![]() ![]() I’m probably ranting here, but I would think that since you may have arrived at section 16 in chapter 4 from the routine maintenance section with only a desire to replace the air filter and not remove the carbs, that at least Haynes should have mentioned that you’ll need to remove the carbs before you can remove the airbox. I sure missed this the first time around. I suppose an argument could be made that Haynes steps you through removing the carbs in the beginning of chapter 4, so by time you get to section 16 the carbs should already be out. ![]() To make things more confusing, the routine maintenance section of the Haynes manual refers the reader to chapter 4 for airbox removal.Ĭhapter 4, section 16 of the Haynes manual details removing the airbox but never says that the carbs have to be removed first. The tip of the green arrow indicates the location of the air filter. It then flow into the front airbox (green arrow), and finally through the air filter, which lives at the intersection of the front airbox and the air filter chamber that attaches to the carbs. This airbox is located under the seat and is easy to access.Īir flows in through the snout and into the primary airbox (pink arrow), then through the tube and gasket (red arrow) connecting the two airboxes. This area has the snout for the air intake (the air intake snout is located on the right side of the bike, in back of the battery and not visible in this photo). Pop the clips, slide out the air filter, slide in a new one and you’re done.Īlternatively, the air filter could have been located in the rear airbox (pink arrow, photo left). I guess Triumph had its reasons for this design, but it sure seems to this armchair engineer that there could have been several other ways to locate the air filter which would have made this job much easier.įor example, the right-hand side of the air filter chamber, indicated by the white arrow above, could have been designed as a separate piece with a couple of clips to unfasten a section of plastic and access the filter. The problem is indicated by the yellow arrow in the photo above: the front airbox on the TBS is a one-piece, U-shaped design that wraps around the chassis backbone.Īfter scratching my head and trying everything I could think of, I could not figure out a way to get the airbox out from around the backbone without first removing the carburetors. ![]() Changing the Air Filter on the Thunderbird Sport If anyone has any tips on making this job easier or can point out any mistakes I made, please feel free to send them to me at I’ll add them to this article for the benefit of others. So unless someone clues me in to the secret of the TBS air filter change, I’m going to rank it as one of the most bonehead engineering decisions that Hinckley-flavored Triumph has made on an otherwise very nicely designed motorcycle. Something as simple and routine as an air filter change should not take more than, say, 1/2 hour? I can change the air filter on both my BMW Airheads in less than half that time. It even beats the wacko oil filter change on the oil-cooler equipped BMW R100RS, which involves radical contortions and special tools and took me 4 hours after I finally removed the right hand exhaust. I’ve done a lot of motorcycle maintenance in my time.īut replacing the air filter on my 1999 Triumph Thunderbird Sport probably ranks as one of the most frustrating mechanical experiences ever. ![]()
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