Valve
Clearance
Valve Clerance
Inspection
Changing of the shims
Reassembly
General Comments
This Thunderbird model has a Direct Over
Head Cam (DOHC) and there are shims that sit in a
bucket that are pushed against by cam lobes. Doing so
opens and closes the valves letting fuel in and exhaust
out. This job should be done every 2 years or
10,000miles. It is such a big job that you should plan
for all the parts you need and read through it all before
attempting. It is also one of the most poorly written up
tasks in the whole of the official Triumph manual.
Also, you are best doing this job at the same time as
changing the spark plugs, coolant and it cant hurt to
do the oil as well. The oil isnt described in this
manual but the other two tasks are. This task also
allows you to check many other components along the
way so I recommend saving this job for the winter
when you might be less inclined to want to use your
bike. Also, I dont recommend trying this as your first Steps
DIY maintenance task. There are key things in this job 1. Remove the seats with a 5Hex bit.
that could go wrong and you need to follow the
instructions exact.
Other key tips for this job is to use this as an
opportunity to identify any parts that need painting, as
that will give you something to do when waiting for
new shims to arrive in the post. Another key tip is
dont drop anything into the engine when you have to
exposed. I havent had this experience but I could
imagine that it wouldnt be good if it did. I have
documented what I have done the best I can. My bike
did fire back up again first time without any issues.
This job is the biggest maintenance tasks but I have
also found it the most rewarding when complete
knowing that even the guts of the engine are as they
should be. Good luck!
Inspection and Adjustment
What you need before hand
Screw Driver: 5Hex, 4Hex, Philips, T27, T30
Adjustable plires
Spanner: 10mm
Sockets: 8mm, 18mm spark plug socket
o Angle extension
Feeler gauge
Camshaft cover gasket T1260246
Camshaft bolt seals 8x T1260309
Shim Adjustment
6mm Allen key
Sockets 8, 13, 32mm
A range of flat head screw drivers
Screw Bits: T25
Breaker bar
Razor/gasket scraper/scotch pad
Metric tap and die set
Triumph Tool T3880096, T3880200,
T3880039
Rubber mallet
Spanner: 20mm
Alternator gasket T1260661
2x M6x60mm bolts
Micrometer
Molybdenum disulphide grease and engine oil
50/50
Torque wrench: 5-165Nm
New O-rings for camshaft drive chain
tensioner T3600196 and T3600197
Small pick
Three Bond
2. Disconnect the black lead (negative) to the battery
using a Philips screwdriver. You may want to
stick the batter on charge if you are going to do
this job over a long period. Disconnect and
remove the instrument panel using a 5Hex bit.
3. Disconnect the tank- summary: 4-Hex bit front
fixing, disconnect fuel sensor and plump
connector, depressurize fuel system, disconnect
fuel and breather hoses, using 10mm spanner and
8mm socket on rear tank fixing.
Drain Coolant
4. You can just drain the coolant, but I found it
easier just to remove the radiator completely to
improve access. Make sure the bike is cool,
upright and preferably elevated for ease of access.
Unscrew the radiator cap and leave resting on top.
2 Thunderbird Storm

Radiator Cap

5. Unscrew the two hose clamps on the bottom of the

radiator using a Long Philips screwdriver. The
pipe is located next to the fuel filter. Also unscrew
the top hose clamp if you want to remove the
radiator completely.
Clamps
7. With a bit of encouragement, the radiator lift
upwards off its lower mounting lugs. Place a
bowl under the lower pipe and wiggle radiator
and the lower pip apart to drain the coolant.
Check the condition of the rubber mounts, if
perished then replace. Also check the condition
of the radiator for too many bent fins or
excessive rust. Stick a rag in the pipes to catch
any lingering dribbles.

Lower mounting lug

6. The Triumph manual says nothing about the next

step, but it is really difficult to slide this pipe off
without loosening the radiator. So remove the
radiator grill using a T27 adaptor for the screw at
the bottom. Then remove the top radiator fixing
Lower pipe
using a 8mm socket.
 Valve Clearance 3



8. Disconnect the cooling fan and then you can put
the radiator aside.

9. Now drain and remove the coolant expansion.

Start by removing the cover. Dont place it face
down and collect all 4 grommets. Undo the screws
using 8mm socket.

12. Remove the two nuts and one screw holding the
expansion tank bracket using a 10mm socket. As
you can see mine is rusted and should be sanded
down and painted. Behind it is the drive cog.

10. Using adjustable pliers pinch the hose clamp on

the expansion tank and remove the pipe. Have a
bowel to collect the coolant.

Move aside the wiring

13. This is the order I removed the wires in. I suggest
taking your own pictures along the way so that it
can go back exactly as it was on your machine. I
began by disconnecting this plug first. Note how
they both have white bits on them. It helps to
colour code.

11. Remove the 2 nuts holding on the expansion tank

using 10mm socket.
4 Thunderbird Storm



14. Then pull out this connector (MAP sensor)- it has
a brown wire.

Undo this screw

17. Unclip the throttle cables from the plastic

mount.

15. Undo this screw with a T30 head. Note the

bracket is on the bottom and the plastic bracket in
the middle of the three.

18. Slide out the connector on the right side of the

middle plastic holder.

Pinch these brown lugs to release them

16. Undo the screw at the base of the plastic frame-

located towards the back of the tank area, using a
T30. It is only the right screw that needs to be
undone at this point- not the one with the screw
driver in it in the photo

Slide out this connector

19. The two large connectors on the right side of the

plastic unit are clipped in with a bit of brown plastic
each. Pinch the brown plastic in at the sides and
with a wiggle they will come out of the plastic part.
 Valve Clearance 5



Then with a wiggle the whole plastic part should
slide out.

22. Clip off any cable ties.

20. Disconnect the connector with a U shaped spring

clip around it. Wiggle off the clip with a small flat
head screwdriver. When disconnected place the U
clip back on the connector ready for reassembly.
When moving the pink half of the connector (left
side of this picture) note that it has been routed
under the throttle cables.

U-Clip

23. Some people have removed the left hand side

injector body to increase access to the lower part
of the coolant tube using. Others, including myself
did not find this necessary.

21. Then disconnect the two connectors that were

previously unclipped from the plastic unit. Depress
the clip and they may take some strong wiggling to
separate. Tie the wires out of the way- note the 24. Bend the tag holding the main harness up to free
male portion was previously routed under the it.
throttle cables.
6 Thunderbird Storm
25. Have extra leads for Sat Nav and Oxford heated
bars and those cable needed to be moved up out
of the way.
26. The lower disconnected leads could be tied up to
the front.
27. The far right ignition coil can now be unplugged.
Using tape, label the cable as 4. Do the same for
the 3rd (Id label them 1-4 from left to right).
28. Undo the screw using a T30 on the left side of
the wiring area and disconnect the wire.
29. Now unscrew the screw on the lower part of the
coolant tube.
30. Undo the top and bottom clips attached to the
pipe using a Philips screwdriver (or a small
socket). Once the tube is removed plug the
coolant holes so dirt doesnt go down them.
Top Bottom
31. You should be able to remove the coolant tube.
But in practice mine wouldnt budge. So to
increase access disconnect a few more wires and
remove the thermostat. Begin by removing the
wiring guide using a 10mm socket (some it is an
8mm).

32. Remove the horn bracket using 10/8mm socket
and disconnect the wires. Make sure you mark
which one comes from one side, placing a piece of
tape on it should suffice.
33. Loosen the cable holder that is on the left side of
the steering column using 5Hex screw bit.
34. This will now give you room to undo the screw
holding the thermostat to the frame using a 8mm
socket.
Valve Clearance 7
35. With the thermostat disconnected you can then
use adjustable pliers to remove the clip holding
the tube on. Then move the tube out of the way
from under the frame.
36. This wire can now be moved out from under the
frame to give you more room.
37. On my bike it looked like someone had spliced
some wires previously. I dont want to go messing
what things I dont understand so again take
pictures for your bike so you can put it back how
you found it. The next wires I disconnected were
these.
8 Thunderbird Storm

40. Disconnect the wire from the ignition coil on the

far left and middle left, and label them.

38. The next was the small white skinny one with the
red tags on the lead. It helps if you colour code
leads so you can clearly see what goes with what.

41. It was only after removing all those wires and the
thermostat that I found there was sufficient room
to wriggle the coolant tube out.

39. Disconnect the next two black connectors. But

dont forget to put tape (or colour nail varnish) on
one set so you can identify them for return.
No tape Tape

42. It is not necessary to disconnect the throttle cables

at either the throttle body or twist grip. But it does
help to move/tie up all the cables so they are out
of the way.
 Valve Clearance 9

44. With cables and ignition coils out of the way you can
now begin releasing the camshaft cover
progressively. First crack them undone in the order
provided below using HW6 CR socket (or Allen
key). I found I had to use different extensions and
socket shapes to get to all of them. An Allen key gets
to all of them but you also need to be able to torque
them up properly later. Once cracked, undo them
some more in the same order and repeated until the
Tided up fixings have all been released.

Front of Bike
1 5 8 4

2 6 7 3
43. Clean the area around each ignition coil then twist
and carefully wiggle out the coil plug. The one on
the far left side is difficult to get fully out due to the
shape of the frame but with some wiggling it comes
out.

45. With the camshaft cover bolts removed you can now
lift the cover off. Although the manual says dont use
anything to lift it off, mine did need some
encouragement. I tried a plastic lever but that bent.
10 Thunderbird Storm
So I wrapped a screwdriver in cloth and very gently
levered it. It didnt take much force and the rest I
could do by hand. Once free, remove the chrome
inserts and manoeuver the cam cover towards the
right side of the engine. Collect the camshaft cover
gasket and clean the gasket surface with some scotch
pad.
46. With the cam cover off it is much easier to get to
the spark plugs and is a perfect time for a change.
Use a 18mm spark plug socket and extension bar to
reach the spark plug.
47. Select the highest gear (6th) so that there is the
most amount of movement when turning the
engine.
48. Using a 16mm socket on the drive wheel, rotate
the engine until the camshaft lobes you want to
inspect are positioned directly away from the
valves. There are 4 pairs of cam lobes.
49. Using a feeler gauge to check the distance
between the shim and the camshaft lobe pointing
away from it. The inlet gap should be between
0.10mm and 0.15mm. The exhaust gap should be
between 0.15mm and 0.20mm. When checking
the exhaust gap it is imperative that you measure
it with the de-compressor/flyweights expanded.
You do this by moving the de-compressor weights
aside and keep them there while rotating the
engine. Doing this will lead to the right gap.
Without doing this my gap was 0.55 but with
doing it the gap was 0.15. So you will take the
wrong reading if you dont do this.
Repeat step 49 until all pairs of camshaft lobes
have been inspected. Write down all the figures as
you go (Ive also uploaded a table for you to
download and record your numbers). If everything
is within specification then great you can now
skip to step 109 and put things back together. If
not you have to continue on and change the shims.
Take note- there are 4 gaps to inspect on the inlet
(2 on each side) and 4 to inspect on the
outlet/exhaust, thus 8 measurements to record in
total.
 Valve Clearance 11



De-compressor access with the Allen key easier.

51. With the brake cylinder loose, now loosen the

right footpeg mounting bracket using 13mm
socket.

Valve Clearance Adjustment

50. The official manual says to drain the rear brake
fluid and remove the lever but this isnt needed.
Start by loosening the 2 screws holding the rear
master brake cylinder using a 6mm Allen Key.
These were tight and I needed to use a small
breaker bar. They have thread lock on them, so
dont for get to clean the thread and hold with a
Remove the Alternator Stator
tap and die to make it clean for new threadlock
later. I also removed the screw holding the rear 52. Remove the Alternator cover using 8mm socket. It
fluid reservoir with a T5 hex screw bit to make would be best to remove it in the following
sequence.
12 Thunderbird Storm



both the cover and the engine. I found a
3 7 combination of a small flat head screwdriver,
10 11 razor and scotch pad got it off. Careful not to
scratch it or put gouges in it.
6
1

2
5

12
9
8 4

55. Remove the crankshaft position sensor using T25

53. I found the cover hard to get off. So I wrapped a screw bit. The Triumph manual says do this later
flat head screwdriver in a cloth and levered it off. but it is more practical to get the sensor out of the
There are two lever points, one down the bottom way now.
and the other half way up the side. Be really
careful not to damage the casing when doing this.
Also expect about 1L of oil to come out. This is
why it is best to drop the oil before starting this
job.

56. Use tool T3880096 (Triumph bar) and 10CR-V

(Allen key) socket to undo center rotor bolt to
remove it along with the washer from the
crankshaft. This is very stiff and I had to use a
breaker bar on the socket. Once loose, unscrew the
screw and remove the washer.

54. Much of the old gasket will be stuck to the

surface. So clean off the alternator cover gasket
and any debris so that it is ready for a new one on