New Member in Northern Ireland

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Weg
Posts: 807
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2018 7:30 pm
Location: Huntingdonshire

New Member in Northern Ireland

Post by Weg » Sun Oct 11, 2020 8:02 am

Welcome darcher121.
Not aware of any Trikings over there, perhaps you could be the first!
Good luck.

Richard and Pat
Posts: 778
Joined: Wed Sep 26, 2018 2:44 pm
Location: Biggleswade

Re: New Member in Northern Ireland

Post by Richard and Pat » Sun Oct 11, 2020 11:14 am

Welcome from here too.

darcher121
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:17 pm
Location: Northern Ireland

Re: New Member in Northern Ireland

Post by darcher121 » Sun Oct 11, 2020 12:33 pm

Thank you for the welcome!
You have answered my question without me asking it, wondering if there were any owners in Ireland - north or south!

Building a Triking has been a plan for me for many years and I am now in a position to make the decision and wanted to speak to an owner or two before I commit.

Not too easy to visit, discuss and hopefully drive in these strange times.

David

darcher121
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:17 pm
Location: Northern Ireland

Re: New Member in Northern Ireland

Post by darcher121 » Tue Oct 13, 2020 6:03 pm

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I asked Alan at Triking for advice on getting the engine/trans/wiring and he advised buying a running bike, which makes sense. Can anyone advise on the bike to look for? I am thinking of a type 4 as I am not the smallest bloke!

Bear in mind I don’t ride motorbikes so knowing if it is a “goodun” will be a challenge!
I can arrange collection in GB and bring it iver here quite easily.

Advise appreciated!
David

Weg
Posts: 807
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2018 7:30 pm
Location: Huntingdonshire

Re: New Member in Northern Ireland

Post by Weg » Wed Oct 14, 2020 8:12 am

Come on all you T4 builders, let’s hear your experience!
If you don’t know about bikes David, then you either need a friend who does to assess future purchase or take a risk.
The swinging arm model Moto Guzzis e.g. Callifornia, are the staple donors for the T2-T3 Triking builds.
The T4 requires the later mono-shock ‘CARC’ rear suspension.
Lots of models to choose from and becoming more available than the earlier Callis.
Norge, Griso, Stelvio spring to mind. Some of the early Norge had a cam follower issue, research needed.
Accident damaged late model, low mileage bikes may be worth a look as the insurance companies write them off with damage to so much cosmetic bling.
I bought a Norge GT8V in the early days of T4 development ready to build.
Built a Pembleton while I was waiting but health issues overruled so I sold the Norge to one of our brethren who is now building a T3.5 (he will present it to the world when he is ready)
Good luck.
Tony

jtdesign
Posts: 28
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2018 8:47 am
Location: Peak District

Re: New Member in Northern Ireland

Post by jtdesign » Wed Oct 14, 2020 12:50 pm

Well, goaded into action by Tony .....
Any of the CARC bikes are suitable as a T4 donor - Norge, Sport, Griso, Stelvio and Breva and some others that are more rare. They all have the single sided swinging arm rear suspension and a monoshock spring / damper.
There are two flavours of engine - the two valve (mostly 1100s) and the eight valve, high cam (1200s). The eight valve variants have a central, single spark plug with the lead cover in the centre of the cylinder. They also have "quattro valvole" cast into the rocker cover.
Griso, Breva and Norge have had both engines. Stelvio only the 8-valve, and Sports either 2-valve or 8-valve (as V12-Sport). Note this is my interpretation of the situation which may not coincide with Moto Guzzi's.
The 2-valve engine is very similar to the traditional big-block Guzzi engine with the addition of a second spark plug on the inside side of each cylinder - difficult to get at on the bikes but no problem on a Triking. The 8-valve engine has some variations in the block but totally different heads with two chain-driven camshafts moved up into the heads. It produces more power and torqe than the 2-valve and will run on a leaner mixture - it is more economical.
The big thing to watch out for on the 8-valve engine is the tappets. Prior to about 2013 the engines used DLC coated flat tappets which will self-destruct and possibly take most of the bottom end bearings with them. Later engines have roller tappets which are fine. Earlier engines can be "rollerised" with a kit from MG but cost is significant. A side-effect of the rollerisation is that the cam timing is changed and this makes for a much nicer torque characteristic.
Two valve engines have a dual plate clutch (as per the older Guzzis) wheras the eight vlave ones have a single plate unit like a car. Both of the clutches are hydraulically operated. There are small differences in the gearbox ratios - Norge and Sport have wider spaced ratios than Griso and Stelvio, also the Norge has a slightly lower compression ratio but none of these differences are really significant for Triking use.

That's enough for one post but please ask if you need more info.

John

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