Part 4
The
"Q" bike suggestion leads into a discussion about the need
for an oil cooler, which we decide to fit. After considering other options we
go for all Triumph parts, including a sump with the necessary oil ways, the
brackets and filter. The hoses are made specially. An alarm is rejected. The
running light is upgraded and the standard horn replaced with a Fiamm.
Oil
Cooler Considered
S-Fri 09-03-2001 18:16
We have a question about temperatures out there. How hot does it
get? We are a little concerned about the bike over heating and
are considering an oil cooler kit, which means a new sump and
of course oil cooler. The cooler is about 240.00ish and I'm
not too sure about the sump price as yet. It really is up to
you, we just think that with the increase in power we might hit
problems in heavy traffic on hot days.
A-Sat 10-03-2001 18:11
Hot and humid in the summer (April - November): 28-35 degrees C, with
90-95% humidity.
Warm and slightly less humid other times (December - March) 14-27
degrees C, with 60-90% humidity.
I've posted to the triumphclassics, legend and triumph m/c lists,
with only one reply on this topic so far. A guy in Queensland,
Australia- also hot and humid in the summer. He said his 95 Speed Triple
has no problems. There's a guy in Miami, USA who has no problems.
If I thought it was absolutely essential, I would do it. For my
T-bird, it runs hot in the summer, but the electric fan cuts in and
seems to be able to keep the red light off (not that the red light is
super reliable - another story). The biggest problem is a traffic jam in
one of our long mountain tunnels, where even with the electric fan,
there is no cool air for it to blow; all of the air is hot.
But, if you are stuck in traffic, you are not using much of the power
and presumably the tick-over speed remains 900-1000 rpm, even with the
mods. Oil thins
out pretty quickly in the T3 engine and I change every 2,000 kms or so.
Finally, if I fitted it, where would it go? If it goes in front of
the exhausts below the radiator, wouldn't that look pretty ugly? Have
you got any links to pictures on other bikes? Guess I'm saying I need
more information on which to make a decision ....
A-Mon 12-03-2001 16:56
Just been browsing. Found a picture of the Tiger with an oil cooler
mounted on the right side behind the exhausts. Is that what it would
look like on the Ascot?
S-Mon 12-03-2001 19:47
We are going to play with a cooler to see what we think about it.
I'm still a bit concerned about the latent heat build up caused by
the higher compression. It would be easier to use brackets that
we can obtain through the factory, such a T3 Daytona ones, but
let us see first what we can do.
S-Tue 13-03-2001 1:09
The big problem is the radiator. There is very little room underneath
it and the cooler would be quite close to the exhaust pipes. So, we
had a kit arrive this morning, which did not fit of course, although
the cooler has given us a few ideas.
I'm quite keen on mounting it side ways on, under the radiator, it
looks rather trick, in my view that is. However we also tried
mounting
it high alongside the cylinder head and that looks rather good.
We will probably order up a Speed Triple cooler and have a look at
that as well.
A-Tue 13-03-2001 10:11
Sorry, been away from London too long: "Trick" is not a
word in my vocab. I'll
trust your judgement, but I want to see what it looks like before I
commit to it. I'm concerned it shouldn't look too much like a bolt-on.
Also, that part of the engine behind the exhausts picks up a lot of crap
off the front wheel. The Ascot has short mudguards, so the oil cooler
would get hit with most of it.
A-Wed 14-03-2001 1:02
I'll leave you to it with the cooler then. Trust the solution will be
an elegant one!
A-Thu 15-03-2001 0:40
I've been looking at some pictures on the Net of Speed Triples with
the oil cooler hanging off the engine mounting on the right-hand side. If
I could see a picture with one on the Legend mounting, I could decide if
it looked OK or not.
I understand there are two stock sizes made by Triumph for the Speed
Triple, one at GBP 50 and one at GBP 60 (according to the Wilcox site).
What did your e-mail quote on 9.3.2001 of GBP 240 include? Big
difference ....
S-Thu 15-03-2001 19:22
The price was for a kit that we found, it included Goodridge hoses
and all the frame work. Only thing was that it did not fit!!
I'm still not sure on the mounting, none of the ones look right so
far, the Triumph speed triple is not quite what I wanted to see. So we
will keep looking.
A-Thu 15-03-2001 22:43
John Wilcox's comment on the oil cooler was that they've
sent many "tuned" T3s around the world and never heard of any
overheating. IF, but only if, it is causing too much trouble, then
perhaps we can take a chance. Although, if you can come up with a neat
solution, I'd go for it because our summers can be something else! The
kit you bought .... would it have taken too much adoption to make it fit?
Which one was it?
S-Sat 17-03-2001 18:30
The kit was from Sprint manufacturing and was the type that would have sat low and forward of the exhaust pipes. The problem
to fit is that the T3's have different crankcases to the T/Bird
models and do not have the crankcase bolt holes where we need them.
Sprint Manufacturing Co.
I have ordered up the brackets from the Speed Triple 955 just to have a look and see what it is like. We would not fit anything to
your bike until you have seen pictures of the installation.
A-Sat 17-03-2001 23:48
Thanks for the update. Found Sprint's website: http://www.sprintmanufacturing.co.uk/
Difficult to tell from their picture of the cooler what it would have
looked like, seen with the bike as a whole. First thought was that it
was bit of a tractor effort! Perhaps the Speed Triple one on the right
side will be the answer.
I
since found a picture on the Net of a Speed Triple with his mounting for an
oil cooler. Still think it looks "agricultural"! Prefer the side
mounting.
Miles
Hunter, from Thunderbike Powersports, New Zealand, kindly offered his advice
too.
Thunderbike
Powersports
Sun 18/03/2001 13:33
Those
bikes we've tuned that didn't have a cooler fitted as standard showed no sign
of needing one but I must say that the temperatures here rarely get up to the
90s, mid 70s would be the norm for summer. For open road/high speed running I
don't think a cooler would be necessary but if you're likely to spend a lot of
time in traffic during hot weather it would be a sensible precaution.
By the
way, I've spent a lot of time admiring the Ascot TTs on various Websites. You
have great taste in bikes.
A-Sun 18/03/2001 17:41
Miles, thank you for your comments. I'm
inclined to go with the advice that it should have an oil-cooler as a
precautionary measure, although most people seem to agree that it is
unlikely to really need it. The deciding factor maybe whether or not it
is possible to mount one without it looking like a pigs ear!
I guess we will
have to use the Speed Triple one and mount it on the right hand side
engine mount. There's one company that produces one - Sprint
Manufacturing in UK - that mounts in front of the exhausts on extended
arms, but the set up was designed for the T-bird and doesn't fit the
Legend crankcase. I'm glad really - had a kind of agricultural look to
it that doesn't fit the Ascot TT.
BTW, I've
corresponded with Ian earlier. I hope to be down for one of your tours
at the end of this year, so we should meet up then.
Oil
Cooler Pictures
S-Wed 21-03-2001 22:24
The oil cooler is going to be OK, we are taking the
bike to get hoses made for it and have changed the sump to suit
the cooler and oil ways. Joe took these for you.
A-Fri 23-03-2001 7:33
Oil cooler is fine. Just have to make sure I never drop it, otherwise
it'll be the first thing to get damaged. Don't suppose you'd advocate
any kind of protection for it? No? What changes did you make to the
sump? Did you have to drill it for the hoses or fit a new sump?
Oil
Cooler Fitted with Hoses
S-Sat 24-03-2001 20:48
Will take some pictures on Monday of the oil cooler.
Alarm
Here we
have a brief interlude on whether or not an alarm would be necessary on the
Ascot and decide against it.
A-Wed 14-03-2001 1:02
I'm thinking that the Ascot TT will attract quite a bit of attention,
being so unique, more than the T-bird ... I know nothing much about bike
alarms, except the early ones were a pain because they very easily went
off in the wind. Are the Triumph / Veto ones worth the money (not
cheap!)? Would you recommend one for the Ascot?
S-Wed 14-03-2001 1:44
The Datatool Veto Plus, as it is now, is quite reliable. Although
I loathe them, which is daft since they are a saleable item, the
demo Ascot has one fitted and it seems to be OK. If there is a
big theft problem then it might be an idea, if not then just use
a normal disc lock.
A-Thu 15-03-2001 0:40
Re the alarm: We don't have a big theft problem, but there's always
the problem with kids in parking lots and more especially Japanese
tourists. If you leave your bike in a car park near the beach, you come
back and some prat has his girlfriend arched over your bike for a photo
session! Is it worth it, I wonder?
S-Thu 15-03-2001 19:22
In that case I would not bother, I still think they are more trouble
than they are worth.
A-Thu 15-03-2001 22:43
OK no alarm.
Lights
and Horns
A-Sat 17-03-2001 23:48
Did see a couple of other interesting items in their (Sprint
Manufacturing) website - (1)
20W running light to go in the side light position. Expect you have
those in the shop. I could do with one for the T-bird and one in the
Ascot; (2) They mention uprated horns for the T-bird. I really like the
bell shape horn cover on the T-bird, but the sound it produces, compared
to the horns on most Jap bikes is a bit feeble and sometimes not heard
by the intended target in HK traffic. Do Sprint or anyone else do a
louder horn that keeps the bell housing?
S-Sat 24-03-2001 20:48
The running light is no problem, only a upgrade in halogen bulb, so
will
get that done. Running indicator lights might not be a good idea as
they are smaller plastic ones and might get a tad warm.
A-Sun 25-03-2001 20:35
Re the running lights, I didn't expect to be able to use with the
small Ascot indicators, but what about with the standard ones on my
T-bird. Also, did you see my earlier query about the horn, which relates
to both the T-bird and the Ascot.
In my T-bird I have a "blue" headlamp bulb - high power H4
Halogen, but only put a "clear" high power one in the Ascot,
otherwise it won't pass the inspection.
S-Mon 26-03-2001 18:26
Sorry I forgot about the horn issue, will look into it though. Not
too
sure about the indicator lights, so will make enquiries for you.
A-Fri 30-03-2001 1:17
It's OK to use the standard chrome bell-shape cover for the horn,
if you can work a 120-130db car horn inside; a guy on the
triumphclassics list in the US claim he's done this OK?
S-Fri 30-03-2001 21:24
I'll see what we can find.
A-Sat 31-03-2001 1:58
Looking at your carb. photos, I see you have a nice round BLACK horn
on yours. Is that a Legend horn or what. I'd be happy to go with that
look, BUT IT NEEDS TO BE LOUD or PIERCING.
S-Tue 03-04-2001 22:50
We are still waiting for some to come in. It has not been forgotten.
Fiamm
Horn
Steve finds
me a decent horn.
A-Thu 03-05-2001 18:09
The horn! I nearly forgot. How's the sourcing going? Will it be (my
preference) a higher powered car horn for inside the chrome bell; or a
different horn altogether?
S-Sat 05-05-2001 21:16
I
have found a Fiamm horn that fits inside the cow bell and will be trying it
next week to see if it is any good.
A-Sun
06-05-2001 10:07
Found
the Fiamm website. The horns look to be good quality. Did you order the AM100
dual tone 114 decibels? Or, does only the AM80 fit in the Triumph bell horn.
Fiamm (International)
S-Wed 09-05-2001 0:19
To
make it look a bit neater instead of having the one horn, how about I send you the twin set so that one can be mounted either side of the frame so
that it looks a bit less bare there. We will fit one inside the cowbell.
A-Wed 09-05-2001 1:10
Where exactly would you mount them on the frame? Because the engine hangs in
the frame, and we've fitted the oil cooler, aren't options limited?
I
love the idea of two horns, one on each side. We are talking about the AM80s,
right? They would be mounted "bare", i.e. dispense with the cow
bell, or were you thinking of bells on both sides! (No, joking you don't like
them that much!!)
When you dispense with the cow bell, the mounting hole will have to be
plugged.
There's
no problem with fitting two horns. I'll give the go ahead for you to fit, if
you can answer the 3 questions on where etc. above.
S-Fri 11-05-2001 0:57
The Fiamm horn is in
the cowbell and as I mentioned earlier I will send the other horn, in case
you want to try and find somewhere to fit it.
A-Tue 22-05-2001 2:21
Hope
the Fiamm horn sounds good. Of the pair, did you mount the "low" or
"high" note in the bell.
Saw a
picture of a Tiger with Fiamms on either side, mounted where the front engine
casing hangs in the frame. Would that work in the Ascot? If yes, would you be
willing to wire them in (believe a relay is required) for me? The bell you
don't care for could go then and the hole be plugged.
S-Wed 23-05-2001 1:06
For
the life of me I can't remember now, it was the only one of the two that
fitted!
I
don't think they will fit (horns
on each side) with the bits
(oil cooler)
we have on there.
A-Wed 23-05-2001 8:44
Oh
well, just one in the bell it is then. But again, it's good to hear the
snippets "only one of the two that fitted!" :)
Louder Fiamm
Horn
The horn part of the story is not yet complete. We spent a long while looking
over the Ascot and thinking where to put either one or both of the Fiamm
horns. Despite the less than ideal location of the stock horn bell on the
Triumph Classics, it's about the only place there is. However, the situation
improved suddenly when a guy in the Triumph lists in Yahoo! found a louder
Fiamm horn that fits inside the bell cover. It's listed in the Fiamm America
website, not the international site. There are no online vendors that I could
find, so I had to get someone in the US to buy it in a local auto-parts store
and ship it to me in HK.
(Acknowledgement: Many thanks to Chris holtonchris@yahoo.com
and Eric sphynctmus@yahoo.com,
respectively.)
Tue
04/12/2001 10:08
Just installed a
Fiamm Freeway Blaster Horn for safety sake. It is a Low note model
at 132 db. Model number 72112 fit perfectly in the original horn
cover. Only had to bend one terminal about 15 degrees to fit in the
standard bell housing. Man, this thing is loud and a good sounding note.
http://www.fiammamerica.com/Product.asp?ProductID=156
Purchased from Advance
Auto Parts for $11.97 well worth the small amount spent to be heard when
needed.
Fiamm America
Wed 05/12/2001 08:57
Total price $25.02 US...... I'm sending a
couple photos your way of one of them out of the package (it just
snapped apart with no damage) so you can get a good idea of exactly how
they look.
Continue
.... 
