2001 Bonne-newbie - commuter gal - need mod advice

[kroxboston]

Hi there!

Been riding for 3 seasons now.. mostly around town (Boston) commuting 12 miles a day. Started on a Honda Rebel 250 and put several thousand miles on that and (loved it) but outgrew it. After talking with a bunch of friends who own Bonnies (and testing one out) I bought a 2001 Bonneville with only 1,700 miles on it. Clearly someone left it in their garage looking pretty and never rode it for 10 years!! I put ~500 miles on it this season so far. I have to say its a bit of a love /hate relationship. I'm in love with the styling and power. But it has some serious issues with rough acceleration / unpredictable throttle response especially at lower speeds. Out for a weekend ride in the country I can put up with that, but at my height (5'6") in stop and go traffic, it's no fun to ride. I've had the carbs stripped and cleaned with only modest improvement. Only modification I've done so far are remove the AI's and snorkel. I am thinking next to see if the carbs need synching.
Beyond that, definitely considering suspension mods to gain some height on the beast (probably go with -30mm rear shocks and progressive fronts) - I need new tires too so am thinking to go with the 17inch front wheel to match the rear. Starting to read about changing jets, punching holes in things etc gets a bit overwhelming! I'm wondering where to start, especially given my goal is more control around town, without sacrificing comfort on some weekend country road riding. I know there are lots of tech discussions on here I'm looking fwd to sifting through... Thanks in advance!

 

[D9]

krox - just wanted to say welcome to the forum.
Not sure what's causing the running issues you're describing but cleaning
the carbs sounds like as good a start as any... imo stop & go traffic isn't fun even on a good-running bike, so at the very least it needs to be running as well as it can... if the bike had been sitting that long, wonder if there's some
grit in the gas tank that needs to purged / rinsed out that keeps making it's way down into the carbs...

 

[Roger]

Welcome to NBR. We are sometimes quiet here but you won't get any mindless crap here... for the most part
There are some good people here with suggestions and tips on what you can do. My T100 is still stock. Had to shitcan any mods I wanted to do due to a career change but I'm not going to get rid of my bike. My bike was a ten year old low miler as well. Biggest problem I found was the rubber bits deteriorated and cracking but no big deal yet.

If I had your bike, I would look at getting the running problems sorted before doing anything else. At least then you can feel what the bike should be like and make a better judgement on things you want to change. You probably do need to check the synch on the carbs and get the idle mix screws set.

You might also have air leaking at the little rubber boots past the vacuum nipples or the carb adapter seals / boots. With the engine idling, spray some WD-40 around the rubber bits. If the engine revs up a little, you have an air leak.

http://www.worldoftriumph.com/triumph_motorcycle_parts_locator.php?block_01=&block_02=1000235&block_03=3130

As for changing the front wheel to a 17 inch, you will need to wait for someone else to chime in. That is not something I would want to do and there might be better options for squating the bike down a bit. The -30 shocks is probably a good start.

Good luck and have fun learning about your 'new to you' bike.

 

[kroxboston]

Thanks D9 & Roger, good tips. I have heard about the cracked rubber air leak issue and inspected the rubber bits which seem to be in good shape. Taking the bike to a pal who has the gear for carb synching tomorrow..will see how that goes. My plan is to do the shocks and forks mods (seems like a DIY effort) and go to the dealer for tires and hear what they have to say about sizes. As far as I know I'm still running on the original tires -(while they look ok and I'm not going far afield I'm sure that's ill advised due to pure age!)

 

[fender]

Also want to say welcome.

When I bought my Bonnie used from an older gentleman he had it lowered also. I went back to the stock suspension as I'm 5'11" and didn't like dragging my boot and foot pegs as often.

It had shorter rear shocks and all that was done on the front was to slide the forks up about 3/4" to 1". That and the side stand was shortened, but I've heard of others just heating it and bending it slightly to get the right height vs cutting and welding. Much cheaper than replacing the front wheel.

Good luck with getting it all sorted out. This forum is has a great set of knowledgable members.

 

[Clyde12]

Hi krox- welcome from Southcoast, MA. I'm 5'4" and I went with 20mm lower Hagon shocks on my mag wheel and it's worked out well. I was told that 30mm may be a bit much. Also raised the fork tubes 10mm and installed Hagon progressive springs. Dave Quinn and Mike at BellaCorse are very knowledgeable and could offer you some good advise.

Stay sharp in that crazed Boston traffic!