Beschreibung:

• Less than 100 miles covered since restoration • 1st place Concours winner at the 2014 Barber Motorsports Park There's little argument that a late-1960s Triumph Bonneville is one of the best-looking Britbikes ever made, with just-right proportions and a jaunty, let's-go-riding attitude. Writer Peter Egan may have put it best in a tribute to his own beloved Bonnie published in Cycle World magazine. "It provoked a bad case of 'XKE Syndrome' – impossible to park and walk away from without looking back over your shoulder," he said, likening the Triumph to Jaguar's sultry E-Type. Named after the famed Utah Salt Flats, site of Johnny Allen's 214mph record run in the Triumph-powered "Texas Ceegar" streamliner, the original 1959 Bonneville ushered in one of the most beloved and longest-tenured model names in motorcycling. Taking a cue from speed-hungry American tuners, from the start the Bonneville street bike was fitted with high-compression pistons, performance camshafts, an alloy splayed-port cylinder head and twin carburetors. The T120 in the model designation hinted at 120mph, and on good day, with a touch of tailwind maybe, the Bonnie could get close. By 1969, when this Bonneville was first sold, constant motor, chassis and styling improvements had evolved the bike to peak form. The excellent 8in. twin-leading-shoe front brake had been in place for a year; likewise the Amal Concentric carbs, now rubber-mounted. Also carried over from '68 was a frame with thicker gauge tubing and beefed-up swingarm. Inside the engine, "N" camshafts were nitrate-hardened for better wear, while the four-speed transmission was improved with a slicker shift mechanism, stronger gears, and larger main and layshafts. The gas tank's familiar "double scallop" paint scheme made its debut in 1969. Now synonymous with Triumph, the pattern was actually developed by custom painter Bill Betz for Bob Leppan's Triumph-Detroit dealership before wisely being adopted company-wide. Here, we see it carried out in the popular Astral Red/Silver with gold pinstriping from the 1970 model year. The 1969 and '70 models were high-water marks for both the Bonneville and Triumph as a company. In 1971 the oil-in-frame replacement Bonneville was introduced with high hopes, but it just didn't have the panache of it precursors. So, too, the marketplace was changing, with multi-cylinders from Japan stealing all the headlines. Still, there's no taking away the fact that by this time the Bonneville had become a cultural icon. Egan again: "Just about the coolest, meanest, neatest thing a person could own," he wrote of the original T120Rs. "As much a part of the American scene as James Dean, '51 Mercs and Lucky Strikes." Treated to a professional restoration approximately ten years ago, this Bonneville has covered less than 100 miles since. It was a first-place class winner at the 2014 concours held at Barber Motorsports Park. A simple recommissioning should be all that's needed to get the Triumph back in action.