I have just purchased a 1969 Triumph Trophy 650 with a Hedingham single seat side car, and took it out to day for the first time, very interesting and occasionally very sphincter tightening to say the least.
After spending some time with a so called Brit Classic some 10 year older which I very much fell out of love with, thought this bike would be easier to keep on the road re parts, service etc, and always have simply just fancied an outfit. Probably due to the very early childhood memories riding in my Dads outfit, a small fully enclosed chair which would quite easily become a Flash Gordon space craft escape pod; with the imagination of a child.
However, I digress, one reason for the divorce was the shear difficulty in starting the bloody thing, and in my recent week of my ownership of this vehicle, have been thrilled to be able to start this bike, easily, and have been quick to demonstrate this to anyone even slightly interested in the bike. I have always loved bikes but have never really picked up the spannering bit, I appreciate good motorcycle maintenance, tried the "Zen" approach which is usually paying through the nose to get someone else to do it, and annally cleaning and polishing as my penance.
Now to the ride, start up easy, check, being watched by Wife, Mother in Law, and neighbour, now very excited, first gear-ish and away I go up narrow unmade drive I raise my left arm like Superman to infinity and beyond, but turn it into wave a goodbye for the audience..Suddenly sharply veer to the right into a large bramble hedge, which was quite impact absorbing but on the other hand I was held in the uncomfortable spikey embrace, of its barbed-wire like tendrils anchored into my soft leather jacket. I had my visor up and had received a few minor lacerations to my nose, which always looks worse when one is on blood thinning tablets, I barked at my Wife to stop panicking and make herself useful.
Ahem, I digress, the ride take two, no damage done, right, thank you for your indulgence, and the advice I seek is as following. The bike is fitted with Indespension front forks, (I think that is the term) with a lead link set-up very similar to Moderator Kenny's Guzzi outfit. When I ride away the handle bars flap about up to about 25mph and then settle and are not too bad at speed in a straight line, that is 50 mph BTW. The front tyre is a square for side car type, and I have no steering damper, the forks are fitted with a coil spring damper unit each side. So, is this normal? Or are the front shocks knackered, any advice would be appreciated.
After spending some time with a so called Brit Classic some 10 year older which I very much fell out of love with, thought this bike would be easier to keep on the road re parts, service etc, and always have simply just fancied an outfit. Probably due to the very early childhood memories riding in my Dads outfit, a small fully enclosed chair which would quite easily become a Flash Gordon space craft escape pod; with the imagination of a child.
However, I digress, one reason for the divorce was the shear difficulty in starting the bloody thing, and in my recent week of my ownership of this vehicle, have been thrilled to be able to start this bike, easily, and have been quick to demonstrate this to anyone even slightly interested in the bike. I have always loved bikes but have never really picked up the spannering bit, I appreciate good motorcycle maintenance, tried the "Zen" approach which is usually paying through the nose to get someone else to do it, and annally cleaning and polishing as my penance.
Now to the ride, start up easy, check, being watched by Wife, Mother in Law, and neighbour, now very excited, first gear-ish and away I go up narrow unmade drive I raise my left arm like Superman to infinity and beyond, but turn it into wave a goodbye for the audience..Suddenly sharply veer to the right into a large bramble hedge, which was quite impact absorbing but on the other hand I was held in the uncomfortable spikey embrace, of its barbed-wire like tendrils anchored into my soft leather jacket. I had my visor up and had received a few minor lacerations to my nose, which always looks worse when one is on blood thinning tablets, I barked at my Wife to stop panicking and make herself useful.
Ahem, I digress, the ride take two, no damage done, right, thank you for your indulgence, and the advice I seek is as following. The bike is fitted with Indespension front forks, (I think that is the term) with a lead link set-up very similar to Moderator Kenny's Guzzi outfit. When I ride away the handle bars flap about up to about 25mph and then settle and are not too bad at speed in a straight line, that is 50 mph BTW. The front tyre is a square for side car type, and I have no steering damper, the forks are fitted with a coil spring damper unit each side. So, is this normal? Or are the front shocks knackered, any advice would be appreciated.