Triumph Thunderbird Sport – locking petrol cap

Triumph Thunderbird Sport – Locking Petrol Cap

Today I ftted a locking petrol cap, it’s the Triumph Modern Classics one and the box states it’s for the Bonneville, Scrambler, T100 and Thruxton. Before I purchased mine, I did email a couple of dealers and asked if this cap would fit my bike (Thunderbird Sport 2003)?

I actually received mixed responses, one said it would fit whilst another said it wouldn’t?

I decided to take a chance and purchased anyway, it arrived today and I can confirm it does fit.

For those interested, the locking petrol cap Part Number is: A9930170. Mine was supplied in a box date stamped 06/03/09.

Triumph Thunderbird Sport Locking Petrol Cap

Now I have to say that I think the original Triumph petrol cap is great, a work of art; but I don’t want to run the risk of leaving the bike unattended without a locking petrol cap. So now I have both, if I’m just riding for fun and want to show the bike off, I could always pop the original cap back on. The original petrol cap has a much slimmer profile and definitely looks nicer, but better safe than sorry I reckon?

Triumph Thunderbird Sport Original Petrol Cap

Triumph Thunderbird Sport Original Petrol Cap

I’m assuming this second fuel cap ( or should I call it a gas cap? ) was the one originally supplied by Triumph when it was built in 2003?

Hopefully some Triumph Thunderbird Sport owner might find this helpful? If you know or can confirm the origins of the this petrol cap, then please post a comment.

Triumph Thunderbird spare parts list

Triumph Thunderbird Sport Spare parts list.

I just wanted to share with you what is possibly the best online Triumph spare parts list I’ve seen available on the internet.

It is a Swedish site so the currency prices are not much help, but what they do have is an easy to navigate menu system which brings up exploded diagrams showing all the relevant part numbers – very useful!

Click > HERE < for the Thunderbird Sport link.

The main Triumph index is > HERE < and the list includes the following models:

Triumph Adventurer, Triumph America, Triumph America EFI, Triumph Bonneville, Triumph Bonneville & T100 EFI
Triumph Bonneville from VIN 380777 & SE, Triumph Daytona, Triumph Daytona 600, Triumph Daytona 675
Triumph Legend TT, Triumph Rocket III, Classic & Roadster, Triumph Rocket III Touring, Triumph Scrambler
Triumph Scrambler EFI, Triumph Speed Four, Triumph Speedmaster, Triumph Speedmaster EFI, Triumph Speed Triple
Triumph Sprint Carbs All, Triumph Sprint GT, Triumph Sprint RS, Triumph Sprint ST, Triumph Street Triple
Triumph Street Triple R, Triumph Thruxton 900, Triumph Thruxton 900 EFI, Triumph Thunderbird
Triumph Thunderbird Sport, Triumph Thunderbird 1600, Triumph Tiger, Triumph Trident, Triumph Trophy, Triumph TT600

All information courtesy of Lelles MC

Triumph Thunderbird Sport – a brief history

Triumph Thunderbird Sport: This bike was introduced late in 1997 as more sporting version of Triumph Thunderbird 900, complete with uprated suspensions, wider rims, twion disc front brakes and revised styling to suit, inspired by the 1971 X75 Hurricane featuring special 3:2 exhaust and ‘cheese grater’ air filter covers.

Model history:

• 1995: Triumph Thunderbird 900 launched.
• 1996: Triumph Thunderbird 900 gets new oval section swing arm.
• 1997: Triumph Thunderbird 900 gets new chrome rad end covers and grill as standard. 1998:
• Triumph Thunderbird 900 now with king and queen seat as standard.
• 1999: Triumph Thunderbird Sport introduced.
• 2003: Both Triumph Thunderbirds discontinued (Altough you will still see a few 2004 reg models).MCN review gave it an overall rating of 4/5 stars, saying:

“Surprisingly cool, versatile and fun retro – indeed one of the first. Triumph Thunderbird 900 took the pleasing and fruity Triumph Trident and refashioned it into an althogether more stylish package. There’s handling, comfort and decent poke inside those cream and chrome walls, while cred is guaranteed by the name on the tank. Nice.”

They went on to give the engine a 5/5 rating:

“For our money the Triumph Thunderbird 900 hosts one of the best incarnations of the original big Hinckley triple. 885cc three has been detuned from Trident and Trophy spec to give even more oomph. Wound open it sounds like a squadron of Lancasters and with restyle chromy and curvy engine cases it looks the business, too. A classic.”

Here is a photograph of the Triumph X75 Hurricane which the Thunderbird Sport was styled on.

The full MCN review can be read >> here <<

Polished front forks

Triumph Thunderbird Sport

Ok, I’m going to write up some general stuff about the bike and pass on any maintenance tips I think are worth sharing.

This bike came supplied with polished front forks. Ramoto had obviously taken the trouble to strip the bike and had the forks professionally polished. This removed the lacquer finish because on a 9 year old bike it would have been showing signs of wear and tear. Also, worn lacquer can make things worse as any corrosion that occurs underneath the lacquered finish has the effect of lifting the lacquer and trapping moisture which then causes more corrosion. So it’s all been stripped off.

Here is a photo of the front fork assembly:

Now I like to take advice, so I asked the guys about how best to look after the polished front forks. They told me that any good metal polish would be fine, even Brasso, but that I should NOT use Autosol! Apparently Autosol contains ammonia which is bad for aluminium.

So off I went to do some research online, looking for a good metal polish and hoping to find one that was specifically designed for polished aluminium surfaces. Well I found what I was looking for, it was Meguiars Motorcycle All Metal Polish. I paid £9.99 for a 6 oz pot.

When it arrived, I could see it was a white paste with no strong odours. According to the instructions, it seemed simple enough to use. Apply, let it dry and polish it off. No great effort required. So I did……. and the results were both instant and fantastic! It lifted the polished surface into a fantastic deep lustre shine. It was so noticable that I showed my son the difference between the two forks before I polished the second one up.

Now I don’t think the difference would show up in a photograph, but it is certainly visible to the eye. I’ll be interested to see how long the shine lasts and what the long term use of the product is like. Might post an update at some future stage.

I also ordered the Meguiars Motorcycle Liquid Wax Wet Look polish. I used that on the petrol tank and whilst it was good and gave a nice shine, I can’t say it particularly popped out to the extent I would actually recommend it over other similar products.

But at least I’m pleased with the All Metal Polish! Sets off the front end of the Triumph Thunderbird Sport a treat.

Triumph Thunderbird Sport arrives

Triumph Thunderbird Sport

Hi, I have decided to open a blog to document the ‘life history’ of my newly acquired Triumph Thunderbird Sport. This is my opening post in which I record the initial basic information and add a photograph of the bike as taken from the dealers web site. In time, this will develop into a history for this bike.

This 2003 Triumph Motorcycle was purchased on 31/1/12 with 8117 recorded miles on the clock. I had the bike delivered as I didn’t want to ride it any distance with lots of road salt and grit on the roads. The bike was purchased from Ramoto of Bournemouth.

I was not dissapointed with the condition of this machine, it was excellent; with just one small chip to the left hand side panel. I intend touching that chip in and if that doesn’t work, you can buy replacement panels for about £130. It’s now safely tucked away in my garage, connected to an Optimate 4 battery charger. The dealer did upgrade the battery to a gel type which means I can keep it on trickle charge without the risk of boiling it dry.

I’m obviously looking forwards to taking it out for a spin, but make no apologies for wanting to see the worst of the winter weather gone first.

Although purchased as a hobby rather than an investment, a good condition Triumph Thunderbird Sport is not likely to depreciate in value, provided it is well looked after.