My first Triumph(again)
 

Thanks for all the answers/support on starting the Triumph. It finally arrived today. I put in a new battery and now I want to start it. So far, no luck. How do I "tickle both floats until fuel exits"? How do I use the chokes. I'm sorry for the elementary questions, but I have no owners manual. I bought a shop manual but that is no help on starting. Can anyone fill me in on the switches in the handle bar, specifically the one on the right with one Red plastic toggle and two black push buttons? Thanks.
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Your bike probably has mk2 Amal Concentric carbs [ squarish shape] and therefore no ticklers .
I'm not all that familiar with Bonnies but there should be either levers on the carbs or a handlebar lever to engage the choke .
Engage choke and then no more than a quarter throttle [or none at all ] and then try to start bike .

I assume ,of course, that you have checked for a spark at the plugs and the tank contains fresh fuel.

my first Triumph(again)
 

You are so right. The carbs are as you described. I set the chokes and the bike started, but just one side of the twin ran. The other side pumped plenty of air so I think it is ok.Tomorrow I will check for spark on the side that didn't fire. If there is no spark, I think I will switch coil wires and see if the other side runs. If so,the coil may be the problem.I guess it may be a bad spark plug, but that will be easy to check. I sure wish it had an electric starter...my legs are worn out. Thanks for the help.

Dino,
Welcome to the worn out kickstart leg club! I own a Yam TT600R so I know how you feel.

Surely the red switch on the right is the kill switch and my guess is that the little buttons are for a starter motor, if you had one - that's how my Yam is anyway!

Good luck with the Bonnie and the pools of oil! :clap:

Dave (used to have a Tiger cub many, many years ago)

My first Triumph(again)
 

I have more questions...should I start a new thread? If not, here goes. I drained the tank and put in fresh gas. What octane rating should I use for this '76 Bonneville? I drained the carbs as well via the plug on the bottom of the carbs. One carb drained well and when I let the new gas flow in without the plug, plenty of gas flowed out. When I tried to drain the other carb, not much came out and when I tried to blow through it via the gas inlet, my breath would not go through. I finally got it cleared by alternately sucking and blowing so that gas flowed well into the carb, but I think it is gummed up enough that gas vapor does not get into the engine. (This side of engine doesn't fire up like the other side. I THINK it has spark on this side. Do you think carb cleaner will help remove gummy gas? The bike sat for a Minnesota winter with gas in it (before I bought it) Thanks again

Use premium unless your manual says you can use regular gas .
It sounds like your carb is full of crud . You can try squirting some carb cleaner in through the gas feed ,I think from your description that the fuel valve was sticking .Leaving it overnight soaking in carb cleaner might free off any debris that is also causing the float to stick .
However I think that you will have to pull the carb off and remove the float bowl and give it a good clean out , blow through all the small holes with carb cleaner .
You can use soft fuse wire to poke through any holes that are still gummed up but be careful and don't get it stuck.

Try and download a diagram of the carb so that you know what you are dealing with .

Good luck .