Electrical

General
Electricity - What is it, what does it do, how does it flow, and how do I understand it? Electrical Terms for the Layman explanation may help the novices among us.

Alternator
What size alternator do you have ? Well, here on the left is the 40 amp alternator which produces 480 watts (12 volt x 40 amperes), and on the right is the 25 amp alternator as often fitted to older Trophies, producing 300 watts (12v x 25a). This is still sufficient for most riders requirements.

There has been a warranty issue with alternator bolts; see Warranty Issues below.

Ignition Lock
Replacement keys - "ilco" blank number X105 that fits some japanese motorcycles fits our Trophies. The 900 and 1200 locks are the same.

Ignition System
The Electrical Ignition System for earlier models was manufactured by German Company PVL, and for later models by Gill Instruments. They are not pin for pin compatible. The Gill units are programmed to Triumph specifications, and cannot be altered or re-programmed. Members have reported that Nology in California can supply 152-001-070 coils (Pro-fire PFC-06-D, 0.6 ohm) are suitable replacements, although different wires are necessary. The 'Hotwires' plug sets are reported to be manufactured by hand in California, spiral wound, and incorporating a capacitor in each wire which gives a much higher jolt of electricity to the plug. This claim is unverified, but send me your comments if you have them.

Crankshaft Ignition Position Sensors
These are known to fail from time to time, and it may be wise to consider carrying a spare if you are planning any very long trips, especially in to remote areas. They are not too difficult to fit, and John Doak has given an explanation on Fitting a Crankshaft Ignition Sensor. If you need to replace the igniter, in the UK, ECU Exchange supply remanufactured CDI boxes, and do list the Triumph range. No experiences from Group Members of dealing with them have been reported as yet.

Coils
You MIGHT be able to get a RELATIVE indication of coil resistance by measuring with an ohmmeter, but unless a coil is OPEN (infinite ohms, definitely defective) or DEAD SHORT (exactly zero ohms, definitely defective but unlikely to happen), the actual measurement of resistance of the wires inside the coil is generally a worthless or (even worse) misleading procedure. Edit- coils with resistances as little as 10% outside the specs have been seen to be problematic in use.

DC resistance measurement of the coil is generally the only available check of the condition of the internal wires. Frequency response of the coils (it's ability to respond quickly enough to the demands of an engine) is hard to determine but a side effect of this is heat - thus a hot coil is less reliable than a cooler one or a measure of how much stress is being applied to it. Part of the igniters role is to time limit the amount of curent going to the coils by varying the proportion of the cycle that is being used to charge the coil in some respects the analogy of the old term used with points of the dwell angle.

A coil of wire has a special property called inductance. Inductance is a dynamic value, and is indicative of a coil's reactance ("alternating current resistance"). With a coil, you are unable to instantly change the current running through it. Since all this happens, dynamically, the only way you can test a coil for reactance is with a very special expensive meter.

The DC resistance (measured with an ohmmeter) and AC reactance have very little to do with one another (other than in the extreme cases of opens and dead shorts). Normal manufacturing tolerance creates a bit of variance in the DC resistance of coils. DC resistance is only a function of the specific resistance of the wire (determined by what the wire is composed of) and the length of the wire.

Generally speaking, the longer the wire the more the DC resistance, and the thinner the wire the more the DC resistance. AC reactance is generally a function of the spacing between the individual wire within the coil, the wire material, and the core (metal cores increase the reactance where air cores ("no core") lower it.

Generally coils fail either by defects in manufacturing that show up sooner rather than later, or due to heat and current, showing up through use. Because the coils handle high current levels for brief moments of time, they are subject to breakdown. Usually, this breakdown occurs because the insulation between coil loops fails. This causes one or more partial shorts and lowers the inductance. Once the inductance changes significantly outside its range of acceptability, the circuit will start acting up. Again, since this is usually (not always) a function of age and temperature, this goes to explain why the coil will work when the engine is cool and fail when the engine is warm(er). It takes quite a few shorted turns to be detected using an ohmmeter, and only if you know the exact resistance in the first place would you be able to notice any change.

Since we have more than one coil in our bikes, the best way to figure out if one, or more, is defective is by substitution with a known good unit. If you just move (I.e. exchange) the wires from one coil output to another, and the problem now changes cylinders, the coil (or the wire from it) is defective. If the problem stays in the same cylinder, the coil is ok, and your problem lies elsewhere.

Problematic Starting
Problems in getting your Trophy to fire up can be related to many different causes. Switches are subject to corrosion and lock outs can occur because of this. The sidestand switch (see below) in particular sits in a stream of road dirt.

If you remove the seat and look just in front of the battery box, there is a wiring harness with seven wires coming out from under the fuel tank. It ends in a 'plastic' multi-prong connector. This is the wiring harness connector for the optional factory alarm system, which many bikes don't have. Connected to the other side of this multi-prong connector is another connector that only has a short black-wire loop that links the light-gray-with-blue-stripe wire and the black-with-orange/red-stripe (it looks orange but the shop manual says this wire is black with red stripe) wire in the alarm system wiring harness coming out from under the fuel tank.

An owner wrote "I removed the sheathing on the seven-wire harness coming out from under the tank to expose more of the light-gray-with-blue-stripe wire and the black-with-orange/red stripe wires. I then cut these two wires in two about an inch and a half away from the connector and spliced them together. After reinstalling the battery box I hit the starter button and the bike started right up. I shut it off and it restarted several more times in rapid succession, which it has not done for the last six months. I'm guessing that probably ever since day one when this bike left the factory there may have been a poor connection in this black-wire connecting link in the alarm system wiring harness between the light-gray-with-blue-stripe wire and the black-with-orange/red stripe wires, which in turn was intermittently shutting off the igniter box and resulting in no spark and the bike not starting".

"I want to spend some time riding the bike once I get all the bodywork back on again before I can say my problem is conclusively resolved, but I'm hoping I have finally solved the problem of erratic starting and/or total non-starting with no spark at the plugs.

Thanks again to John Ansell, Richard Taylor, Robert, all of the others for your e-mails, help, and excellent advice. For anyone out there with a 1200 Trophy with an intermittent or long-term "no spark" problem, I'd strongly recommend you cut and splice the above mentioned two wires in your alarm system wiring harness in front of the battery box before replacing coils, igniter boxes, crankshaft ignition position sensors, etc, as I did to no avail."

Lights
The Trophy has bright lights. However, replacement Osram H4 BILUX H4 Silverstar 472 SVS 60/55W P43T bulbs are reported to give up to 50% more light without incurring problems of increased current draw.

Sidestand Switch
The switch has two functions. When the sidestand is down, it shorts the line to ground turning on the "!" light. When it is up, it supplies a ground signal to the ignition module. List member Denny had a corroded alarm connector jumper pin which caused a problem. "The signal from the sidestand goes right from the sidestand switch out to the alarm connector, through a jumper in it, and then to the igniter. It may also go to a relay which is fitted to some models. The Triumph manual shows the relay for Trophies (from vin 29156 ) in a dotted line. He guesses that to mean that you may or may not have it. His didn't.

On later bikes this relay is internal to the igniter (ECU).

Clock
Clocks commonly fail. Check the wiring connections to the clock first. It is also worth considering whether your bike battery is nearing the end of it's useful life as a few Trophy owners have reported the clock problems going away when they fitted a new bike battery.

Eric Engel offered this to the group: "After 51/2 years I finally fixxed my OEM clock! I have previously pittled with the contacts and leads to achieve only temporary results. Finally while my bike was down for fork seals I opened up the clock to find the problem. The screws that hold the contacts extend down into the circuit board where they are held by a nut which is the only thing making contact to the circuit plating. In short, that connection works loose and also corrodes after time causing intermittent operation depending on temperature, voltage and vibration. If anyone wants to fix their clock they need to be diligent in bending out the chrome bezel ring at the bottom side so the clock can be seperated from the plastic housing. Then tighten and solder the nuts to the board. Triumph was never any help unless it was a safety issue".

Fuel Gauge
There are also many reported instances of fuel gauge failure, and it is often the sender unit in the fuel tank that is the problem as the sender is not a sealed item, and sits in fuel, which eventually attacks the resins used. It is not difficult to remove the sender unit (four torx screws at the rear underside of the tank) and whilst it is a 'non-serviceable item', the unit can be opened up and sometimes repaired.

Alarm
The "optional extra" Trophy Alarm is a Datatool Veto+. The connector is under the seat, just forward of the battery.

Bulbs
Headlamp bulbs are Osram 64193. Take care with higher wattage bulbs as they can cause an overload on the wiring harness. Some rear bulbs have a habit of bad contacts. A blob of solder on bulb contacts helps.

Instrument Panel
Indicator (turn signal) flashing on the instrument panel is very dim in daylight as the tiny bulbs are not in line with the 'green arrow' lens. Riding without knowing indicators are flashing is extremely dangerous. Former list member Dame Edna (Mik Bartlett) solved the problem by adding 3mm superbright LEDs to the instrument panel. Yahoo Group Owner Ken Hastie fitted 10mm Red Superbright LEDs. Other solutions are to remove the green arrow film from the dashboard display, so you see the bulb directly, add a 'bleeper', or fit higher wattage bulbs. Halfords (UK) stock type 284 12v 2.3 watt (OEM bulbs are 1.2 watt). Sylvania makes a 3.4 watt bulb. The model is 24LL.BP2. The bulb is a little bigger, but still has the same base and plugs in just fine.

Another neat solution is the audible Kisan signal minder. It truns off automatically after a set time; kind of pricy but what price safety? Unknowingly riding with flashers on is dangerous. The manufacturer is Kisan

Accessory Socket
Accessories can utilise a socket located under the fairing, on the offside (UK roads). Remove the chin panel, and you will see it located around the lower yoke area. It is a plastic socket, with two cables leading to it, coloured black (earth) and blue/green (positive). This is not a switched supply, and is permanently live, so disconnect the battery if you want to change the socket for a different type. This supply is protected by a 10 amp fuse.

If you wish to fit your own accessory socket, you can fit a BMW type socket, which is also available at reasonable cost from John Deere. The John Deere part number for the socket is AL25073 and the plug is RE11344.

Spark Plugs
Spark Plugs are NGK (DPR 9EA-9 recommended for warmer climates, and DPR 8EA-9 for colder climates)