1972 Triumph T120 Bonneville 650cc Motorcycle

Description

With origins dating back to 1902, when a bicycle converted with a Minerva engine mounted on the top tube appeared, Triumph established a long and proud tradition of building powerful and rapid motorcycles. It wasn't until the 1930s that, in new ownership, Triumph really began to build some very successful motorbikes, beginning with the Tiger range of singles and moving on to the Speed Twins in 1937. The history of the Meriden Bonnevilles begins in 1958 with the launch of the T120 model at the Earls Court Show, featuring a twin carburettor 650cc engine and single downtube frame. Named after the famed Bonneville Salt Flats, where Johnny Allen set records in the famous ?Texas Cigar? streamliner back in the Fifties, the Bonnie established itself as the fastest production motorcycle of the era and went on to become an all-time classic, with the post-1968 models generally regarded as the finest, with their individually adjustable twin carburettor assemblies. The Bonnie was always the most powerful, fastest and most desirable bike in Triumph's catalogue during the 1960s and numerous variants were offered for sale, including the T120R for export to America. The Doug Hele designed 'oil in tube' frame was regarded as one of the finest handling of all Bonnies and 1972 saw a five-speed gearbox adopted for the first time. Inroads by the Japanese, along with the general malaise of the British motorcycle industry saw the formation of the Norton-Villiers-Triumph conglomeration that year. Such were the protests against shifting production from Meriden to the BSA factory in Birmingham that a co-operative was established in March 1975 to resume manufacture of the Bonneville at the traditional home of Triumph. Sadly, this too ultimately proved futile and the door was finally closed at Meriden in 1983, ending a proud chapter in British motorcycling history.