PSI. 

Conclusion

 I think that the folks that love the CT on their bikes are very conservative riders and are likely on a cruiser or heavy touring bike. The CT is NOT a sport bike tire, the handling characteristics are quite a bit different and take some time to get used to. While I was able to maintain my spirited canyon carving riding style (dragging the footpegs), the additional effort required to initiate and maintain a turn pretty much spoils the fun we expect from a sport bike.

If I had to pick one or the other I'd stay with the motorcycle tire. Thankfully, I have two wheels so I can swap. 

If I can predict that the riding will be similar to my first trip I would definitely mount the CT. The performance under non-sport conditions is perfectly acceptable and the improved tire life and dirt/gravel handling more than offset the negatives.

BUT, if the road conditions and riding are anything like what I encountered on the rally, NO WAY! There were not nearly enough pro's to offset the fatigue level.

Bottom line is that if I didn't have the spare wheel the CT would be history.

More farkles on the Trophy

 

After my long trip last month I realized that I was missing my powered hydration system and my food cooler. Both of these items made long trips much more enjoyable. I remade the mounting hardware for both items. The first iterations weren't as professional as I would have liked.

The water jug mount is a single loop of 1/8" x 1/2" stainless steel strap welded to vertical mounting bracket. This bracket is bolted to an aluminum block custom made which replaces the pillion foot peg.

I found a small pump that fit nicely under the fuel cell at the rear.

While this pump worked okay the flow rate was much less than the Harbor Freight utility pump plus it wasn't self priming. If I forgot to shut off the bite valve I had to suck some water to get it primed.

But it was small, fit the space so I was okay with it. I removed it this last week to see if I could located it below the water jug and the plastic outlet broke off. It is irreparable, $25 down the pooper. I just bought the HF pump. It will take some tweaking to get it to fit but I know the performance is excellent and you can't break stainless steel without trying.

Here is what it looks like now:

The food cooler bracket was remade to be a bit more professional. It also bolts to the passenger foot peg.

 

Gotta have my coffee available:

Based on a request for this farkle I made up a prototype "gravel foot" for the sidestand. I don't know if I can make these at a competitive price. It does work well.

Poison Rally and the "Life of Bolt"

Bolt's early years will likely go undocumented. After all, his story could go back to the beginnings of time when he was nothing more than a vein of iron. We can surmise some aspects of his life by his appearance:  at some point he was forged into a bolt, he served a good life holding together some critical parts, and his career ended when his parts were torn asunder by a cutting torch, leaving him scarred and marred.

We can't say how he came into the possession of Dale "Warchild" Wilson but we do know that he came into my possession on July 20th, of 2012 at the Cognoscente’s  "End of Days – Zombie Apocalypse" (EODZA) pre rally banquet.

I begin my story there.

I was awarded possession of "Bolt" because Warchild deemed that a question I asked was beneath the intellect of a participant of a Cognoscente event. My job was to honor and protect "Bolt" until he was returned at the next Cognoscente event. I took my role seriously.

We had been warned to practice our knife throwing and shooting for the EODZA because the Zombies would be out in full force during this event. That was sage advice and I’m glad I took it to heart. In the wee hours of July 22^nd things began to go south at the old mining town of Ruth, NV. I was off my bike trying to get a picture of the New Ruth Club when I was set upon by a large group of Zombies. They were fierce but were no match for my Zombie killing skills. I dispatched over 6 of the buggers before they gave up and disbanded. It was then that I noticed a second group at my bike. Bolt was screaming for help but before I could get there the Zombies carried him away.

I’m not sure who I felt more sorrow for, Bolt for being amongst the Zombies, or me for having to account to Warchild for the missing bolt. I decided that time would heal all wounds (or wound all heels) so I kept the story of Bolt’s kidnapping to myself.

The delay paid off. Imagine my surprise when I get a phone call from Bolt. It seems the Zombies had carried him to their lair south of the border where they held him captive. Some time thereafter a group of Wiccan’s raided the Zombie camp and completely wiped them out of their gruesome existence. They rescued bolt and took him into their care.

His call was to ask for money. He had designs on a young witch but felt that his deformed appearance would prevent him from making any headway with her. I sent him some funds to visit a machine shop to get rid of the worst of his scarring and marring.

It must have paid off because not long after he called again. The witch was quite enamored with him and he felt like he could make some headway if only he had some nuts. To assuage my guilt over having lost Bolt in the first place I sent even more funds for this operation.

I never hear from Bolt again, but as the Poison rally approached I knew I’d have to get him to come home or I would have to answer to Warchild as to his whereabouts. I contacted him and he refused to return. He was in a serious relationship with the witch and was talking about the head she was giving him when I cut him off, I didn't care to hear about his sex life. I said; “If you don’t come back, I’ll have to send Warchild after you.”

That did the trick. It seems that Zombies and Wiccan's and witch sex are no match for the ire of Warchild. He promised to return in time to make the trip to Ely.

But when he showed up at my doorstep I was taken aback. I didn’t expect to see a Wiccan.

His major deformities were gone, he had a big set of brass nuts, but most disconcerting was the goat head! I now understood what he was talking about when he said his witch was giving him head.

Bolt was not happy about being away from his witch. I tried to cheer him up. I took him to visit a temple but he fussed that it wasn’t Wiccan.

I took him to the pool but he said swimming would tarnish his image.

He didn’t like lazing at the pool because he said it made his nuts hot.

I took him to visit the family but he tried to put a spell on the dog.

He was not a happy camper and his neverending demands were making my life miserable. I even had to kowtow to him on the required bone for the Poison rally. He said he wouldn’t ride to Ely without something to remind him of his Wiccan girlfriend and that’s how I ended up with the goat skull with a Wiccan pentagram on it.

So that's the Life of Bolt from 2012 to 2014. Some other poor soul will have to continue on from here. I don’t envy him at all.

A Client's Alaska Trip

One of my clients is taking off on a long trip to Alaska. He's working off his bucket list and in the process undertaking an endeavor to raise awareness about suicide prevention. There was a nice news video posted Stamford Man Begins Motorcycle Journey to Alaska

I wanted to post this info in case you were interested in helping his cause.C

In his words...

I recently retired and one of my “bucket list” items is to ride to Alaska (and back.)  Well, I’m finally doing that and will be leaving at the beginning of June. It will be about 45 days and 17,000 miles through some of the most beautiful scenery on the planet. However,  in planning for this epic adventure, I had a recurring thought that something significant was missing, and then it hit me… 

I will travel proudly to raise awareness and funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) in memory of my brother, Mark.  In January of 2011, Mark lost his long battle with bipolar disorder by committing suicide.  Though devastating for his immediate and extended family and friends, he was just one of many who choose this tragic ending.   There are nearly 40,000 suicides each year in the U.S alone -- that’s more than one every 15 minutes. 

I have set up a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/IntoTheLightRide which describes the ride in more detail.  I will make regular posts to that site for anyone interested in tracking my progress toward the Land of the Midnight Sun.  In addition, I have set up a donation page at AFSP (http://afsp.donordrive.com/campaign/IntoTheLightRide) for contributions.  All donations go directly to the foundation.

Please consider making a donation to this organization.  And, please pass this along to anyone you know for whom this cause might resonate. For me, it’s both personal and important.

Triumph Trophy SE Driving Light Nighttime Performance

I finally got the bike out at night to see how the lights look. I didn't go far, just out enough to find a good dark road where I pulled off to the side to snap some pictures.

I have the driving lights wired where they are on all the time. They are dimmed (10% of max) when on with the low beam. When the high beam is switched on they come to 100%.

Here is the stock low beam with the driving lights dimmed:

Here is the stock high beam with the driving lights at 100%:

As you can see they do a nice job of brightening the road. That upcoming turn isn't in the field of vision with the low beam.

As to the driving test. Short as it was I could tell this lighting is not what I am used to having. In all fairness, my K1200LT had HID replacements in the high and low beam plus I had 2 Baja Design 4" Soltek Fuego HID driving lights. When everything was lit up I was putting some serious lumens down the road.

I would have loved to have put the Fuego's on the TT but at 2.5 pounds each they were just too heavy for my mounting. Plus, you pay for those lumens. A pair runs $600, plus the options.

The Optimus lights with the dimmer were significantly less money.

I'll have a better feel for how these lights perform after the Cape Fear Rally. I have no doubt that I will be acquiring some miles on those (to quote Rally Master Jim Bain) "Tennessee mountain dark" east coast backroads.

Gas Saver Expansion Tank (GSET) Update

Not long ago I posted about this expansion tank and my idea to make it externally mounted. I've completed the prototype and mounted it on my Triumph Trophy.

This tank is exactly 1/4 gallon capacity. It is mounted to the rear of the tank with 3M dual lock. While I am confident that the dual lock will hold this in place there is a niggle in the back of my mind that a big bump or chuckhole will pop it loose. For added security one or two velcro straps will be included with the tank. The zip ties you see are my "interim" safety ties since the straps I've ordered haven't arrived.

Here are some more views:

I just took it down and filled the tank to the brim, brought it home, and parked it in the sun.

With it parked in the same spot I've previously had significant overflow so I am confident that my expansion tank will fill. Once that has been achieved I'll make sure it drains and siphons off the overflow.

More to come.

Triumph Trophy SE Rider Peg Lowering

My recent long trip was not without some aches and pains. One thing that has bothered me before was some pain in the knees and hips.

It was time to try to lower the foot pegs on the bike before the next big trip which is coming up soon. I'll report back as to the results after this trip, look for another post early May on this topic.

The hard part of this project was the engineering. I swear there were hundreds of trips between the bike and the machinery in my shop. Ten feet doesn't sound like much but it can add up. Especially since each trip entailed stooping and/or bending and/or laying on the floor.

After the first one was made I decided that I couldn't fabricate these for sale at a reasonable price. The second one went much faster and I might even consider offering these for sale. If there is enough interest I can run a small lot in production and might be able to keep the price competitive.

These lower the pegs about 3/4" and move them out slightly. This provided a noticeable change in the position of my knee with respect to the fairing. My brief local ride tests showed no problem this positional change impacting the operation of the foot brake or the shifter.

Triumph Trophy SE Auxiliary Lighting

As I have mentioned before the lighting on the TT provided no daytime visibility. I wasn't sure I needed a lot of extra nighttime lighting but I sure knew I needed some daytime running lights (DRL).

The problem was that I didn't want to drill holes in the fairing but I wanted the lights as high as was practicable.

I finally found a way to mount some lights in an appropriate place on the Trophy. As it turns out the lower plastic housing below the mirror is a sturdy piece of plastic with 3 mounting bolts. I decided this would support up to a 2 pound lamp.

The item you see is a NutSert. These are neat things that are similar to a pop rivet. They crimp in and provide a solid threaded nut. I put 2 in the housing, one at each end, so I could bolt an aluminum bar on the outside.

This bar is tapped and the lamp bracket bolt runs from the inside to the outside. This allows me to tighten the retaining nut without having access to the inside of the housing.

Here is a detail view of the finished mount.

Next up was to choose some lights. I contacted fellow LD Rider, Justin Phillipson who is in the lighting business at LED Rider. Justin is very knowledgeable and suggested I would be pleased with the Cyclops Long Range Optimus Spot so I ordered up a pair, one 10 degree beam and one 20 degree beam.

Justin also recommended the Skene dimmer so I visited their site to pick out a dimmer. I found just what I wanted with the IQ-175A Intelligent Lighting Controller. What I liked about this was that it has the alert feature that will flash the lights in an attention getting pattern (video follows).

While on the Skene site I saw their Photo Blaster DRL and decided to give them a try while I was at it. They were a bit on the pricey side, but I had already tried some cheap LEDs bar lights that were a waste of time. I figured you get what you pay for so put them in the shopping cart too.

When everything arrived I began the wiring project (previous post). I wanted to minimize the wire runs and complexity so had to choose where to mount the controller for the LED and the controller for the Photon Blasters (PB) wisely. The PBs have most of the wiring at the front so I mounted that controller inside the front fairing. You can barely see it mounted far forward on the frame.

The only rear running wires for this controller are a power circuit to the Fuzeblock.

The Skene dimmer had a bunch of wires but only two needed to run to the front so it got mounted back near the Fuzeblock. That's it just behind the label.

Both of these controllers were mounted with double sided foam tape.

Once everything was connected, and the bugs worked out of my wiring it was time to test out the lights to see how they performed. I haven't been out at night yet for a test but so far I'm pleased with the DRL aspect.

More pictures of the lighting mounts:

Here is the video. Note that the amber PB lights have a feature called Conspicuity Flicker. It looks to be about 30 cycles. In the video this frequency combines with the video rate and makes it look much slower, so what you are seeing here is not real world. The alert feature on the driving lights is activated by flashing the high beams twice within 1 second. The TT has a passing switch which flashes the high beam. This is perfect for the IQ-175A

Adding Accessory Circuits to the Triumph Trophy SE

I've been busy spending money and adding farkles to the Trophy. This is the first of a couple of posts on my endeavors.

First up was to fix the wiring. I had tapped into some circuits as a quick and dirty, get things working fast manner and wanted to clean it up. Plus I was adding some lights so the wiring was the first task.

I've made plenty of mistakes in not wiring properly and it has cost me dearly. Having learned from my previous errors this is done right.

I added a Fuzeblock. This is a great product and I highly recommend it. I found a nice place to tuck it in just behind the rider seat.

The Fuzeblock takes 3 inputs: +12v from the battery, -12v from the battery (ground), and a +12v switched lead to control the onboard relay.

I tapped into the stock GPS power cord for the switched lead. The reason being this comes on with the ignition switch.

The Trophy has 2 different accessory circuits. One comes on with the switch and the other only comes on when the engine is running. I wanted the switched circuits on the Fuzeblock to be powered with the first accessory position, switch on.

The 3 input wires run along the right side of the bike. They are dressed and zip tied.

The output circuits run on the left side of the bike. I did this to minimize the size of the wiring bundle and to keep things simple in case I have to troubleshoot a circuit.

Having had to add wiring after the fact on many bikes, I anticipated this with the Trophy and ran a "conduit" along the frame so I could pull a wire without having to remove the left side fairing.

Each circuit is either uniquely color coded and/or labeled as to it's function.

The final touch on the Fuzeblock was to label each circuit.

I've indicated what the circuit powers and whether it is switched (SW) or unswitched (USW).

More to come on the lighting powered by these circuits...

Gas Saver Expansion Tank

Last fall I posted about a client had us build a neat catch tank for his auxiliary fuel tank (see post here). I liked the idea so much I worked out a design that can be retrofitted to any auxiliary tank.

Pricing hasn't been finalized yet but I'm hoping to keep it less than $75.
I've gotten the first orders for these. They'll  be made up and mounted in a month or so and be able to post some pictures of a real installation.

Thanks for looking.
Read more...

New Luggage Mount Option

I've had some requests to put some mounting bars on the sides of the tanks. Similar to what Dean Tanji did with his FJR Flatbed Tanks.

I made a prototype recently and it was okay but really time consuming to fabricate and mount.

 I started looking for some lower cost alternative and came up with, what I think, is a more versatile and less expensive option.

This uses the L-Track tie down system which has a variety of fitting types.

I've even found fittings that allow the attachment of a mounting bar.

Read more...

Triumph Trophy SE and the 50CC Quest

Here's a ride report focusing on the Trophy and how it performed on my cross country trip.

The Trip

I left out of San Diego early Tuesday morning headed to Jacksonville, Fl to attend the annual Iron Butt Association's Pizza Party. [It's just us crazy folks that will drive across the US for a dinner.] Since I was making the trip, I wondered if I still had the stamina for a certification ride and opted to do a 50CC Quest. That's coast to coast in 50 hours or less. My trip was right at 2355 miles and I used the full 50 hours to get there. I rode about 1250 the first day, got a good 7 hours of rest, and then tacked the second half. Because I didn't want to arrive in the wee hours and not have a place to stay I opted to get another good 6 hour rest the second night. I nabbed the finish receipt with time to spare.

The return trip was broken up with a stop in Austin, Tx to visit with my daughter. This was only 1050 miles from Jacksonville, so was a pretty easy ride after having rested for 2 days.

I considered making the 1300 mile trip home in one leg but ran out of steam. Some of it may have been dealing with the high winds but I will attribute it to me being out of shape. I managed 800 miles the first day and had to stop, the final 500 miles really did me in. I will have to work on building my stamina, the 2015 Iron Butt Rally is on the horizon.

The Triumph Trophy SE

Enough about me, let's talk about the Triumph Trophy.

It's been brought to my attention that I've been a bit negative about the Trophy. Last week I threatened to trade it in if it gave me any problems on this trip. Let me say right off, this is a KEEPER!

I want to emphasize that my complaints have not been with the bike but with the warranty process and parts availability. The bike itself is a stellar performer. I can't help but feel this will be a serious long distance platform. I know that there are at least three of these bikes entered in the '15 Iron Butt Rally, mine being one of them.

Performance

The power of the Trophy at speed is one of the things I love about this bike. It gives one the ability to manage traffic quite well. Unlike the K1200LT, where you had to be very cautious about sprinting for an opening, this is not a problem with the Trophy. You can spot an opening 15 or 20 car lengths ahead and easily slip into it. I think this factor alone may have contributed to me being able to get two nights motel rest on my outbound 50CC.

Rider Weather Protection

I've felt like the cockpit of the Trophy was much calmer (that is; less wind turbulence) than the K1200LT but without doing a side by side comparison you can't be sure about your memory. I now have proof positive that the Trophy offers excellent wind protection for the rider.

I ran into rain on the return trip beginning at Mobile, Al and continuing until west of Houston, Tx. At times this rain was heavy. I wear a Shark Evoline helmet and I normally have the chin bar open. With the LT, when the rain came down, I had to close everything up tight and would still get rain penetration on the helmet. Of course, with everything sealed up, you then need to contend with fogging of the face shield. I followed this same procedure with the Trophy. Some time later I had the chin bar open and didn't have time to close it when I ran into a rain squall. I just pulled down the windscreen visor. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that I was getting NO rain under the visor or on my face!

It was then that I noticed that my jacket was barely wet. Back in the '07 IBR I nearly drowned with the rains we encountered and I blamed my gear. Now I'm thinking it wasn't the gear it was my bike. The Trophy definitely provides more protection for the rider.

Cross Wind Performance

As with any bike, cross winds can be exhilarating (read scary). I encountered some severe cross winds coming and going. I even saw a semi-truck that was blown off the road and overturned!

I found the TT to be no more or less challenging to ride in cross winds than any other bike I've ridden. The biggest problem I have with cross winds is keeping my tank bag in place. 

Lighting

I had a lot of light on the LT, HID high and low beam and two Soltek Fuego's mounted up high. Last August was my first trip out with the Trophy where I had to drive at night, it seemed rather weak but after the lighting I had on the LT everything seems dark.

On this trip the stock lights on the Trophy seemed fine. There was good side illumination and a pretty good reach down the road. This was all interstate at night so I can't say how they are on dark, lonely, two-lane roads. One of the nice features of the Trophy is that you can adjust the lighting on the fly. Simply enter the bike set-up menu, go to lights, and you can move the beam up and down.

While I don't think auxiliary lighting is required I am planning on adding some. Like fuel, you can't have too much. I've discovered how to mount the lights up high under the mirrors without ruining the bodywork. More on that to come.

Gas Mileage

I've been getting really good mileage with the Trophy, 40 to 45 at highway speeds. This changed on this trip and I don't know if the ECU change caused it or if other factors are at play. I am trying to analyze my observations.

I encountered severe winds and, as expected, that definitely impacted the mileage. But even without the winds there were times the mileage was down in the 30 to 35 range. I think there is some relationship to temperature, the colder temps (30F-45F) seemed to cause the mileage to drop. When it was over 70F and not windy I was getting 45MPG. Since I hadn't ridden the bike in cold temps before, I'm not sure if this is normal behavior. Who knows what goes on with the ECU and the IAT (Intake Air Temperature)? I know with the LT pulling the plug on the sensor made the bike run much better. Maybe there are some tweaks to be made.

When you ride 5000 miles in 8 days a 20% change in gas mileage equates to about $120 in expenses. I may need to investigate whether this little toy will help out Triumph Trophy SE Performance Chip. A bit pricey but it might pay for itself. I have a few more cross country trips planned. :-)

Oh, here's a little tidbit for you. To change my riding position I sometimes hang a foot off the peg, alternating from one to the other. It looks like that habit is costing me 2 to 3 miles per gallon. I realize that the instantaneous fuel monitor is not a scientific tool but as near as I could tell, over dozens of trials, hanging that foot into the wind stream was definitely changing the mileage. I'm just not sure how much.

Laam Seat

As I have mentioned before, the Laam custom seat seemed pretty good but there is a big difference between what feels good at 4 hours versus what feels good after 12 hours, and so on. Day one of 1250 miles and I'm thinking I've got a winner with this seat. Day two and another 1250 miles doesn't change my opinion...much. Day 8 at 4500 miles and I definitely need to change something. My hips were killing me and the squirms were pretty bad. I definitely need lower foot pegs and some other ergonomic changes before I can say this seat has to go. Time will tell.

Thanks for the ear and check back from time-to-time as I provide more updates.

Triumph Trophy Update

I've been pretty busy and haven't posted in a while. Here's an update on the Trophy.

Coming back from Gerlachfest on 9/30 the bike just shut down. So here I am on the side of a desolate 2 lane road in Nevada and it won't start. Cranks fine but won't catch. After a while it started up and ran fine. I thought I might have gotten some bad gas so I filled up and got on home without issue.

The bike was due for the 10,000 mile service (and the parts had finally come in for the gas tank recall) so when I took it in they read the codes and said something about "fuel system" and that it should reset after 3 minutes. I really didn't give it much more thought since I was more concerned about the oil that leaked out of the final drive. Turns out that there is a bad seal and Triumph doesn't have that part. They are going to replace the entire final drive. I leave the bike with them.

Now here's where things get interesting with Triumph warranty work. This warranty process goes like this: the dealer has to submit substantiating documentation (I get the impression this consists of 8x10 color glossies with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back explaining each one). This is an iterative process, back and forth between California and the UK. Given the time differential it can take a week or longer. Once approved the parts can be ordered. So far, everything I've needed is in the UK. Best case delivery is about a week but I'm seeing 10 to 14 days.

Early November I need to make a quick trip to Las Vegas for a friends wedding. I had to pick the bike up from the dealer where it was still awaiting final drive parts. On my trip home from Las Vegas it shut down. 3 times. The first shut down, on the isolated road, was concerning but not dangerous. Naturally, it acted up on the I-15 in Riverside, during rush hour traffic. Sudden loss of power on a crowded 6 lane freeway IS dangerous!

The remainder of November and all of December was pretty hectic. I had jobs to finish, vacation, and holidays. The bike lanquished until I took it out for a local ride with my son. Two shutdowns!

Finally, the parts came in for the final drive repair so I took it in and really whined about the shutdown and said they needed to get it fixed. A week later I check in and they were waiting on more final drive parts! I finally did what I should have done months before--checked the Trophy Forum. There I discovered that the shutdown problem was the TPS (throttle position sensor). Also, there were rumblings of an ECU recall. I reported this to the dealer. They ordered up the parts for the TPS and the waiting game commences. I'm pretty sure I dropped the bike off before I left for a 2 week cruise so they would have plenty of time to work on it.

I was building a tank for the TT for a client and had to have the bike back no later than 1/30 to finish up that job. The dealer wasn't finished but they put it back together so I could take it home for the work I needed. I was leaving town again for a week so I dropped the bike back at the dealer on 2/4 so they would have 8 full days to work on it. Imagine my surprise when I call them on 2/14 and find out that it's not ready! The parts were in and installed but they had to consult with the factory to get the ECU programmed. Naturally, the time differential made this longer than normal.

Well I finally got it 2/15. I can't say I've missed any long distance riding because I've been busy building tanks but I know there were several beautiful SoCal days that I would have liked to have been riding.

I don't hate the bike, yet, but time will tell. I have a big riding season planned so we will see how this bike can withstand the demands of an LD rider making a few circuits of the United States.