Icons cannot be killed. Production of Triumph motorcycles has ceased
three times and yet the Bonneville thrives. Whether it’s an early
Triumph Engineering effort, a Norton Villiers Triton, a Devon Bonnie or a
new model from Hinckley, the Bonneville oozes cool from every angle.
Brando, Dean and, of course, McQueen have all swung legs over this
plucky Brit, escalating a status originally earned at the track. Its
parallel-twin engine has grown from 650cc to 865cc and carburetors have
given way to injection, but its silhouette remains as constant as our
desire to be seen riding one.
The Triumph Bonneville is a standard motorcycle featuring a parallel-twin four-stroke engine and manufactured in three generations over three separate production runs.
The first two generations, by the defunct Triumph Engineering in Meriden, West Midlands, England, were 1959-1983 and 1985-1988.
The third series, by Triumph Motorcycles in Hinckley, Leicestershire, began in 2001 and continues to the present (2015) as a completely new design that strongly resembles the original series.
The name Bonneville derives from the famous Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA where Triumph and others attempted to break the motorcycle speed records.
Development history
The Triumph Bonneville is the great grandfather to just about all
modern sport bikes. The early 1970s saw a shift. The western motorcycle
manufacturers were very conservative and weren't really pushing the
development of their bikes for performance. They had become "fat, dumb
and happy." Meanwhile, Japan seized the opportunity to grab a piece of
the market. People had been modifying their bikes for some time now. The
Bonneville was chief among them. People would cut pieces off the frame
and stiffen it up in various ways, do some suspension work, tune the
engine (bore them out, carb work, etc.) and add fairings to make the
bike a little more aerodynamic and try to do what was known as the
"ton". They would start at a café and race to some set point outside of
town. They had to be able to reach 100 mph but not necessarily sustain
it. The whole thing was a time trial. Consequently the bikes got faster
and faster. Interestingly enough, the "large" bikes of the day were
500cc. None of this modern 600-1400cc stuff. The Japanese had already
created a replica of all the British bikes, known merely as the FJMs
(Fundamental Japanese Motorcycles - e.g Honda cb350, Kawasaki KZ400,
several yamy hamies, etc.). Then they simply applied all the cafe racer
mods to a factory production bike and bam, modern sports bikes were
created.
T120 Bonneville
Main article: Triumph Bonneville T120
The original Triumph Bonneville was a 650 cc parallel-twin motorcycle manufactured by Triumph Engineering and later by Norton Villiers Triumph between 1959 and 1974. It was based on the company's Triumph Tiger T110 and was fitted with the Tiger's optional twin 1 3/16 in Amal monobloc carburettors as standard, along with that model's high-performance inlet camshaft. Initially it was produced with a pre-unit construction engine which enabled the bike to comfortably achieve 115 mph without further modification, but later in 1963 a unit construction
model was introduced which was stiffer and more compact, including
additional bracing at the steering head and swing arm. The steering
angle was altered and improved forks were fitted a couple of years
later, which, together with the increased stiffness enabled overall
performance to match that of the Bonneville's rivals.
Later T120 Bonnevilles used a new frame which contained the engine oil
instead of using a separate tank; this became known as the oil in frame version. The T120 engine, both in standard configuration and especially when tuned for increased performance, was popular in café racers such as Tribsas (BSA frame) and particularly Tritons (Norton featherbed frame).
T140 Bonneville
Main article: Triumph Bonneville T140
The early 650 cc T120 Bonneville, often known as the duplex frame model,was replaced in the early 1970s by the T140 Bonneville, the same basic
machine but with a 750 cc engine. Refined from the later 'oil in frame'
version of the T120, the first few T140s, designated T140V, featured a
larger-capacity engine of 724 cc, a five-speed gearbox option and
indicators, but still retaining drum brakes and kick-start. Shortly
after, the engine was further bored out to 744 cc and front disc brakes
were fitted using single discs until 1982. In 1975, along with engine
modifications, the gearchange lever was moved from right to left to
comply with new regulations mandated for the American market and a rear
disc brake fitted. Several T140 models followed featuring various
modifications and refinements including electric starting from 1980
until production ceased with the closure of the Meriden works in 1983.
Although this should have been the end of the Bonneville, as it
turned out it was not. Triumph Motorcycles was acquired by businessman
John Bloor, who licensed a company called Racing Spares in Devon, run by Les Harris
to manufacture the T140 Bonneville. These continuation bikes are known
as the 'Devon Bonnevilles', which did not reach the market until 1985,
and were not sold in the U.S. Production ended in 1988.
New Bonneville
Bloor's Triumph Motorcycles Ltd
launched a completely new model, the Bonneville 800 (790cc), in
September 2001. Originally built exclusively in Hinckley, England, some
models are now (2014) produced at the company's Thailand manufacturing
facility, which also makes components and accessories for various
Triumph motorbikes. The new Bonneville strongly resembles the earlier
models in style and basic configuration, but with modern engineering. At
the debut the new version was given a 790 cc parallel-twin engine, with
the up-spec T100 receiving an 865 cc engine. From 2007 on, all
Bonnevilles received the 865 cc engine. Through 2007, all engines had
carburettors; electronic fuel injection
(EFI) was then introduced to the 2008 models in Britain and to United
States models in the 2009 model year, in both cases to comply with
increasingly stringent emissions requirements. Dummy carburettors,
which are actually redesigned throttle bodies made to resemble
carburettors, have been added to the 2009 models to retain the original
vintage styling of previous years.
From 2008, all Bonnevilles received a slightly larger and reshaped
tank to accommodate the EFI pump, but the tank capacity was not altered.
Even though US 2008 models were not injected they still received the
larger tank, therefore the space for the pump was not used.
All the bikes in Triumph's current "Modern Classics" line are based on the new Bonneville, including the SE, T100, Thruxton, Scrambler, America, and Speedmaster.
In 2006, Triumph launched the "Sixty-8" line of Bonneville
accessories, offering vintage and modern-style items including seats,
seat covers, cam covers, sprocket covers, petrol tank covers, tank
badges, panniers, and other items to allow Bonneville owners the
opportunity to customise their bikes for considerably less cost than
traditional customisations. The adoption of the EFI engine in 2008
rendered many of these accessories obsolete, since tank covers, tank
badges etc. would not fit the redesigned tank.