OK, so I dont actually own a Speed Triple any more. It was smashed up by what can only be described as a total moron in a Nissan Duke. I really hate Nissan Dukes - not because one happened to smash my bike up but because they encapsulate everything thats irresponsible in car design - they are go anywhere urban trucks masquerading as cars, designed to get over speed humps as quickly as possible and keep you safe from other traffic higher up. Its basically a 4x4 for the city - most of the negatives bits about 4x4s where other road users are concerned and still keeping the speed and convenient bits of a car. At least proper 4x4 drivers have the inconvenience of having to park a really large vehicle thats awkward. Anyway - you get the picture - I don’t like them or the drivers that use them.
This was 2018 I think, I swapped to a Bonneville - 2015 I think with injection. What I have found is that car drivers treat me with a lot more courtesy. They notice me and let me out of junctions. I think they seem to like the spectacle of an old looking thing and that makes them react better. I still drive the same way. I still filter through traffic but now they don’t seem to get irate about that. The Triple made a lot of noise making you more visible - the Bonneville is very quiet, so thats a risk.
The Speed Triple - I had one for many years, the 1050 type. Fantastic bike for many reasons. But it does have its faults. One of the worst is the sprag clutch. The sprag gives the starter extra momentum basically, its a small flywheel that increases its inertia as the starter motor turns the engine over. This is why its prone to going wrong when the battery is flat or low at least. It totally kills it and most triples come with an alarm that drains the battery all the time. Im not sure whats the deal with Tigers and the other faring type.
A new one was about £400 ( probably like £600 now I expect ) as you had to buy it with a kit, and as I have had lean periods with no money I had no choice but to have to fix things like this - in fairness having a Triumph was a bit of an unnecessary luxury during those periods. I couldn’t really afford it. But lots of people like fixing things just for the hell of it - I created a video on YouTube which has had a ridiculous amount of viewings. So I thought Id post the story on here and at least those 1050 owners can look it up and realise whats involved.
The ‘proper’ fix for this is getting a trickle charger which slowly keeps the battery charged. Its the battery being on half charge because the alarm has emptied it which causes the thing to fail. In many ways you have to say that its a fools errand. Big engine - small metal parts you are kind of fixing together. Could all easily go wrong and cause mayhem. Don’t blame me if it goes wrong - this fix is at your own peril.
In the same breath, thats part of the fun of driving a motorbike. Its not for everyone. You can’t eliminate risk from life completely. For those people - read on.
So as you can see from this video once you have extracted the thing, its a case of finding a new spring. Triumph don’t sell these - wouldn’t that be easy! But of course it wouldn’t make them £400 in replacement sprag clutch and starter gear every time.  So first of all you have to actually get at it. This is a case of removing the starter motor cover, then the engine covering behind it. The bolts incidentally are really expensive - don’t loose them. So the start motor case first. There is a gasket behind that. You have to clean the crap left behind religiously so you have a completely clean surface for when you re-attach. Same goes for the other covering - and thats twice the size.  Then you can see the sprag itself, attached to a rod from the engine. Its thread is reversed as you’d want so it doesn’t come undone over time. You need to fix the engine - I did this by using the wheel with a large iron bar through it so it couldn’t spin. Also tapping it means that the momentum cant build up so its more likely to come off.  Great - its off. Now you can fix it. At this point you should also inspect the other gears that transfer from the starter motor. Are they broken? If so it might actually be needing a new starter set anyway.  I won’t bother to explain how the sprag is fixed - thats in the video. But just to say that finding the spring is the main issue. Triumph could easily make this available - but they don’t for financial reasons. Ok, its fixed but now you have to run the whole process in reverse. There is no way of testing this, you just have to put it all back together including the gasket kit and sealant if you use that, and trust in your work.
