Has Any One Else Had These Problems with their Street Twin?

[PhantomII]

I've had my Street Twin for a little over 3 months and I have just over 1700 miles on it and have had the following problems.

1. The drive chain adjuster was maxed out when I bought it and Triumph ended up replacing the chain and even with the new chain they had to remove 2 links.

2. It won't start on the first attempt, I usually have to crank it for a couple of seconds stop and crank it again then it runs, goes into a slow idle then dies and then I start it again and runs fine, I took it to Triumph and they flashed it with the North American code but that made it even worse, so I ended up installing the Vance and Hines exhaust they flashed it with the Vance and Hine code and I'm back to the original issue.

3. My forks make a squeaking sound like you're having sex on one of those old metal beds with metal springs, Triumph has my bike in the shop right now because they have no idea why it's doing this.

If you know me you would know I don't race, I keep it parked under cover, I ride it about 3 or 4 times a week and I don't pop wheelies or ride over rough roads, my Triumph dealer now wants to take it back and trade me a new Bonneville 120 because they are getting sick of seeing me. Has anyone else had these issues or did I get a lemon?​

Thanks, Devin

 

[rbirkey]

Wow... does not sound like a typical new Triumph experience at all. I've never heard of these issues before on a brand new Bonneville. I think I would be tempted to take them up on the T-120 offer!

I asked another member of the Windy City RATs if he has had any of these problems on his Street Twin and here is his response:

"Aside from those mentioned (above) there have been other issues like side stand magnets falling off and fuel leaks, a few owners have experienced, however I've been lucky so far. There have been three or four recalls / service bulletins (to date) from Triumph however mine has only been effected by a plastic clip on the front brake cable that could possibly slide down and scratch the paint on the front fender. The clip was removed by a Triumph dealer. I'm very happy with my Street Twin - So far...."

"On a side note, Triumph North America has a Safety Recall page on their website where owners can input their serial numbers to see if there is anything they may need to address."​

 

[PhantomII]

So my Triumph Dealer was able to figure out what my squeaking front fork issue was. Apparently the forks were pinched/squeezed in too much at the bottom so my fork tubes were bowed and the springs were rubbing inside the tubes. They said it must have come from the factory that way since I told them I haven't messed with the front end and they said they didn't do it either. All is well again and hopefully this will be the last problem for a long time.

 

[rbirkey]

That's one of the reasons I tend not to want to buy the first version of just about any new product... great as it may be. Glad you got it sorted out.

 

[Whatshisname]

No. I've had my Street Twin since April. Of all the recalls and service bulletins Triumph has issued, I have only been effected by one service bulletin. The one where it recommended removing a front brake line clip which could possibly slide down and scratch the fender. I've been real lucky so far after hearing about many of the issues several other Street Twin owners from around the world have had to deal with.

 

[PhantomII]

So my bike went back in the shop this time it was leaking fuel from the tank on to the cylinders, I was told by the dealer it was from a recall that the Sport Twins and T120's had from January, the funny thing was I specifically asked my dealer if my bike had been fixed since I knew about this issue and I bought mine in March. This bike has been a headache from day one with all of these stupid little problems I also forgot to list that it started leaking oil from the valve covers the week before it started leaking gas. Let me list everything I've gone thru with it:
1. Day one the temperature light stays on because of a defective temperature sensor.
2. Hard to start after 500 mile service it would start then idle down and then shut off, it would take 4 attempts before it would stay running, the dealer said it needed the North American tune, but they made it worse, so the dealer suggested I put the Vance and Hines exhaust on use the performance tune, it is better now it only takes 2 or 3 tries.
3. The Chain Tensioner for the drive chain was maxed out, after going back and forth with the dealer pointing out that my bike only had 500 miles that they should fix it by taking out a couple of links and then pointing out that all of the new Street Twins they had had the same issue they finally agreed to help just to shut me up.
4. My forks started making this squeaking sound because the front axle bolt was over tightened, this didn't start happening until the dealer installed my new windshield and had to remove the forks to install it, so this one probably wasn't the bikes fault.
5. Oil started leaking from the valve covers and my dealer accused me of taking the cover off and putting red sealant on the gasket, I explained to the dealer I didn't have any tools to do this and asked them why the hell I would mess with anything on a bike still under warranty.
6. Fuel leaking from the gas tank on to the cylinder heads, this should have been fixed by the dealer since the recall was sent out in January and I bought the bike in March especially since I specifically asked the dealer if it was fixed when I bought the bike and I was assure it was.
The bike only has 3600 miles and I only use it to commute to work on nice days and to ride with friends on the weekend, I have been told by the dealer that mine is the exception that no one else has had these issues and they think my bike must have been assembled on a Friday and that quality control was lax during and after assembly.

 

[MattBonneville]

That's one of the reasons I tend not to want to buy the first version of just about any new product... great as it may be. Glad you got it sorted out.

Yep.
No matter how much effort you put into developing something, issues will come up either from the design or manufacturing process. It's an extremely difficult and you have to be very committed to the process as Triumph is, and even then issues come up.
lt ain't easy.
M

 

[Kathy]

Hi There we have 2 Street Twins, (4500 km & 5500km) and both have squeaky front forks. What did they do at the dealership to fix the problem? Any responses greatly appreciated. We are in Australia.

 

[beemerrich]

Personally, I'm waiting for them to fix the funny exhaust cadence. Sounds like a pasta-burner to me....

 

[drlapo]

My 2016 Thruxton has no problems other than the fuel pump harness recall. The harness on my Thruxton is not leaking.

 

[kdharri]

Hi There we have 2 Street Twins, (4500 km & 5500km) and both have squeaky front forks. What did they do at the dealership to fix the problem? Any responses greatly appreciated. We are in Australia.

I say print out Phantom's email and take it to your dealer for a warranty service

 

[plsullivan]

Yep. I've had some issues.... first, and I knew I was going to be a guinea pig with the 2016 Street Twin. I just didn't know to what extent... and I have to say the dealership has been pretty good about handling the situation. The 2016 wouldn't stay running on a cold start up as others have mentioned. It would stall out and it'd take two or three cranks before it would idle. Fuel injection shouldn't do that in my mind. I took it to the dealership and they ran all kinds of diagnostics, had Triumph dial in and look at the ECU, and said they couldn't replicate the problem. Fine, whatever. Then a few weeks later at a European bike show I'm on a group ride and we stop to take a break and I'm showing it to some other riders who are quite impressed until it doesn't start after having been ridden for 40 miles. Finally on about the 4th try it cranks up. The next day, I'm on my way back to the show and pulling out into traffic the thing doesn't accelerate. It does, but just barely. Fortunately I live in the same city as the show and I'm about 2 miles away so I limp in at about 25 mph, pull into the dealership tent at the show and hand them the keys. Again, they've been pretty good folks to work with through all this. First, they replace the hand grip throttle control... they said that didn't fix the problem and said Triumph wanted to replace the wiring harness and it'd take a month to get one. As soon as I hear "wiring harness" I basically decided that was not something I'd want done to any vehicle, let alone a new one I'm making payments on. At this point I start researching the NC lemon law. Under the law I was eligible to have them buy it back. I talked to the dealership and said I really didn't want to get a lawyer (although it wouldn't have cost me anything under the terms of the law) and what would Triumph do? They said they'd give me a 2017 but it'd be about two months before they came out. As a daily rider for 14 years I am starting to feel like a fish out of water but, ok, let's just do that. So I pick up the 2017 in October of '16. Get the 500 mile service and so far all is well. I put 3500 miles on the bike without any issues including a 900 mile run to Atlanta over Christmas. I'm starting to feel better about the whole deal. About two weeks ago I'm tooling down the road and go to adjust the chin strap on my helmet as I'm doing about 60 and it just needs to be snugged up a bit. As the bike coasted down to about 55 the front handlebars starting shaking. I mean violent shaking. The bar ends were a blur moving at least 5 inches back and forth... I felt like if I hadn't grabbed them within a nano-second I was going to have some major issues keeping the bike upright. Once I grabbed them everything calmed down, just the little damper effect of holding them brought them back to normal. Still... this isn't how a new bike should behave. Oh, and while warming up it sounds a bit like a diesel for about a minute... this had been for a while so I just put a block of wood under the kickstand to get it more upright. That helped some, at least mentally. I figured if it didn't bother anyone at the break-in service it probably was okay... although I don't remember the 2016 doing that... so anyway, I put the brake on and move the front end up and down and hear the squeaking noise others mentioned. Ok, that makes some sense with the way the front end is bouncing all over the place, I'm taking it in to the dealer so I let it warm up and then turn it off to go get something or other and look down and white-ish smoke is coming out of the right pipe but not the left. In a little exasperation I head off to the dealership. I'm quietly counting the days and if it gets to 20 (and that's combined over the first year) I'm either going to negotiate an extended warranty to cover it for three years beyond the standard two year warranty... and I'm willing to pay a little something for that but it basically better not be much... or they can buy it, and the $1000 worth of Triumph accessories, back. I swear if it comes to that I'll just go get a brand new Suzuki Savage, the same 650cc thumper I drove every day basically problem free for over 10 years. I miss that bike. It's cheaper, and because they've been building the exact same bike for 30 years, it's bullet-proof, and used parts are a plenty... just like the old VWs I used to have. I love the Street Twin. I really do. I just wish it behaved like a new motorbike, not a $1000 clunker. I'll update once this latest episode is resolved. Or on it's way to being resolved. Oh... and they're doing the fuel pump harness recall too.

 

[PhantomII]

Well I've got 11,000 miles on the bike and now it is stalling at traffic lights and sputtering when I take off, the damn thing shutoff at a stop light this past weekend and I could get it started backup until it cooled off and I had to keep the throttle cracked open all the way home because it acts like it is going to die when I let it idle down. I am taking it to the dealer in the morning and I'm expecting them to dick me around and try to say I did something to it.

 

[rbirkey]

PhantomII, my guess is that if your dealer runs Triumph's Autoscan service software on the bike it will reveal the issue and correct it.

 

[PhantomII]

So I now have 13000 miles on the bike and here is what I have had to do to get it to stop stalling at traffic light, but let me give a little background on what I have done as far as mods go. The first mod was the Vance and Hines exhaust done right after I got it, then I put a X-pipe to eliminate the catalytic converter, and finally I put a cold air intake on it from free spirits after all of the mods i discovered i had to start running high octane fuel I had been running 89 octane ethanol free and only discovered that running 92 or better would fix my issues by accident I was on a long trip and was almost out of gas and the station I stopped at only had super unleaded and after i filled up and road home i found that the bike would start on the first try every morning and would never stall, but whne it came time to fill up again I went back to the 89 octane ethanol free and the problems came back it would take 2 to 3 tries to get it started and it would stall out at the traffic lights again. My only guess to why it only runs right on super unleaded is because I have increased the performance of the motor that it now requires a higher octane to run correctly.

 

[rbirkey]

PhantomII - You have a sophisticated, high-end, computer-controlled motorcycle. The modern Street Twin is vastly different than the old air-cooled twins of even the 2001-2015 era. Again I urge you to take the Street Twin to a reputable Triumph Dealer and let them run the Triumph Diagnostic Software on your Street Twin. Depending on your VIN number, it may need a calibration map update, which could make all the difference for you! Your Street Twin computer, with the correct calibration map installed, should be able to adjust to the changes you have made. I wish you all the best.

 

[PhantomII]

I wish I had a reputable Triumph dealer the dealer I bought it from has the most crooked service department, and the next nearest one is over 2 hours away, when I get this thing paid off a little more and I'm not upside down I'm trading it in for a Yamaha.

 

[chutneypooper]

someone I know with a new Thruxton was experiencing similar stalling problems. turns out the dealer had to take the head off an de-carbon the engine it as it was choked up with soot after just about 10,000 kilometers. seems it was over fueling and it had to be re-mapped

 

[Speedy2006]

From what I have read most people are finding this bike a nice ride all round with very little issue, so I am wondering if this could just be a one off issue.

 

[rbirkey]

PhantomII, I like your upgrades and mods and would do the same if I owned a similar bike. However, my previous recommendation still stands. Your bike has a sophisticated fuel injection system run by a computer. It is capable of adjusting and refining itself to these mods by using the Triumph Autoscan software. Your dealer can do this for you in well under an hour. Triumph releases new maps over time as they get feedback from their products in the field. My guess is that there have been updates for your bike since you bought it that would increase its performance even more. I encourage you and hope you can do this for your own enjoyment and benefit.