1972 Triumph Bonneville T120RV OIF 650 - Main Stand & Clutch - Part 15

[@danieldemeny5057]

Liked seeing your stable of bikes. Always like seeing your visits to other garages as well. Some very nice shops / collections in your area.

[@henryhawk978]

Mike, enjoyed the video and thanks for sharing and RIDE SAFE OUT THERE!

[@tadpoles10]

Thanks for all the continued hints & tips Mike. Wishing you & the family a 'Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year'. atvb t ..

[@georgemartin5481]

I enjoy watching your fixes as always Mike. Your clipboards bring me back to my working days. If you want unknowns to give you respect, just carry a clipboard and they will assume you are knowledgeable and important! 😁 Cheers & happy holidays!

[@martinowl]

You made it all look simple & easy. 👍. You have got a nice set up there, with a well lit , comfortable workshop. My garage is full with 3 motorcycles & the other stuff that gets put in there, so it makes even the simple jobs a bit of a task. Also, even for a basic level maintainer like myself, a bike lift would be a game changer, I’m getting too old to be on my hands & knees on the garage floor!😂. Have a great Xmas, looking forward to your next offerings. The Xmas vlogs series have been really good.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Many thanks, Martin. The lift was fairly inexpensive when I got it from Harbor Freight but has turned out to be one of the best "tools" in the garage. They really help your back and make it so much easier to work on the bikes at the right height. They seem a little lightweight, but I actually prefer it as I can move it around reasonably easily in my cramped garage. Best wishes, Mike

[@cyclegoon]

Nothing better on a Sunday morning than a notification that you posted a new video 👍👍👍👍

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thank you for continuing to watch the vids 😀 Glad you like them. Best wishes, Mike.

[@ownersguides]

When there was no detail information on how to fix my triumph "Lunmad" was there on youtube... RIP John, may his legacy lives on.

[@TheMightyGarage]

🙏 RIP John. Thank you for sharing. Cheers, Mike

[@daveco1270]

I always learn something from your videos... now I have a new (and better) method for putting my main stand back on. Putting on the stand then stretching the spring to fit it is a real pain in the butt. I'm not a fan of floppy levers either. I'll slip a washer in where the lever mounts to reduce the up and down play. Also, the 7 plate clutch conversion is really nice on the Triumph 750s. I haven't tried one on a 650 oil-in-frame yet, but they made my 750 clutch lever a lot easier to live with.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Hi Dave, glad the videos are helpful and thank you very much for the tips! Cheers, Mike

[@martindavies8326]

Yes Mike I still watch John sometimes bless him. My new Centre stand on the 69 Daytona is slightly bent for a reason, when I got the bike you could see were the centre stand foot lever had been rubbing on the left hand silencer, damaging the Chrome , so previous owner must have bent it clear, all good now, I’ve replaced the whole system with a new stainless steel one. Love watching your videos on the long cold winter nights, have a great Christmas Mike and a happy healthy new year. Cheers Martin 🍻🇬🇧👍

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks a lot for your note and all the best for 2025, Martin. Cheers, Mike

[@daveco1270]

My main complaint with the oil in frame Triumphs is the placement of the center stand. Because of the way the frame was made they had to move the center stand forward a little, which shifts the balancing point. When the bike is up on the centers stand it becomes like a teetor totter. The front wheel is off the ground a lot of the time (unless you have a full tank of gas to counter balance it.) On my other bikes (including my unit 650) the rear wheel is off the ground when on the CS and it takes some weight to push the rear down and lift the front wheel up. WIth the OIF bikes you barely put any weight on the back and it moves up and down. If you straddle the bike to kick start it (which some people would say not to do) it feels very unbalanced. The stands also tend to wear quicker, making the stand come too far forward which makes it a pain to get off the center stand.

[@gillestrombetta3019]

Hello Mike ,vidéo très intéressante comme d’habitude 😉

[@TheMightyGarage]

Salut Gilles! Merci beaucoup. Heureux que vous ayez apprécié cet épisode. J'espère que tout va bien. Meilleurs vœux

[@manfredmatzdorf4728]

Hey, Mike, the problem with the main stand is widely spread; they bent when getting the bike off the stand. Buying a new old stock doesn’t help, the new one will do this as well…. And yes, simply bending it back is the right choice…. ( and by the way: it can be fixed while mounted; it is easier, but not necessary to remove it…. Greetings from northern Germany Manfred

[@splodge57]

Have you tried sliding a clean fine feeler gauge down the fork leg around the seal. That permanently cured the leak on my W650.😊

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thank you! I have tried that tip with other bikes but I wanted to take the legs off this time and do a more thorough inspection. I'm glad I did as the old seals were fitted the wrong way around! Cheers, Mike

[@wdhewson]

Triumph didn't waste any steel on their centre stands. On my T140, I don't sit on the bike or kick start it on the centre stand. So far so good.

[@daveco1270]

The oil in frame bikes don't feel super sturdy on the center stands, because of the placement. I tend to straddle my bikes to kick them (I don't weight a lot and doing it with the kick stands up is tricky on certain bikes). On the oil in frame Triumphs they shimmy all around when you kick them because the main stand was moved up a little when they changed the frame. It causes the bike to teetor-totter on the stand. The non oil in frame Triumphs don't do that. The stand tends to be back far enough to make the front wheel stay firmly planted on the ground, which gives you three points of contact rather than just the two legs of the center stand. I need to practice kick starting the bikes off he center stand.

[@TheMightyGarage]

Yes, I completely agree Dave. The stand seems far too long and is quite tough to get the bike onto the stand and the front wheel is inches in the air. Cheers, Mike

[@AnthonyCarty-b5n]

Another relaxing spanner twirling time , just what the doctor ordered . Regarding the heavy clutch, would it be worth investing in a Devimead / SRM radial needle clutch plate . Happy Christmas to you and yours .

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thank you Anthony for the tip! That is a really nice piece of kit! Cheers, Mike shop.srmclassicbikes.com/product/triumph-t120-unit-duplex-3-spg-clutch-srm-pressure-plate

[@stewy62]

I wasn’t aware of the lunmad channel but you mentioning it reminds me that I still occasionally visit the Calmoto channel even though its owner passed away from the big C in late 2018. He was a Salesman for a Motorcycle dealer in California which sold BMW’s and Triumph’s, most of the output consisting of short test rides of those marques. He used to thrash the bikes off the bat, which I never approve of (and upset a lot of other people judging by the comments) but he was very irreverent and he used to make me laugh. Taken from us far too soon 🇺🇸🇬🇧

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thank you Stewy, I had not heard of Calmoto channel. Best wishes, Mike

[@cherylhall4951]

I couldn't find the link to the clutch springs in the description. Am I looking in the right place or does the link still need to be added? Thank you!

[@TheMightyGarage]

Sorry Cheryl, here it is and I have now added to the description. I bought these on eBay from the bonneville shop They are made by LF Harris motorcycle in the UK and here's the link TRIUMPH 500 650 750 BONNEVILLE TIGER TROPHY LIGHT CLUTCH SPRING SET PN# 57-1560 thebonnevilleshop www.ebay.com/itm/361425976749

[@Kevin-cy9cv]

Like you I still go back to Lunmad's videos. I always wanted a Bonneville and I ended up with a 1972 partially because of his videos. Are you going to put old bits of tyre on the frame under the tank the same as him?

[@trevorlock642]

I find Inox spray (lanolin) works wonders on cables!

[@TheMightyGarage]

Thanks for the tip Trevor. Cheers, Mike