Forum

[fishermanferg]

hi once again looking for help for my 2004 thunderbird 350 trying to learn what the bits and bobs are on the bike not to good at identifying electric parts I recognise the condenser but don't know what the other part is its bolted down with the same bolt as the condenser but not connected to it its about 2 inches long with a single wire coming from it anybody know will send a photo if necessary but would have to the seat back off again if need be

[Craig]

Sorry Mate but IMHO: "You need to get out and use your Bike as Much as possible,Dont worry if any thing pack's up as long as the Engine starts and the Wheels Roll" after six moths of heavy use Open a Beer sit down next to your Bike and reflect up on it..Dont Worry till its Bust they are TOUGHER than most Modern Bikes,,Enjoy it ...Lastly Condenser? Your Bike should be Electronic Cognition.... : All info supplied in Good Faith No warranty supplied but based on 30 years of Bullet (Thunderbird) running ;0)

[Beezabryan]

Well said Craig
Ride 'em, Don't hide 'em
Don't mend things that ain't broke
Don't bugger about with things you do not understand until you need to

[fishermanferg]

thanks again for replies I'm not fiddling with nothing just curious what the parts are if it aint broke don't fix it I got the bullet thunderbird because I loved the simplicity of it a tried and trusted engine it took me me back to the days of a much loved velocette I loved single cylinders passed my test on a single b.s.a c15 I'm ready to go out on the road now cardinal rule ive learned in 50 odd years ive had my licence if your not sure ask somebody who is as I said on here before I didn't learn to drive a car till I was 52 I think once you have had bikes its in your blood but the good thing here is these sites with people like youselves who have knowledge of enfields if only we had this sort of thing when I was young

[fishermanferg]

managed to find out what the bits were I was curious, about one is a capacitor the barrel shaped one ,the long one is a resistor, now what do they do.

[Exile]

Uhmmm... one capacitates, the other resists... Have you actually ridden the damn thing yet Ferg..?? Stop worrying about the components. If they fail, you'll learn all about them soon enough. Enjoy the bike..

[PeteF]

Isn't there anyone local to you that could take you on a tour of your bike?
Failing that, look at the diagrams in Mr H's parts book to identify what's what. OK, you'll not find the Thunderbird in there but they are all similar.

[Davie Hall]

As Petef says. Where are you based? Surely someone could help you learn about your bike.

[Adrian]

We have been doing our best to answer fishermanferg's questions on here and other forums.



It doesn't hurt to ask here or elsewhere if there's no-one physically nearby to talk to about it, particularly as 1) his bike is a less common model with some peculiarities of its own, and 2) it seems to have been modified slighlty and there's something that wouldn't appear in the manual.



The resistor is part of the AC headlight circuit, and as I have posted elsewhere, the capacitor is quite possibly an addition by a previous owner seeking to run the DC lighting without the battery, Lucas 2MC-style. There would be a certain logic to this as the CDI ignition and the AC supply to the headlight on the kick start Thunderbird are already self-generating.



A.