Triumph Bonneville test ride - finally! 

Thank you!

Looks Bxxxdy awful to be honest.

Thanks 👍

Yes, l've quite warmed to the black rims but not the red painted Triumph tank badge or that cap!

As soon as I saw that switch I thought the same, 1974 came flooding back. I had a starfire which I put a small metal flying eagle in the same place, a hillman hunter did a u turn right in my path I took the bike over the bonnet and landed on my head that eagle tore a gash in my thigh and lacerated both sides of my ball bag went to hospital to get stitched up then there was a bomb scare in the hospital so all outside for a while then back in she started sewing no anaesthetic YOWWWW I still have that eagle.

The T140 v i had was ace on the backroads like a jap 250 to chuck around with the high bars & low COG , went well too with a motorcycle mechanics midrange tune & blueprined motor from a good engineer freind, no oil leaks either with hyde gaskets in it. Ran it with campbell stainless rocket 3 silencers that boosted the midrange a bit more but limited your ground clearance a bit, they came free with the bike for £350 in the early 80's. An oil filter kit was essential on these for me after spending so much on the rebuild.

I think it was just the height of the frames which were problematic initially. Triumph did attempt to address the issue by lowering the seat height a little. I don't think the handling was ever in question.

Thanks 👍

And the w650

😂

Nothing more than a hunch really, I thought it might just create a tiny bit of clearance for whatever was binding and it seemed to have worked!

No, that is definitely not original!

Agreed, incongruous isn't it? Styling/component tweaks to finish it off.

@@paulhenshaw4514T160 part. Shouldn't be sticking up like this though. I like it too and would like to have it on my T150 instead of original set up. Also a Japanese front master for breaks gives it much better feel. This I have in my T150 and it locks a front tire when necessary.

What parts suffered with bad build quality?

It was better than a lot of current Chinese stuff!

Yes, it does, just like it would with Amals!

About the same as the original Amal equipped ones I've ridden.

@andysmith2013 Yes, and certainly no better!

It's just the way the camera picks up the sound.

@@paulhenshaw4514 Right-o

It is off putting though. Can you place a separate mike and muffler somewhere out of the air stream? @@paulhenshaw4514

It's not really possible or practical to do so, unfortunately.

Do you mean the re design of the cylinder head bolts?

@@nickmarshall9192 The oil frame would collapse when you put it on the center stand, shortened barrel to fit the frame, new drum brakes that didn't work,wire brackets for the head light,5 speed tranny that would fail so much that owners replaced them with the 4 speed,slag from the oil tank frame would fill the sludge trap in 10,000 miles,way way too tall, frame vibrates like hell, gray painted frame looked like just primer, cellulose paint would fade badly in 6 months,plus no bikes or parts to dealers who changed to selling Hondas. I think I hit all the bad aspects of the bike. Triumph and BSA were great in the 1960's and total crap in the 1970's.

'Slumberglade Hall'

The biggest issue was the financial losses caused by the oif fiasco and Ariel trike et al. Triumph assembly quality was even poorer than BSA, not helped by the labour relations at Meriden. They were so close to good bikes but always seemed to just miss the goal. Properly assembled, they are great. Oh, and Lucas!

@@bruceknights8330 warranty claims at Meridian were very low during the 1960's. My 1965Tr-6 has given me no problems in my 40 years of ownership. Just regular adjustments and replacing worn out parts. The same for my BSA C-15 250. Yes there were issues with Lucas like the ET ignition. Meridian employees were not hostile to the company as the employees at BSA. They protested the closer orders to protect their jobs. Triumph made 40,000 bikes a year while Norton made 7,000 a year. Sangster always regretted selling Triumph to BSA. The British management was totally out of touch with their customers and dealers. They destroyed all of the industries in England not just the motorcycles. It's sad but when you are #1 there is no where to go but down. At least we still have the bikes and with all the crazy laws in England and Europe vintage motorcycles will see more use because they are exempt from many regulations that new bikes have to adhere to. Vintage motorcycles are reliable and dependable transportation and rebuidable forever. Today's motorcycles are a collection of government regulations on 2 wheels.

Probably mid - late 70's