Garage recommendation SW London or Reading
Discussion
Hello everyone!
I'm having a few issues with my Triumph Sprint and it's surpassed my skills as an amateur mechanic. Has anyone got any recommendations for a garage around SW London (Clapham/Wandsworth) or alternatively Reading. I'd prefer an indy as the bike is basically a turd and I don't want to spend any more money than necessary and my local triumph dealer is quoting £90 an hour for labor and I assume they will want to swap anything and everything with shiny new expensive triumph parts!
Alternatively feel free to tell me that this is a fair price for labour. I've never had any real work done to bikes so have no idea!
I'm having a few issues with my Triumph Sprint and it's surpassed my skills as an amateur mechanic. Has anyone got any recommendations for a garage around SW London (Clapham/Wandsworth) or alternatively Reading. I'd prefer an indy as the bike is basically a turd and I don't want to spend any more money than necessary and my local triumph dealer is quoting £90 an hour for labor and I assume they will want to swap anything and everything with shiny new expensive triumph parts!
Alternatively feel free to tell me that this is a fair price for labour. I've never had any real work done to bikes so have no idea!
Awesome, looks like resounding endorsement for FWR and Kennington is certainly local enough! I'll give them a ring in the morning, looking at their prices on their website I may have a few more enquires about another bike.
With regards to what's wrong with it, it won't start. I bought it privately autumn last year. I rode it for about a month, loved it, comfortable and lots of torque. I stuck a new set of decent tyres on it as I planned to commute through winter. About a week after I hit a bump in the road and the bike died entirely. I had to get the RAC to recover it. I started to troubleshoot the issue and when I get the fairings off I had a bit of a shock. I definitely bought a dog of a bike.
It looked good on the outside (with the exception of one of the belly fairings being an obvious replacement, price was adjusted to suit). Inside its clear it's had a smash at some point. Lots of the plastics were 25% araldite and zip tie. Lots of wiring had been split, connectors buggered and bodged back together. One of these bodges had come undone so I made proper repairs on everything and put it back together and it fired back into life.
Unfortunately a couple of weeks later the battery started to go flat very quickly as the reg/rectifier gave up the ghost. A common fault on these bikes. I replaced it with a decent series MOSFET unit and a brand new battery and I was back in business again.
Except I wasn't. Now the bike was having issues starting. It would turn over ok but would very rarely catch and start. When running it ran absolutely fine, even with a hot engine it refused to start. At this point I did a full service, new oil, filters and plugs. With no improvement. I checked the fuel pump and there was plenty of fuel pressure there and the correct amount delivered during priming. After consulting the triumph forums I upgraded to starter wiring from battery so solenoid to starter motor and the battery ground. It now turns over faster but no start. I've checked for sparks and they are there. I've loaded a new tune using tuneECU and it made no difference and there are no dual codes present. I checked all the valve clearances and they are in spec. I've evened followed the workshop manual and checked the resistance of all of the various sensors. The Sprag clutch (another common failure) is fine and is engaging and turning the crank.
At this point, short of calling a priest for an exorcism I'm out of ideas. I don't want to get rid of the bike because of the money spent on it, and I don't care if it looks rough as I live in London so it's probably going to get nicked next week anyway.
TLDR: It won't start, I've tried all the troubleshooting I can find. It has sparks, fuel and is turning over. I'm stumped.
With regards to what's wrong with it, it won't start. I bought it privately autumn last year. I rode it for about a month, loved it, comfortable and lots of torque. I stuck a new set of decent tyres on it as I planned to commute through winter. About a week after I hit a bump in the road and the bike died entirely. I had to get the RAC to recover it. I started to troubleshoot the issue and when I get the fairings off I had a bit of a shock. I definitely bought a dog of a bike.
It looked good on the outside (with the exception of one of the belly fairings being an obvious replacement, price was adjusted to suit). Inside its clear it's had a smash at some point. Lots of the plastics were 25% araldite and zip tie. Lots of wiring had been split, connectors buggered and bodged back together. One of these bodges had come undone so I made proper repairs on everything and put it back together and it fired back into life.
Unfortunately a couple of weeks later the battery started to go flat very quickly as the reg/rectifier gave up the ghost. A common fault on these bikes. I replaced it with a decent series MOSFET unit and a brand new battery and I was back in business again.
Except I wasn't. Now the bike was having issues starting. It would turn over ok but would very rarely catch and start. When running it ran absolutely fine, even with a hot engine it refused to start. At this point I did a full service, new oil, filters and plugs. With no improvement. I checked the fuel pump and there was plenty of fuel pressure there and the correct amount delivered during priming. After consulting the triumph forums I upgraded to starter wiring from battery so solenoid to starter motor and the battery ground. It now turns over faster but no start. I've checked for sparks and they are there. I've loaded a new tune using tuneECU and it made no difference and there are no dual codes present. I checked all the valve clearances and they are in spec. I've evened followed the workshop manual and checked the resistance of all of the various sensors. The Sprag clutch (another common failure) is fine and is engaging and turning the crank.
At this point, short of calling a priest for an exorcism I'm out of ideas. I don't want to get rid of the bike because of the money spent on it, and I don't care if it looks rough as I live in London so it's probably going to get nicked next week anyway.
TLDR: It won't start, I've tried all the troubleshooting I can find. It has sparks, fuel and is turning over. I'm stumped.
Yup, fresh fuel and swapping between two battery batteries that live on a CTEK battery conditioner when not in the bike.
As I say, I'm ready to hand it over to a professional!
Also I've just reread my last post and apologise for it not making much sense. It reads like a tweet from a stable genius
teach me for trying to post while standing on a packed train. P.s. I hate trains, I need my bike back!
As I say, I'm ready to hand it over to a professional!
Also I've just reread my last post and apologise for it not making much sense. It reads like a tweet from a stable genius
teach me for trying to post while standing on a packed train. P.s. I hate trains, I need my bike back! 
Had a call from them earlier today. All sorted! Chris has been great to deal with. Very friendly and helpful. Turns out the Sprag clutch had failed so I'm guessing it was slipping and not turning over the engine anywhere near fast enough for a start. The good news is they came in about a third of the cost of what I'd seen quoted at triumph for the same work 
So thank you everyone for the recommendations, I can't wait to get back on the bike! Even if the weather is crap! A relief to have it sorted. I'll certainly be going back soon for some new tyres on my old BMW! A very happy customer indeed!
So thank you everyone for the recommendations, I can't wait to get back on the bike! Even if the weather is crap! A relief to have it sorted. I'll certainly be going back soon for some new tyres on my old BMW! A very happy customer indeed!
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