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Triumph Thunderbird Sport Blog

Welcome to the webBikeWorld Triumph Thunderbird Sport (TBS) page! Information about parts, accessories, repair, maintenance and more!

More: How to replace the ignition coils on a Thunderbird Sport  | wBW Motorcycle Maintenance and Repair Articles  |  Maintenance and Repair Article Index

Thunderbird Sport Specifications: The specs and datafor the 1999 Triumph Thunderbird Sport motorcycle

Thunderbird Sport Maintenance and Repair Articles: See the wBW Repair Index and the Maintenance page

Triumph Thunderbird Sport News: Motorcycle Chain Lube  |  From the TBS Riders listSeal spoked wheels to run tubeless tires article  |  Here’s a short article describing the process of sealing spoked wheels |  The Bike-Watch looks great on the TBS: Check out this wBW Review of the Bike-Watch |  Here are some wBW photos of Triumph accessoriesfrom the 2003 Cycle World Motorcycle Show

Triumph Thunderbird Sport Recall: Did you know that there was a recall on the 1999 Thunderbird Sport?

Triumph Thunderbird Sport Owners, Clubs, Email lists and Resources: wBW page that has alisting of Triumph email lists and groups, with information on how to join  |  Triumph Classics listfor “Discussion of Hinckley Triumph classic motorcycles, including the Adventurer, Legend, Thunderbird and Bonneville”  |  Triumph Rat has all sorts of information on Hinckley Triumphs

Triumph Thunderbird Sport exhausts

Thunderbird Sport Mufflers – Silencers: Epco now has a pattern for the TBS. Here’s a note from wBW Visitor “S.H.”:  “Rick, I picked the Epco name off your site and dropped them an email. They make stainless mufflers for classic Euro bikes, Harleys, and hotrods. I asked about making me a set for my 2000 TBS. Tom is a great guy to work with, answered all my questions, used my stock mufflers as a pattern and made his first set for a Hinckley Triumph  |  More on the Motorcycle Exhaust Systems page

Thunderbird Sport Shock Absorbers: Hagon UK  |  Dave Quinn Motorcycles carries Hagon in the U.S.A. |  Technoflex shocks are supposedly similar to Ohlins  |  More shock absorber sources on the Motorcycle Accessories page

Triumph Thunderbird Sport Tools: Hermy’s Triumph eStore has the valve shim removal hold down tool and valve shims necessary for Thunderbird Sport valve adjustments;  see the wBWTechnical Article on adjusting Triumph valves!

More Information on the Thunderbird Sport: German TBS owner site  |  TBS engine performance modifications

Thunderbird Sport Reviews: Chuck Hawks’ TBS Owner review

Bar End Mirrors: Now on the wBW Motorcycle Mirrors, Grips, Handlebars page

Thunderbird Sport Luggage Options: Roadgear Compact Sport Tank Bag and Sport Tail Bag review  |  Oxford Sports Compact Tank Bag  |  Marsee Tank Bag on a TBS

Motorcycle Books: Check out the wBW Motorcycle Books and Reviews page for a listing of many motorcycle books, videos and reviews!  See the wBW review of the Illustrated Triumph Motorcycle Buyer’s Guide or the Illustrated Norton Motorcycle Buyer’s Guide

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From “J.D.” (8/10): “I recently found your site while trying to find a solution to my Triumph ignition problems. After reading your article on Nology coil conversions, I tried it and my problem is gone. Thank you.

I thought I’d share some Triumph experiences with you. I have a 1995 Sprint 900 that I have played with for 8 years. I too experienced the poor throttle response and general lack of performance. I knew this motor was capable of more than I was getting.

My bike has the Mikuni 36mm BST’s. After installing a pair of Micron slip-ons, I knew that I would have to increase the jet sizes to get any benefit. In fact, the engine would barely run now with the stock 112 main jets in place. I tried going up to 225’s like recommended by other Triumph owners. I found it still exhibited signs of lean mixture.

The next step was to remove the side air boxes. These are only there to attenuate noise anyhow. I left the filter box in place. This made another jet change necessary. I settled on 137.5 mains.

The bike now has great throttle response and I feel I am now getting the power this engine is capable of. The mixture does not seem excessively rich even though I am at 3000 ft. elevation.

A couple of other tips. You may have to raise the needles a notch or two to tune out any off-idle dead spots. I run my idle screws at 2 turns out. I also fabricated some small vacuum tubes between the carburetor vacuum ports. This seemed to stabilize the idle somewhat.

Feel free to try these tips on one of your carbureted Triumphs. It may give you some new ideas for these great old bikes.”