I spent the weekend visiting with friends while I did a couple of upgrades to the Triumph. Saturday, Russ brought over a fifth of Wanderback whiskey. We sipped the single malt while testing my charging system and swapping out the stock rectifier for a new Hot Shot Triumph Rectifier-Regulator (part #10-004H)  from Rick’s. Using  newer mosfet technology, it runs cooler and passes more current than the OEM part. I gained a more than a volt and it starts charging now at 1500 rpm. Hopefully this will put an end to the dead battery problems I have been experiencing all winter when I run my heated jacket. The installation was easy, pretty much plug-and-play. The rectifier fits the old mount on the forks with original two bolts and plugs into the wiring harness inside the headlight shell. Rick’s plug snaps right into the Triumph connector.

Once I had everything buttoned up I turned my attention to the other upgrade I had planned. My motorcycle seat was torn; the vinyl cover had gotten brittle and was coming all apart. I had purchased a new British Customs retro seat cover but the remains of the original seat cover still needed to be removed.

We set the bottle between us and I used a screw driver to lift the staples up. Russ followed my progress round the seat pan, using pliers to rip the staples free as I pried them loose, pausing every so often for another sip of whiskey. When we got the old vinyl off we found the foam under the cover was wet, so installation would need to wait until it had time to dry. The sun was getting low, so Russ went home and I called it a day.

My friend, Michael, came over Sunday afternoon. He’s recovered motorcycle seats before, and kindly agreed to help me do mine. I was lucky to have his help – Mike has more patience than I do and this is a job which is much easier with two people. He stretched the fabric and I used an electric staple gun to tack it to the seat pan. We started at the nose, then moved to the back, then to the middle right side and across to the left side, working back and forth and out from the middle, flipping it over every so often to make sure we were keeping the seams lined up and even. We had a little beer and we had a little whiskey. The sun shone warmly on the back deck where we were working. It was an altogether pleasant way to spend the afternoon. When we were finished, the seat looked better than new.

I bought both the rectifier and the seat cover from Solomoto Parts, out of Las Vegas. Their prices were competitive and it took a little over a week to get my order.