PART THE FIRST
My very excellent Triumph Tiger 650 still started and ran well, so why was I seriously thinking of taking it apart? Well, even though there was nothing dramatically wrong, accumulating wear and tear had been on my mind for the last five years or so. I recalled my grandfather saying: ‘If you do it before it needs doing, it will never need doing. ‘That sounded a bit bonkers to my youthful ears, but made more sense now: the Triumph was well into ‘stitches in time’ territory.
Edwardian wisdom aside, there was no ignoring the rusting tinware and exhausts, and the state of parts that caught the worst of dirt and salt from over a decade ofyear-round riding. The once spotless engine still ran well but seeped oil and was down on power. More seriously, the brakes were no longer up to the job and I was riding the bike far less. It really deserved better.
We had clocked up some 24,000 miles from 16 years
