…I’m gonna make a big star out of you…
…..All you gotta do is, act naturally!
June 5, 2011
Mid Seventies Bonneville Cafe
A clean example of a cafe’d Oil-in-Frame Bonnie, Right hand shifting, discs, so must be T140V from 75 or 76. Nice black paint scheme and grey frame. This helped my own rebuild inspiration…
The racing hump seat , a reupholstered cover available from Vietnam of all places, affords a further speedy line to the desired appearance.
Eliminated front fender gives a bobbed look too. Clip-Ons the correct stance.
Close-up view of frame, timing side of engine and rear sets. The standard ‘boxy’ side covers actually look right with the grey frame finish and dull engine casings.
Anotehr view of the Norman Hyde rearsets, close in appearance to mine, as well as the gear change lever.
A final rearview shot of the rounded ‘rump’ and the long pipes; altogether a balanced build with clean lines and serious purpose of speed.
June 1, 2011
Sunny Sunday ride in May
Perfect early Sunday morning weather, 60’s, sun, fragrant woods, cool breezes up the ravines, an occasional glimpse of the lake and quiet roads. Went up to Lake Bluff; bike running well too! Doesn’t get much better than this!
May 14, 2011
Bonneville at Bonneville UT
If you want to stretch the legs of your Bonnie where better than the Salt. Here’s a couple of shots showing ardent triumph owners taking their rides along for a spin. I’m sure it’s pretty adrenaline pumping haring along the rutted white grit of the course ticking over the ton with a seven mile or so run out. Sneck through the gears and open the throttle and pin it.
Marco Raymondin of Paris based Brooklands Motors http://www.brooklands-classic.com/ (above) takes his pre unit T110 (below) through its paces…
May 3, 2011
Triumph Bonneville T120R 1972
A bright Sunday morning had take the bike out up Sheridan Road; more of a shake-down and getting used to the controls, especially the gear change (it does need a good hoof to up and down change, otherwise false neutrals make themselves evident). Need to slowly get the distances built up with it. However my elbow and wrist still give me trouble after about an hour of clutch work.
I also installed a ‘BarSnake’ into the hollow center of the handlebar, it’s a rubber strip that fits snugly into the bars and helps minimise vibrations by assisting the damping. It worked well in the 45-55 mph speed and 3-4000rpm. I’m pleased with it.
Some items to still work on: front brakes, front brake switch, tank paint (again!).
April 18, 2011
Sunny Sunday
A clear skied Sunday afternoon beckoned me ou on the Triumph. I kicked her over and roared up Sheridan Road along the Northshore suburbs of Chicago. Still a few things to iron out with the new controls; but overall the bike ran well and the engine purred.
April 9, 2011
of Malcolm Uphill and the Triumph Bonneville
From http://www.triumphbonneville.com/ – a site dedicated to the T140 and TR7:
“The best lap could be around the 103mph mark” predicted Paul Dunstall, for whom Ray Pickrell had put in a storming circuit of the 37.73 mile course at 99.39mph on a Norton twin, but Dunstall’s favourite was Triumph’s Malcolm Uphill,on a 60bhp 650cc Triumph Bonneville…
The production TT introduced in 1967 was no reprise of the worthy but often dull Clubman’s races. Rider’s were top names and engines were tuned to last for the three laps it would take to boost sales and prestige for the coming season. British Manufacturers might have lost the battle for the smaller capacity classes, but big twins like the Commando and the Bonneville were still competitive on the track and in the showroom.
Uphill ignored the pressure and still likes to recall how he eased off once he was sure of a win.
“The 100mph lap didn’t mean much to me at the time”, he says. Far more important was the £50 prize, £70 in trade bonuses and the £300 Triumph Bonneville MAC232E-his fee from Meriden.
Hunched well forward on the howling twin,pudding basin hemet bobbing above the steering head, Uphill flew through the speed trap at the highlander pub at just under 135mph. His standing start at 100.09mph looked effortless until spectators realised the scraping sound was Malcolm cornering on the Dunlop K81’s until his fairing touched the road. A faster second lap and a ton plus race average looked certain until this cool professional throttled back to finish with 99.99mph. It was the Bonnevilles finest hour,and a feat immortalised by Dunlop on the sidewall of every K81 the ‘TT100’.
As well as the Thruxton 500 in 1969 he also dominated the NW200 road race in Northern Ireland.
Fantastic shot of him at speed, classic lines of the Triumph blurs the scenery.
April 8, 2011
Triumph Adverts
Here’s another selection of the various methods through time to propote the prowess of a Triumph motorcycle…
…first off, sea, sand, seagulls and…
However, the worlds best motorcycle has to rule the globe… quite literally!
Of course a word straight from the racers mouth doesn’t go amiss either.
… or a land speed record!
But in the end it all comes down to impressing the ladies!
March 28, 2011
The ’72 Bonnie Cafe Project so far…
The updates to the bike have been taking shape over the winter. The bars have been swapped out for a pair of M-bars, a shape developed to work specifically with the 70’s steering triple tree where clubmans won’t fit. These are from Norman Hyde in England; he specializes in upgrades for both Meriden and Hinckley Triumphs. Also from NH are a pair or rearsets, these change footing position with well manufactured cast aluminium plates and gear and brake levers. There was some fanagling with the fitting points as these were developed for the pre oil in frame unit models. There is still some tweaking with the fine adjustements and mounting to ensure the kick start lever swings cleanly, the gear change pivots correctly and rear brake rod arm levers well.
The tank was repainted to include a Gulf decal, adding to the Le Mans theme. Also a narrow nosed seat from a T140V has been included, swapping out the boxier seat that came with the original project bike. New downpipes and long Dunstall mufflers complete the clean, low fast look I’m trying to achieve with this bike.
…looking forward to warm spring days!
February 20, 2011
60’s in the 70’s
In an attempt to stir nostalgic values to the 750 Bonneville in the seventies here they advertise with sixties imagery, harking to diners and hot-rods, sunsets and black & white photo’s; the chinzy 80’s airbrush look detracts fom the bike, coloured to look like the ’68 zenith Bonnie. Note the NVT logo used for this Calirornian dealership (Norton Villiers Triumph); the conglomeration of the remnants of a once sucessful British motorcycle industry.
February 13, 2011
Chicago Motorcycle Show
Triumph Motorcycles had a stand with their latest models this year (for the first time) at the International Motorcycle Show held at the Rosemont Convention Center.
That iconic logo…
The Scrambler model is upright an comfortable. I’d take one of these please sir!
A coffee and cream T100 Bonneville harks to the sixites models. Sublime.
Whereas a T100 set up to look like the later 70’s model Bonnies with cast wheels looked superb also.
The chunky tires, single seat, rear rack give the scrambler a focus. All I’d need is a Belstaff wax jacket and off I go!
The Thruxton racer model is my favorite. Drop bars, alloy rim wheels, rearsets and a stainless exhaust adorn a juicy red bike. I’d be at one with the road upon this steed. My ’72 Bonnie is going to be adapted to this style.
February 2, 2011
Triumph Bonneville – Gulf Colours
Here’s someones modern interpretation of the Bonnie in the sky blue and orage of the Gulf Oil racing colors (just like I want to achieve with my bike!) looks good, especially with the orange frame.
The blue rims may be a little overkill, perhaps just black would be fine, but this does look like a cafe McQueen would be seen on!
geordiebiker.com 