1968 Triumph T120R Bonneville Solo Motorcycle

Description

With origins dating back to 1902, Triumph established a long and proud tradition of building powerful and rapid motorcycles.  It wasn’t until the Thirties that Triumph, under new ownership, began to build a series of truly successful machines, beginning with the Tiger range of singles and moving on to the Speed Twins in 1937.  The Bonneville, launched at the 1958 Earls Court Motor Show, was a development of the Tiger and featured a twin carburettor 650cc engine housed in a single downtube frame.  Named after the famed Bonneville Salt Flats where Johnny Allen set records aboard the famous “Texas Cigar” streamliner earlier in the Fifties, the Bonnie established itself as the fastest production motorcycle of the era and went on to become an all-time classic.  Post-1968 models are generally regarded as the best of the lot by Triumph aficionados, and the last ‘real’ Bonnies.  Two major developments took place in 1968, the first being the switch from Amal monobloc carburettors to new concetrics while the original single leading shoe front brake gave way to a more powerful 8-inch twin leading shoe design.  The Bonnie remained the most powerful, fastest and desirable bike in Triumph’s catalogue for over a decade, with numerous variants offered for sale along the way.  Sadly, inroads by the Japanese, along with the general complacency 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.  This, too, ultimately proved futile and the doors closed at Meriden for the final time in 1983, ending a proud chapter in British motorcycling history.