Triumph Bonneville T140V front end rebuild

One fork leg of my 1978 T140V had a leaky oil seal... so I rebuilt the whole front end. It sounds overly dramatic of course, as I replaced all bearings and a couple of oil seals, but it was quite the ordeal, believe me. Follow this detailed guide and don't be afraid to have a crack at yours! The process applies to many bikes, the only differences might lay in tightening torques. Make sure you have a workshop manual corresponding to your ride, that you have read and understood it, and have fun!
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Bio: I am a professional mechanic, focused on classic cars and bikes. I also write classic car reviews for an automotive blog, and provide "how to" type videos, to help the mechanically minded DIY'ers take care of their cars and bikes.

[@bm7760]

Enjoyed that. Really relatable. Trying to find stuff in the shed. Not having quite the right tool to hand. Having to wait on parts. Beer whilst pondering. Using the wife's measuring stuff.... I'm looking forward to the next one. Thanks for all the time and effort that clearly went into making this.

[@gmcevoy]

Thanks for showing your appreciation, it really means a lot to me. 🙂

[@janbauwmans7662]

Pinzgauzer nicely tucked away under the blanket👍👍

[@gmcevoy]

It's the best I could do to save it from raining inside during the Winter, as it does not fit inside the garage. I need to do some welding on the rear side panels. The left one was available complete from the factory, but there are no more right ones. I wrote to them, and they said they would press a new batch of 10, minimum. I only have one Pinzgauer, what am I to do with the nine 710K right side rear panels left over? Haha.

[@mikeg6258]

Really relatable as a previous responder mentioned😁 and properly enjoyed your video. Cheers Mike

[@gmcevoy]

Thank you, Mike!

[@JR-bj3uf]

The later model T140 Triumphs were quite refined and some of the best working Triumphs made by the Triumph Meriden factory. I found them to be excellent bikes unless you have to rebuild the rear master cylinder in which case you are in the soup. The bike was built around the rear master cylinder.

[@gmcevoy]

Is that so? Great bikes nonetheless, I must agree.

[@markotuomas672]

It is true. I am now in the middle of rebuilding T140 and they really made it way too complicated. Harris made the system much easier on his T140's.

[@ownersguides]

This is not just interesting, it was informative and fun giggles. Thanks for sharing Just bought a '77 TR7RV and 58:56 mins of this video are super helpful. You have a new subscriber mate!

[@gmcevoy]

Thank you! Much appreciated! Congratulations on your recently acquired Tiger!

[@MISSION315]

Great vid on my favourite triumph cheers baz.

[@gmcevoy]

Thanks Baz! Much appreciated!

[@chrisbland8650]

Great video, Geoff. Please explain what you meant by pre-loading the steering head bearings. That 7/16s hex is a bitch when you come to the realisation that there is no way around it but to buy one...Excellently presented in a very British manner and sense of humour. More footage of the whole bike on the road, please. I thought the blue tank was lovely, but more of the new painted tank as well, please. Cheers.

[@gmcevoy]

Hi Chris. Thank you for your comment. As the steering bearings are tapered, the pre-load consists of tightening the centre bolt just enough so that all play in the stem disappears, but not so tight as to make the steering drag, so to speak. There is more on-board footage coming along. 🙂

[@jean-jacquesnameche3429]

Bonsoir Geoffrey . je vient de regardé ta vidéo très intéressante qui me rappel le démontage complet de la mienne il y a plus de 30 ans . et a l'époque je n'ai pris aucune note !!! j'ai vu que tu n'a eu facile pour les bagues de la colonne de direction , je pense que pour avoir facile c'est de disqué une vielle et meme de la passé au chalumeau pour la détranpé comme ca elle est plus élastique et plus facile pour pouvoir l'extraire , mais bon pour toi ta colonne de direction est terminée , et bien je te souhaite que toute ta restauration mécanique se passe bien .. je suis impatient de voir ce que tu va faire comme travail sur ta culasse !!!!!

[@gmcevoy]

Merci Jean-Jacques!

[@Cobra427Veight]

Another tip , if you've ended up with the wrong part , it's good not to rip open the parts bag , better for a return .

[@gmcevoy]

Of course. In this case, all the parts I order come from the UK, and Brexit makes it utterly complicated to move goods around. Once I receive a package, whatever is in it is mine forever. 😀 But if you live in the UK and order parts within the country, then yes, that makes perfect sense.

[@alwood9148]

geoff thanks only thing i just done all u are showing But from oldbiker in england i bought a hydralic brake line switch to replace broken one in bars it will cost u 40pounds i replaced rubber lines also but broke the tiny phillips head screw off in the brake caliper for the chrome cover ,,dam it lol

[@gmcevoy]

Ah, sh*t happens. lol

[@chrisbland8650]

Apparently you can buy the bolt that holds the caliper that the screw fits into separately. Thus not worrying about drilling the screw out.

[@alwood9148]

good on you mate, will buy a bolt of all things to break.... lol@@chrisbland8650

[@alwood9148]

found the part numbers its available cheap@@chrisbland8650

[@alwood9148]

frontend bearingd by Lunmad

[@georgeouthwaite5397]

Like a lot

[@alwood9148]

mate theres another pom on utube look him up Lunmad he is triumph thru and thru ... he showed me a homemade tool to install the new bearing cups in the frame i will find the clip save your old cups/cones

[@gmcevoy]

Thanks Al, I will look him up.