triumph bonneville 1971 won't start

[bonniesda]

I have brought a Triumph Bonneville 1971 T1120R.  I had it last week and it started 1st kick and ran on tick over OK.   Went for a ride this weekend it was hard to start and would not run on tick over I  only covered 8 miles and it stalled at low revs in 1st gear and would not go above 50 mph.  Today it is not starting at all I have took out the spark plugs and cleaned but still will not start.
Any ideas and advice would be appreciated as this is my 1st classic bike 

[yosemite]

 Was the bike making any odd noises, backfiring ,spitting back rattles etc
were the plugs wet or oily before you cleaned them? did you kick it over to see if you had a spark after you cleaned the plugs is fuel getting to the plugs? is fuel getting to the carbs ?

any more information will give us a better idea what the cause of the problem is
cheers
yosemite

[rogerwilko]

Blat flattery. Check charging system.

[bonniesda]

I have not checked the battery yet but all my lights indecators work OK and I took the drain bolts out the bottom of my carbs and turned the fuel on to make sure it is cumming through OK  I have took the spark plugs out and looked at them again and they are just getting black and wet with me trying to start the bike. There was no back firing or odd noises when I last ran the bike it just ran very lumpy cut out at low revs and tickover and struggled to go over 50mph.Does any one know the correct gap the plugs should be set at they are NGK plugs

[step2534]

 Ive had a similar problem. It was the carbs. One of the floats was half full of petrol ,giving a very rich mixture and the other float also had petrol in it.I got new stay up floats from Amal and reconned the carbs re set them and its been great since. I think altogether the cost was about £75.
 I also changed the fuel pipes for the E10 resistant piping.
 It seems strange that it was running OK then it just goes off like this. Does it have ticklers or is it on a choke? (possibly stuck giving rich mixture) Is it on points or electronic ignition?  I set my plugs to 25thou.

Best of luck.

[bonniesda]

Hi it has a new set of carbs fitted by the former owner which have ticklers on them the bike is also fitted with a choke The man I brought the bike from told me to use bothe the choke and ticklers when starting the bike

[bonniesda]

Forgot to say it is still on points ignition

[bonniesda]

I have taken the sparks plugs out pumped the kick start a couple of times and no petrol is coming out of the holes. 
Do you think it could be carburetter or tappets ?

[step2534]

Personally I would start at petrol taps to carbs. Then strip carbs has needle dropped  or floats wrong height. Just because the carbs are new doesnt mean they are right,. If thats ok then go for valves.
 I wouldnt start it with both ticker and choke either one or other. When you tickle it does fuel come out? To be honest it doesnt sound like much of a problem its just been methodical in finding it. when you said it would only do 50mph that sounds like carb trouble,on this one of mine ive actually had a jet come loose. Might sound daft but it has got fuel in has it got ptoper taps,also if the inside of the tanks been treated are the  fuel tap filters clogged up, they are very fine mesh.
Happy hunting. When you get it sorted let us know what it was

[Revband]

Hi
Just in case you are new to old Brit bikes, if the carbs are Amal monobloc then the choke works differently to more modern bikes, it is on when the cable is slack and off when pulled tight.

[step2534]

 Have you got this bike sorted yet? It would be nice to know what it was.

[rogerwilko]

I'll bet the chokes were left on!

[bonniesda]

Just got the bike back from local mechanics .He checked the carbs and found them to be OK he checked the tappets and they were OK then he cleaned and done the points and he also found if you shut the choke completley the bike runs rough so he recommends leaving it open slightly he also told me to get new points and condensers or electronic ignition I still dont think the bike is running OK and he couldn/t tell me why it wouldn/t start for almost a week.So where do I go from here anybody want to buy a nice Triumph Bonnie

[yebbut]

your mehanic sounds useless.

You do not shut the choke to run you open it.

open is with the lever toward you,

or of you like open is with the control wire tight, not slack.

this is the reverse of Jap stuff

Find yourself a mchanic that has knowledge of British bikes not Jap ones

Leave the choke alone anyway, you do not need it if you tickle the carbs to start.


Where are you? sound to me as if you need some basic lessons on brit bikes

[bonniesda]

Thanks I have to agree with you my mechanic is not very good and yes I do need someone to take me under there wing and show me the ropes .So if anyone is in the High Wycombe area and fanceys helping out a novice classic bike rider that would be great .
Thanks to all who replied