1967 Triumph TR6C Rebuild by a noob.

Okiewan

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Dec 31, 1969
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I'm a complete vintage Triumph Noob. I've never owned one, I've never ridden (operated) one, I've never wrenched on one. I didn't stay at a hotel last night. I'm determined to rebuild two of these Triumphs. One of them, the Triumph TR6C was in many ways, one of the first popular "dirt bikes" in America. The Desert Sled. I won't be attempting a full, correct restoration on either of them. I intend to ride these things! I will go over them in great detail and rebuild/replace anything that needs it, but I won't be making garage queens. The engines will be completely rebuilt however (more on why later)

A Desert Sled example:
Vintage-Desert-Sled.jpg

Triumph TR6C once owned by Motorcycle Hall of Famer Mike (Party Animal) Parti.

Another with some dude who helped make them famous and so very cool.
Steve-McQueen-Desert-Sled-1.jpg


There's a ton of info out there on the 60's era desert racing if you are interested. You won't see anyone doing back flips (intentionally) , but you will see some crazy people tossing around 400lb bikes with virtually no suspension, at speed. I get arm pump just watching these guys.

Going into this, I have no idea what I'm doing, but that's never stopped me before, lol. Sometimes that works out, other times not so much. This is going to be a hell of a learning experience and I'm going to document all of it. I'm VERY lucky to have developed friendships with Triumph and vintage motorcycle guru's over the years who have graciously volunteered to help out along the way. I wouldn't attempt this without them.

Back Story

I've been a fan of the 60's era 650's since, well, the mid 60's.

My first experience with one, at 8 years old. Summer of 1968. Taylor, Michigan. My aunt's (she was 20) fiancé owned a 67 Bonneville. It was beautiful. It was FAST. There was no way in hell I was allowed on that thing. I suppose I can't be grounded (more likely get the switch back then) at this point so I'll fess-up: I'd meet Ronnie (the fiancé) around the corner and off we'd go, ripping gears and generally acting stupid... many good memories from all the rides that summer.

Come on, Get To It!

Anyway, when I got the chance to bring these home, I jumped on it. There's another whole story about where they came from and how I got them. I'll make another thread about that eventually.

Updated: Pics of the three Triumphs I recently "acquired". The history of each is known (going back to mid 70's). Details to follow in another post. The 1967 Triumph TR6C rebuild will be in it's own thread eventually.

1967 Triumph Bonneville.
Numbers match, title is clear and transferable. Bike was running when he parked it in '92. Says all it needs is new oil and new battery and someone crazy enough to trust the dry-rotted tires. I won't be attempting to start it any time soon. There's another bike that's inline for a rebuild first.

2FCBD9F0-38E9-44A7-8E12-C0E80FC0C42C_1_105_c.jpeg

Tank color is wrong and obviously repainted. Apparently the first owner had it painted black for whatever reason. The second owner (who I got it from) wanted it back to stock color. Right choice, wrong painter. There's junk in the paint (maybe he shot it in this garage!), it's clear coated (they didnt do that in the olden days, lol) and the color is incorrect (way too pink). I've sourced the correct paint and procedure to reproduce the factory paint job. Eventually, it'll be done.

84F7FE23-CB88-4967-BE05-177E1A66E213_1_105_c.jpeg

Yeah, they used to run around without air cleaners I guess that was a pretty normal occurrence back in the day. Frame and all "black parts" have been powder coated. This was an earlier '67, still has the Amal monobloc carbs. Part way through that production year they switched to Amal concentric carbs.

1D261FEA-DC7C-447B-905B-B7DA4E245BC3_1_105_c.jpeg

Forks are "stuck" ... or sprung for a NFL lineman.

1ACB089B-B81C-4428-8380-BD39B0DD46D6_1_105_c.jpeg

And that's the dusting even under a make-shift cover. It was last on the road in '92 (per the plates and the owner). 27 years of "storage" in this dusty garage. I guess SoCal garages get pretty hot, the adhesive holding the knee pads let go, found them on the floor.

87DD1691-61CB-4692-82D7-8AE4030A27AD_1_105_c.jpeg

I'm told that's the original speedo & tach. If so, 5,600 miles. Looks about right based on a lack of worn-out stuff. The bike is supposed to be all original. I'll have to rely on the knowledge of others to find out if that's correct.

4542CB8B-5357-4C61-94D5-AB966E5B30BC_1_105_c.jpeg

The plates. On the far left you can see the 1968 T100C (with high pipes).
 
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Okiewan

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Dec 31, 1969
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The 1967 Triumph TR6C.

There are no "barn find" looking images of this one. The owner (same owner of all three bikes) had this one kept clean and for sale at a local auto shop. Apparently the (shop) owner was to sell it on consignment and didn't have much luck. He was trying to get over $10K, which would explain it not selling. It's in great shape, but needs a lot of work to get to 10K. Then again, I've seen one sell at auction for over $17,000. It was fully restored, and done by a well known expert.

I had 10 minutes with the bike before it was loaded into the trailer for the trip home to Texas. I took exactly one picture of it.

okie_triumph_tr6c.jpg
 

Mully

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Where did you run into that.....???? What a great project that would be....
 

Rich Rohrich

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Too cool!!! I have a 2006 Bonneville and it's fantastic, but no where as cool as those originals. They look really complete and clean, under the dust. Terry's in=d will be blown seeing this.
 

Okiewan

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Too cool!!! I have a 2006 Bonneville and it's fantastic, but no where as cool as those originals. They look really complete and clean, under the dust. Terry's in=d will be blown seeing this.
I knew you had a Bonneville, didn't know what year... pretty cool!

The '67 Bonneville is actually very clean and complete and I'm told the TR6C is even better. That one is at a friends shop, he was supposedly trying to sell it for him, I didn't know he still had that one. The only thing not original on them is powder coated frames (not the TR6C), to the best of his memory (which is fading fast). He's owned the TR-6 the longest, second owner, 1969 or '70. The other two he bought mid 70's.

Got a decent deal with a shipper, he'll pick 'em all up and have them in my driveway by the 25th or 26th. Substantially cheaper than a 15' UHaul that I'd be stuck in all those hours from SoCal to Dallas.

Going to be a lot of hours out in the shop this winter :)
 

Okiewan

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A couple pics. I checked some spots on the Bonneville, looks like most of it will clean up nicely.
0F7663BE-1EE4-4E40-AA00-32049612D7D4_1_105_c.jpeg

Of course there had to be a small puncture wound on the seat...

EDIT/UPDATE: Puncture on the seat doesn't matter... it's not the original seat anyway. Eventually, it'll have to be replaced.

99336ECE-E9A5-4F4C-9BD2-A7A814253DD8_1_105_c.jpeg

The 500 ( T100C Trophy ) isn't as clean or complete.
 
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Rich Rohrich

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Those are really cool bikes, and should make awesome project material. In my mind those are the most "proper" looking motorcycles ever.
 

truespode

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Just thinking... you know... bud... just a thought... but... you know... moderators deserve some presents this time of year too :)

Those are beautiful!!

Glad you found a shipper but they definitely would be worth the drive.

Ivan
 

Okiewan

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Blew the cobwebs off the Bonneville today. Looks a little better. I've decided that I'm not going to restore them... they are in great "rider" shape, they just need some rubber stuff replaced, cables, tires (lots of tread but dry rot), etc., and they'll be good, after going over them in detail (and refreshing the engines). I don't need any garage queens up in here! I'll probably get the tanks painted to get them correct, but that's the extent of eye candy.

Blows my mind how good they are after collecting dust for so long (27 years). I expected to see a lot of surface rust, pitting, etc.
IMG_0471 (2)_LI.jpg
 

Rich Rohrich

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Simichrome (or Flitz) and a lot of 0000 steel wool can do wonders for tired chrome parts. Guaranteed Terry has a ton of tricks to bring parts back to life. I sent him a link to this thread.
 

Okiewan

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It'll be nice to get some experienced eyes on these things ... I can't rely on the previous owner to remember anything he's done to them over the years and I certainly can't tell that "XYZ part is way wrong". Like I said, I'm not out to make a correct full restoration, but if something is obvious and doesn't cost a fortune, I'd like to fix it. Example, I know the seats are wrong on the TR6 & Bonneville. I've read that the 67 was a one year part, so the odds of finding one :( . But there are seats out there that would be closer to the original (like, no "chrome" trim along the bottom of the seat).

And before someone says this is a dirt bike site ... do a little reading on the TR6C. It was the king of the desert prior to the Japanese Invasion. The original Desert Sled. Harvey Mushman & Malcolm Smith raced 'em (before he moved to Husky) .
 

Okiewan

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Tinkered around on the TR6 today, had to replace the petcocks, yes there are two. Apparently Triumph is known for crappy "petrol taps". Overly large and complicated for the fail.

Working on bikes of that era really shows how far we've come. I mean the Bonneville (and TR6) in the 60's was super popular for it's power (that of a modern 250 four stroke), top end speed (120+) and good looks. But when you get down into it, you've got to wonder what the engineers of the day were thinking.

Yes, that was a long time ago.

steve-mcqueen-bud-ekins-triumph-desert-motorcycle-racing.jpg

Harvey Mushman
 

Ol'89r

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HELLO!!! Anybody home? What a score Bob. You did good. Those are real keepers. I would not restore them either. There are so many restored mid-sixty's Triumphs out there it has lowered the value of the bikes. An un-restored original with the patina intact is more popular than a perfectly restored one. Wipe them down with an oily rag and touch up the bad stuff. Rich is right, (as usual) use 0000 steel wool and Semi-Chrome on the shiny stuff and Simple Green and a lot of elbow grease works good on the castings. The reason they use two petcocks is because of the way the gas tanks are designed. There is a frame tube that goes between the two sides of the tank leaving deep sections on either side. If you only had one petcock, you would still have gas in the other side of the tank when one side runs out. Hence the reserve petcock on one side. The copies of the original petcocks are cheap and very accessible. If properly routed the fuel lines should not kink on the Bonneville. I can get you all of the parts you need and have them drop-shipped to your home. Big D cycle in Dallas is another good source for parts and info. I would suggest buying a set of Whitworth wrenches and sockets to work on them. Triumph changed over to SAE around 1967 but everything before that was whitworth. In an effort to use up all of their old stock, some of the 68-70's still had some whitworth combined with SAE. Those are particularly fun to work on. LOL. Have fun with your new projects and call me if you need any help.
9er.
 

Okiewan

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Thanks for the great info Terry! I'm def stocked-up on the 0000 and a few kinds of polish I've had laying around, I'll pick up a tube of Semi-Chrome and give that a try as well.

I should probably put another elbow or two on order as well, I've damn near worn-out the two I have in stock.

I would suggest buying a set of Whitworth wrenches and sockets to work on them.
I was fortunate that he also donated his "Triumph Toolbox" full of Whitworth / SAE tools, in addition to several specialty tools, and two Triumph tool kits that came with the bikes.

I'll be putting a parts list together over the coming weeks and will get that off to you, thanks for the help there!
 

Ol'89r

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Cool, it's good you got tools with the bikes. These things are not that hard to work on with the right tools. Heck, even Gomer could do it.
One important thing to consider with a barn find. Triumphs have a sludge tube in the crankshaft. This sludge tube is designed to capture all of the swarf in the oiling system. (Dirt, grit, metal shavings, etc.) The oil enters the crankshaft and goes into the sludge tube. By design and centrifugal force, the sludge tube captures the swarf in a semi-solid state and lets the clean oil go to the rod journals.
When a bike sits for 30 years or more, the sludge in the sludge tube will dry out and become solid. When you start and run a Triumph that has been sitting for that long, there is a chance the sludge will break up and go into the rod bearings. This will result in damaging the rod bearings and usually the rod journals.
You have two options... Take the engine completely apart and clean out the sludge tube. Measure everything, install new rod inserts and anything else that is not in spec. Then you will have a good solid engine that will last.
Option number two is to go ahead and run the engine and hope for the best. You may be able to get away with no problems but if the sludge gets into the rod inserts, it will damage the inserts and most likely damage the rod journals on the crankshaft. In which case you will still have to disassemble the engine. Rather than waiting until your rods start knocking and having to regrind the journals, or worse yet, throw a rod through your cases, I prefer option number one.
If you want to pick one and tear it down, I can walk you through it.
 

Okiewan

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Thanks Terry, I was on the fence about pulling the engine(s), that info makes the decision pretty clear.

I’ve watched a couple of Lowbrow Customs tear down and rebuild videos; any thoughts on those if you’ve seen them?

Looks pretty straight forward, even for a mostly maintenance kinda guy. On the other hand, @Rich Rohrich has called me a ham-fisted gorilla on more than one occasion. :p
 
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