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Well thanks anyhow....I openly admit that electrics are NOT my forte!
I always went by the old adage that Lucas Electrics were powered by smoke. You could prove that when you see a large wire like to your starter emit more smoke than a thin wire...LOL.
Anyhow, I've ruled out the bad ground thought since everything works perfectly on a fully charged battery. A bad ground would always be bad no matter what the battery's condition.
It really makes no sense since I rode the bike a bit over an hour with all the lights on the day I bought it and rode it home. Then a subsequent 20-25 minute ride drains the battery??? Unless whatever the problem is happened AFTER that first day...who knows???
But the charging system IS putting out the correct amount according to the specs.
Sometimes things simply don't make any sense. LOL, I've heard that 'powered by smoke' remark before. All I can think of is a bit of insulation somewhere breaking down. I hate intermittent electrical gremlins. They always behave themselves when at the mechanic's, but the likelihood of their acting badly increases with the rider's greater distance from home.
I "think" (?) I got the electrical drain corrected now. I discovered the drain happened only when the headlamp was turned on....which on old bikes like this must be turned on manually, unlike new bikes where it turns on anytime the ignition is on.
I tore into the headlamp dipper switch on the handlebar and found that a copper strip which the switch slides over somehow came adrift. This caused the power to got through the switch, to the headlamp and ground twice.....once at the bulb and once inside the switch.
It was a bit tricky to reassemble the thing correctly since it has a tiny spring and ball bearing in there, but I eventually got it back together correctly and the excessive draw seems to have quit.
Just as an update, I have replaced the '70s style silencers with the more classic "pea-shooter" style of the '60s (among a few other small bits and pieces).
Indeed. KoobleKar, that is one righteous sled! Are those the type of silencers original to it?
Thanks guys.
The megaphone style that was in the photos of the bike at the beginning of this thread were the originals. They were in perfect condition, but FUGLY and didn't sound like a Triumph should!
That megaphone style was big back in the 70s when Triumph was trying to keep pace with the Honda 750 - 4 (which if you recall had a megaphone style too originally).
These pea shooters were the type used on the Triumphs in the 50s and 60s. In order to mount them on this 750 model, which had a slightly smaller diameter header pipe, you have to use an adapter sleeve. They also make the bike sound like it should.
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