Named after the famous salt flats in the USA, not the birthplace of William The Conqueror in Normandy France, the Triumph Bonneville, a 650cc twin motorcycle, captured the hearts of many a British motorcyclist.
It wasn’t the electrics which didn’t always work when you needed them most, or the capacity of the machine to retain oil in its vertically split crankcase, or the vibrations in the frame which made the view in the rear view mirrors somewhat blurry.
For a stock machine, it was nicely balanced, and power delivery was even and strong. Mostly, it was fast and it looked right.
This is a stock T120, pre-unit construction. Note the separate gearbox. Improvements were made over time, the gearbox was integrated into the main engine housing, and general frame improvements were made to make it all more rigid, and it also gained twin leading shoe front brakes, and eventually a disc brake.
As nice as the bike above is, there was a version, never made in the Meriden factory, which was a real stunner.
What you do is take the engine out of the Triumph frame, bolt it into a Norton Featherbed frame, add a nice pair of Ceriani front forks for better front wheel control, bolt on a few goodies, and you get one of these..
The tank sports the Norton name still, but this is not a Norton. It is a Triton, and an very smartly finished Triton at that. A bike like this one has seen many hours of hard work and meticulous finishing skills.
For some history on the infamous Featherbed frame, see here..
http://thevintagent.blogspot.ca/2008/12/rex-mccandless-and-featherbed-frame.html
The Bonnie went on to become a 750 in the guise of the T140, and then it all went wrong for Meriden along with the rest of the motorcycle industry. The Japanese invasion, notably the original Honda CB750 spoiled the party, introducing disc brakes, electric starters, smooth riding and vibration free mirrors, they showed the Triumphs, BSAs and Norton's for what they were.
Among others, the Bonnie was not stylish like the Italian bikes, not super smooth like the BMWs, not clumsy and ungainly like the American Harleys, not technical masterpieces like the Japanese Hondas and Suzuki's. The Bonnie was a renegade, and it delivered what it looked like it could deliver, no frills, little comfort, but as much fun as could be had on two wheels.
For more on the Triumph Bonneville, and links to al associated with this most famous of motorcycles, see here..
