1998 Triumph Thunderbird

SMT398DLXWJ059955

Clear

1998 Triumph Thunderbird Sport for sale. Water cooled 885cc engine and 6spd transmission. These bikes were the pinnacle of Triumph's modern classic line in the late 90s through early 2000s. Combine the smooth triple engine and a proper suspension front and back (adjustable cartridge forks and remote reservoir adjustable mono shock), alloy swingarm and wheels, and dual front discs and it's essentially a sport bike in classic tins. This 1st year TBS has been treated to a light restoration. I purchased it due to the extremely low mileage and the rare early parts such as the aluminum Akront rims and exhaust. This era of Triumph triples is a bit of a weird obsession for me and I bought this bike as a stock complement to my heavily modified 2004 TBS. Although it was a low mileage bike, the previous owner, disliking the bright yellow, had performed a crappy white paint job and also hacked up the wiring harness in order to installed LED lights. Instead of trying to repair the wiring harness, I sourced an extremely low mileage and uncut harness as a replacement. I replaced the bodywork with 2004 tins and, also disliking yellow, the tank has a custom tuxedo paint job as an ode to my former t100 Bonneville. The tank was scuffed and the scallop was painted and then the entire tank clear coated in order to maintain as much of the original paint and pinstriping as possible. Even the original Triumph pinstriper's signature is still visible. The seat was then replaced with a dealer takeoff that has been in storage the past 16 years and is near perfect. All lights have been replaced with nice originals. Anyone who knows these bikes, knows how difficult it is to find parts at all, let alone clean low-mileage parts. The only change to the bike wiring is the addition of the TT600 coil on plug conversion. This was done by utilizing separate harnesses and spade connectors to use the stock coil connectors without cutting or splicing. These are OEM Triumph coils and much more reliable (and lighter) than the stock setup. I do this modification on every 885 triple I own as the stock coils are prone to failing at the worst possible time, every time. Everything is quickly reversible and the stock coils and plug wires are included with the bike (even the bolts for the coils are included). Additional recent maintenance and parts: New NGK plugsNew pickup coilNew sealed battery Synthetic oil NOS (new old stock) airbox with K&N filter Carbs cleaned and float bowl gaskets replaced Brake and clutch fluid flushed and replaced with ATE type 200 Chain cleaned and lubed Petcock rebuilt Upgraded seat release cable/mechanism (original is prone to breakage) Cons: some light over spray in places from previous owner's paint job (maaco?), Speedo cable missing (on order and will install or send to new owner), a few light scratches in paint from storage, will need new tires as the tires are original and showing some checking. If new owner wants, I can work with buyer to install new tires prior to pickup. I never thought I'd sell this bike but the opportunity arose to buy my holy grail Triumph, this must go to make room. Clean title. Plenty of spares available to new owner. I have a garage and basement full of classic triple parts.