My story about my 2013 Triumph T100 Bonneville. A catastrophic problem in the starter system that will require a complete motor tear-down. • 2013 Triumph T100 Bonn... • 2013 T100 Bonneville c...
It initially sounded like a frozen Bendix. If only the problem/solution had been that simple. What a nightmare. I'll search for your follow-up video. No problems so far with my 2010 Bonneville SE.
This was a failure on early bonnevilles. It didn't happen that often and only seemed to happen if the engine backfired while starting with the starter still engaged. Triumph in I believe around 2005 beefed up the casting. There are some out there that even with this update the problem could still happen. Back then triumph did help out with some of the out of warranty failures. There is an aftermarket kit/ plate that can be installed to beef up the area so this doesn't happen. I have also seen online that some have repaired the bike using the kit, it is called Safe Start. Hope this helps. I have a 2007 T100 and keep my fingers crossed when I start it hoping it doesn't backfire.
Had my 76bonneville kick back on me once at a garage when i didn't kick it hard enough.It drove my right knee up into the handle bar and ripped my big toe nail right off.Needlees to say i laid down beside my bike screeming like a bitch.Gave the mates a good laugh.
I also suffer "Catastrophic Engine Failure" on my 2012 Triumph Bonneville T100. Munroe Motors of San Francisco did not bother to open the engine up after listening to the crunching noises coming out on the primary side. I bit the bullet and obtained a 2016 to swap into the frame. The original engine call a "Core" now was scrap heaped.
I have been trying to decide between a Triumph or Kawasaki. As far as looks, Triumph wins. As far as design and bullet proof engines, nobody beats the Japanese.
Lol I'm in the same boat now and feel the same way.... When I watch these broken triumphs ... I just think to myself... ”i don't really need to do wheelies on the w800 anyways".
You should try a real Bonneville 650 up to 1978. I sold my 900 and made the switch. Its power, handling and simplicity are way superior….and a kick start.
@@ezeNdog good answer ezedog. I think Triumph bikes is ok when you prepare the starter system - But the w800 with the Königswell is a superb bike not to small and not to big and it goes for miles and miles and have a beauty sound too. But both biketypes are fine and I think that Triumph has loose the startercrash catastrophe.
50k miles on my 2005 Bonnie. The return spring just failed on the gear change that's how I found this video. Haven't broken anything else I can think of in my 17 years of ownership, just the usual consumables, so I'd say she's reliable enough, any bike can have manufacturing issues like this one seems to. Not saying there's anything wrong with the Kwak, in fact I love all Japanese bikes. But for modern classics I'd go for a Triumph any day.
My goodness, I was seriously considering buying a Triumph Street Twin 2021 but after watching your video definitively I will buy a Kawasaki W800 classic. Thank you so much!
@@NordenEngineering Yes, what I meant was, the T100 now shares the same as the street twin, apparently this engine needs gear shaft replacement either after a week of owning or several thousand on the clock, I was originally considering a Interceptor 650 but thought if I scrape my pennies together I might get a bonne or street twin for better build quality. Overall I think it is the case however I’d much rather have a reliable engine. Do you have any thoughts on it like what you would choose between the two??
@@chrisflux57 I have a 2008 EFI 865 Speedmaster which is very reliable and would recomend one but if you do get one I would advise getting a TTP Safestart fitted which resolves this problem of the start boss being a week point. This problem was worse in the early models and Triumph beefed it up a bit but not enough. The guy in this video was very unlucky for this to of happened, it usually is caused by the battery being low from the alarm being on and the bike not being used I removed my alarm for this reason. The guy who owned my bike before me kept trying to start it with a flat battery which damaged the Sprag Clutch on the starter which I had to replace after owning it for two weeks : ( but all is well now
First time I've heard of anything like this on a Hinkley Bonnie. They've always been ultra-reliable and 'safe' purchases to the point of being a bit bland to ride. Be interested in the follow-up.
I got my first bike in 1963 so I was glad to leave all that stuff behind... I had the Kawasaki 1000SX until last year..... aluminum frame and wheels and no wire spokes. Four cylinder fuel injected sophistication. 145hp with a sit up position. Cleaning was a quick wipe.. I like modern. I have NO nostalgia for the 1960s coz I was there. ... We only buy Toyota cars. 2 Toyota cars and total repairs since 2007 is one sun visor for one car...
@@thra5herxb12s Yes but..... spoked wheels (not cast aluminum), and no fairing, is a bind... One must spend time cleaning wheels, and then get battered around when riding on a fast road. I bought my first brand new motorbike in 1966...
I was once told that the only thing good about the good ole days is they are gone because they were to bloody hard And i know because I was born in the fifties.
@@JoshuaRoberts-kq9cs Fifties ! You young sprog ! I am a 1947 model and I grew up in the 50s. Outside toilets, no central heating/ac, and holidays in bloody Morecambe. I have always targeted younger birds..10 years younger, but now, even they are bowlegged OAPs ! But back to the subject, the old days were not good, and the cars were not good, and the motorbikes were crap. I have given up on my Kawasaki techno-miracle recently, and her indoors has just bought a new Toyota Camry which is a real techno miracle. 4 years ago I got a fast heart and I got an 'ablation' which is a total fix and I feel great. 2 years before that I got prostate cancer and a 10foot tall German Cyber Knife robot fixed that 100%.. So I would have been well dead by now with the techno of the old days. I have been retired since 2004, and in the old days, gimmers died 18 months after their 65th birthday...if they were lucky.... I live in Wisconsin now and I nip over the Hawaii and Florida for fun... ps I was Chevin Barghest but I have gone all Shakespearian now...
And this is the modified strengthened boss. Main cause is kick back from low turnover speed week battery .The EFI should have a voltage protection system fitted to stop starter fro attempting to turn engine over...this is shocking that the modified engines are still suffering. Triumph should of done a recall and fitted the TTP safestart to all bikes
Ouch..I have an earlier model without any issues.Love riding it & hope you can get it sorted! I regret all bikes removing the kick start as electric start is an aggressive action.Good luck bro!
Yeah, I have 2007 model. Hopefully doesn’t go this way. Pity there’s no way of integrating a soft start like we have with power tools to eliminate that aggressive engagement. Totally agree about kick starts, and i getting to old to run and bump start it.
I have a 2012 model and really miss not having ABS. I also miss the fact it has no torque to speak of and must be caressed to encourage its power to be delivered is very elastic. E.g. turn the throttle and (a few moments later), the engine responds. It seems breathless and flat (even compared to my XS650 yamaha which I have just sold to make room for this). Very strange after coming off my 23 year old R 1150 GS BMW. I would say the BMW would out handle and out perform the Triumph any day also. A very ordinary scoot.
I was thinking about a bonneville but this has helped me decide that I do not want one of these. You cannot do better than a Japanese built motorcycle. We had honda's growing up and they were beyond indestructible. I wish honda made a bike that looked as cool as these bikes. Nothing looks less cool than sitting on a broken down bike though. To fix this starter problem would be a massive undertaking. I can't imagine that your bike is the only one that has this problem. Thank you very much for this!
Shame shame to Triumph -This is a bad reclame if not Triumph make a touch!! It is Triumphs problem. I have seen it several times and me myself drive a Thruxton 2006. But your can buy a little thing in England to 100 pound and it defence the weak aluminium hole . It is Safe Start TTP and it should loose the problem. I myself have a Kawasaki W650 and it is also a super classic bike and there are never problems with this maschine:
This light weight strong material argument to me is all crap.Look at how many yaughts lose their light weight strong masts every year in the Sydney to Hobart race.
Thanks for posting I'm trying to decide on a triumph T120, T100 or another bike. thing helps a lot. I'm seeing a lot of reviews like this and wondering what years and models it is limited to. I have worked as a mechanic. That looks pretty bad, and kind of excludes the T-100 for me.
It also means that if it is a design flaw on your bike, that it could happen to others, that there should be a recall of the bikes to fix the flaw in all of that model engine.
Hi Serge, just opened! my triumph up to take a look at mine and my outer casing has also broken but damaged my starter motor drive teeth ...would it be possible to communicate direct ? as my triumph is a 2003 Bonneville as this seems to be a flaw in a very strong engine cheers...Trevor
before you give it away, a pproach a really good tig welder and see if they can reinstate/reinforce those parts of the engine cases and outer cover that have disintegrated.
How low a battery? Why and how would a low voltage battery cause this problem? Maybe this is why all Bonneville air cooled models with EFI are programed to not even try to crank (start) the bike with a voltage lower than 11.9 volts.
@Air cooled - I see what you are saying and your reply reminded me of a great solution to this situation that was posted by Forchetto in a thread titled "Cheap, easy and effective Emergency start mod." on the Triumph Rat Net. You've got to check it out.
I have exactly the same year and model, even same colours. I've had a flat battery once and a tired battery at the end of its servicable life, and the bike must have a failsafe as it just won't turn over.
just have it tig welded back together or even have a new boss machined out and tigged in there... welder would be a hundred and fifty bucks and a machined out boss under a hundred bucks ..aluminum rod with a proper hole bored through and cut to the right length simple machine shop procedure .. Pro's in that industry work on much more complicated jobs than this ....keep that battery charged while your enjoying your other Putts I see you have there, so you don't have another low voltage kick back!
they do indeed .... dissapointing that we should really need to buy it, this should have been sorted out. the water cooled ones have gearbox issues. Always bloody something.
Id say what happened was someone hit the starter with the engine running. That broke the housing to the starter drive. I am not sure of how the bike starter works, but on a car, the bendix jumps out to engage the starter with the flywheel and that starts things going. It's hard to bust casting covers if you do things right but I'd say trying to start the bike after it's running could definitely cause what has happened to happen. 2013 bike, runs all this time fine, then just snaps like that? Could be wrong. But who knows. Never had that issue and I have a 2005. But, I have seen and heard people who have hit the starter on their car, while its running and it's a terrible sound. Design on a bike is different, but it has to be similar in regards to the starter Bendix throwing the start gear out via centrifugal force, engaging the flywheel. Hope you got it going.
This type of bike starter doesn't work in that way - the gears are constantly meshed, and it drives the crankshaft through a one-way clutch, which provides drive in one direction, but freewheels in the other. if you engage the starter when the engine is running, the gears will spin, but the clutch will still freewheel because the crankshaft will be spinning faster than the sprag clutch. The damage shown is caused by lateral load exceeding the strength of the material, a load which will be at its greatest when the starter first engages and tries to turn the stationary crankshaft.
The casting are poorly designed for the stresses against them. I would suggest getting and expert TIG welder to repair and reinforce the design. In the long time I would suggest the using the clutch might lessen the stresses during starting. Certainly the course of action I will be using on my bonnie 2007 from now on.
TTP safe start should solve the problem - But it has to be done before the catastrophe happens - But Triumph should make a turner because that it is a materialfailed by doing the block!!
I have a 2015 and it will only start with the clutch in. I guess this is why they've added the feature. I hope this never happens to me, I feel for the guy!
I recently took out the shaft out the gear from the same part of my bike and it wont go back in all the way, any idea how to get it in? Any advice appreciated.
This is what happens after 'fixing' the half turn starter problem,, clucth switch, side-stand switch and neutral switch get bypassed. Then it's overly easy to engage the starter with motror running and in gear, just hit the starter instead of the horn. You won't know until you restart. The 'fix' for the half turn issue is just misleading, the problem is within the ECU and not bad switches.
Mine was a great bike. I sold it to be able to get a truck that can tow all my stuff out of California. Long story short, I won't have that issue going forward. Was looking at the T120 to replace my Int. 650, but now that I'm seeing this, I think I'll just get another 650. Best bike I've ever owned.
@@johngifford7725 is this the fact as you see it? I'm looking for a daily rider and I am very interested in opinions on these. Both my triumph bonnys were good enough but I wouldn't own another
@@David-og7di I'm on a HD Softail now. It was my grandfather's last bike. It's never been comfortable, and not really my style. I'm moving to a different state this summer. The towns are small, few, and far in between. California is the only state that allows filtering or lane splitting. If I were going to stay here I would definitely get another Int. 650 and I'd get the same color as the first one. Beautiful bike. Where I'm going a large touring bike might make more sense. I'm seeing enough on the Bonnies that I probably won't be going that route. Good luck with your choosing. I can't see the RE being a mistake. They're just so smooth and trouble free.
In 2019 I made a decision, Bonneville, Interceptor or W800 Street. I bought the W800 and have put on 12,000 km so far and am extremely happy with my choice. The Triumphs seem to be the least reliable of the three (I've heard of electronic and transmission issues). Every ride on the W800 Street is a joy. I think the Guzzi V7 would have also been a good choice as well. The interceptor felt top heavy, (to me) compared with the W800. I also enjoy the 360 degree firing order, long stroke, air cooled engine and bevel driven top end of the Kawasaki. By far the closest to 60's era Brit Bikes but without the hastles of an old bike.
