When I was 37 years old in 1969 I bought a one year old Triumph Bonneville. It was no longer king of the road then. Both the Trident and Honda 750 four had made an appearance, but for me it was everything that a motorcycle should be. For the past 22 years I have owned that Triumph and now wouldn't sell it for anything. It has clocked up 124,000 miles of mostly trouble free joy.
If you think about it, that kind of mileage in 22 years works out at less than 6000 miles a year, a not particularly impressive figure In fact, the most I did in a year was 29000 miles and it was stored away for four years when I went to work in Saudi, so it has been used harder than those figures would at first suggest.
Now that the family have left the nest, the mortgage has been paid and I am in a well remunerated job, I have plenty of cash to spend on my favourite pastime. But the Triumph fulfils my needs so well that I have little inclination to line the pockets of either the Japanese or Italian manufacturers. However, as soon as I can arrange a test ride on the new Triumph triple I shall be more than willing to come up with the dosh if it comes up to standard.
You see the thing I like about the Triumph is that it takes me back to my youth. Even before I bought the Bonnie l was always a Triumph man and had owned various aged twins. These days it is very easy for me to forget that I am nearly sixty and slip back into the way I used to think when l was twenty. l have even been known to leer at young women as we hurtle past, although god knows what they think of a near OAP in ancient denims, leather and open face. Relations with the wife have been strained of late. and as she has never been an enthusiastic pillion she is left at home in front of the TV at the slightest excuse.
In my last year of riding the Bonnie clocked up a credible 8500 miles, running like clockwork. The only difficulty I have is starting her up, turning over two high compression pistons in a 60hp, 650cc vertical twin is no easy task when you're my age. At least i have the necessary technique down to perfection.
Engine capacity aside. the Bonnie both weighs the same and develops the same power as a Kawasaki GPZ500, so it is no slouch even amidst modern traffic. Rand tests of the time reported a top speed of 126mph. l have never seen such speed. Even in my youth I was never one for seeing if I could bounce the valves. The most I’ve seen on the clock is 110mph, a speed achieved with remarkable ease. Admittedly the bars, footrests and tank were thrumming a bit, and it was not a speed I would happily hold for any length of time. l have never gone beyond 7000rpm if the truth be told.
The engine has not had any chronic problems. It is only on its second set of pistons and first rebore (done at 47500 miles). The valves do not last so well, even though I adjust them every 1000 miles. It’s on its third cylinder head and. I think, sixth set of valvegear. I once tried pattern valves, they lasted only 2500 miles!
The oil pump is original but has been refurbished twice. The timing gears are original and untouched, as is the crankshaft and its bearings, which surprised me as much as anyone. The primary chain needs attention every 400 miles, but both the clutch outer body and engine sprocket are still original: I have lost count of the number of primary chains fitted. Clutch plates last about 20,000 miles, although, again, pattern parts don't last at all well.
The gearbox is still on the original gears, shafts and bearings, although various bits in the change mechanism have been replaced. The change is still precise and false neutrals are rare. The gearbox has started to whine lately, but I think it has a right to after the trouble free miles it has done.
It's on the third set of Amal carbs. when thew wear beyond a certain point fuel consumption takes a remarkable dive. On reasonable carbs the best I’ve had out of the Bonnie is 75mpg, the worst 45mpg. The average is somewhere between 55 and 60mpg. On worn carbs it does 35 to 50mm: the replacements pay for themselves very quickly.
The chassis components are mostly original. Most bits can be refurbished at minimal cost when they show signs of wear. The forks have been stripped twice, the shocks are still original.
Chains last about 15000 miles, sprockets twice that but the rear is very expensive to replace. I have used Roadrunner tyres ever since the Japs took over Dunlop, the front does 20,000 miles the rear 12,000 miles — just about acceptable The frame is still on the original paint, although it’s been patched up in numerous places.
I had the cycle parts resprayed about three years ago when the bike started looking tatty, taking the opportunity to have various steel pieces chromed. It now looks very smart. better in fact that some of the last Bonnies made which seem to decay very rapidly indeed.
I have never felt the need to customise the bike in any way. In the circles I move in just owning a motorcycle is a sufficiently rare occurrence to mark me out as an individual with strange tastes. The Bonnie's age mitigates against the prevalent hoodlum image and even little old ladies have been known to nod approvingly.
Sadly, I see very few other British bikes of a similar age out on the road, and we always wave to each other when we go past. Of course every other old codger comes up to me and tells me what fun he used to have in his youth on some old British hack; I tell them that they can still have the same fun even in their advanced years!
Despite being over twenty years old the Triumph still has enough performance to see off cars from the traffic lights. Many a young poseur in a 911 has found his jaw sagging after being put in his place by Bonnie and self. Take off in first gear, using no more than 5000 revs, is usually sufficient to see off most cars. A favourite trick of mine in traffic is let some speeding Henry stay on my tail by holding off with the power, then accelerating away between a gap in the cars, leaving Sporty no option but to rapidly slam on his brakes. I feel sure that I have converted any number of car drivers to the superiority of motorcycling in this way. The Triumph is actually an ideal machine for the cut and thrust of city traffic, the only proviso being more than an hour of slow moving traffic when the motor begins to overheat, the engine stutter and the clutch drag.
Of course, the bike doesn't do so well on motorways. It has done some high speed trips where the speedo saw the wrong side of 90mph for most of the time, a speed necessary just to keep up with the traffic in the slow lane, without any mechanical malaise, but it is not a particularly pleasant experience, what with the vibes and wind blast engendered by the sit up and beg riding position.
It is most at home on fast A roads and meandering country lanes. On the latter its excess of low speed torque can be employed without needing to rush up and down the four speed gearbox. The pleasant beat of its exhaust, the correctness of its riding position for sub 70mph speeds and the feeling of being part of the countryside all combine to make it a very addictive experience.
The other side of the vertical twin equation is found higher up the rev range on faster roads, when the mellow beat turns into a ferocious roar and the bike can be blatted between third and fourth gear, leant all the way over until the footrests touch and careered through the landscape with elan. Grin factor - 10!
The Triumph uses a fairly basic tubular frame not up to the standards of either BSA or Norton. Until Triumph added the- additional swinging arm mounts between the engine and frame. older Triumphs often used to get tied up in knots on fast corners. My Bonnie weaves slightly in fast bends but the taut (bone rattling if you’re being unkind) suspension makes sure it does not get too far out of line.
The gutsy mid-range performance — you can just stick it in fourth once 45mph is up and open the throttle to get 95mph on the clock in short order — has often surprised riders of plastic missiles on A roads, and many's the time I've watched them frantically stamping on the gear change and viciously jerking on the throttle to keep up. Which, of course, they do, and once they’ve matched maximum power to the right gear for road speed they disappear off into the distance.
The Triumph has drum brakes at both ends. The front is a TLS job, possibly the best of its breed. Certainly, from the kind of speeds I use it but rarely fades and is powerful enough to have the front forks all twisted up. It is a very precise device (it does have non standard Ferodo linings and shoes) which provides retardation at exactly the rate expected and is perfectly controllable in the wet. Ditto the rear brake. Front shoes last around 18000 miles, rears 25000 miles. Apart from very occasional adjustment to the front brake free cable play, they require no attention between shoe changes. From reports read on bikes equipped with discs I am a very lucky man — no seized calipers, cracked or even worn out discs, and no frequent and expensive pad changes for me!
Only the other day I had a chance to check out the effectiveness of the brakes when a dog ran out into my path when l was doing about 45mph. You know how it is when you’ve been riding the same motorcycle for a long time, all your reactions are instinctive and happen without even thinking about them. I had both brakes hard on, just on the edge of locking up the wheels, speed rapidly diminishing, knocking down through the box at the same time, and still had enough time to swerve to the left and just miss the back end of the canine. One good thing about the Triumph is that you can brake in corners without having to worry about upsetting the chassis, it stays on line pretty well regardless of what you do to it.
Two attributes of British vertical twins that get a lot of press are not entirely absent from my own machine. l talk, of course, of vibration and oil leaks. The latter is not a great problem, these days, just a slight weep from the pushrod tunnels and the back of one of the engine casings. i do cheat by using modern silicone liquid gasket whenever possible and have even been known to spend a weekend cleaning up and flattening engine casing surfaces to perfection.
Vibration is always present to some extent on Triumph twins, but after a while it just fades into the background and unless you rev it close to the redline it does not really intrude.
Having owned the bike for over twenty years I have had plenty of time to learn exactly which bolts and ancillaries are susceptible to the vibes. Part of my 1000 mile service consists of checking the tightness of every bolt on the machine Those with a tendency to fall out have been wired in position, although occasionally even the bloody wire fractures! Electrical ancillaries and even mudguards have been known to break up Most of the electrical components are non standard, heavy duty auto items located with additional rubber mounting. Even the battery is a small car item. These days I have few electrical problems. The headlamp is a very powerful car unit which lights up dark roads splendidly. It is, I will admit, a pity that Triumph’s initial penny pinching made such mods to the electrical system necessary.
The points. by the way, never last more than 8000 miles, and some of later, inferior, manufacture have worn out in less than 5000 miles. The coils (which l quickly rubber mounted) are, surprisingly, still original!
Having long solved most of the problems that afflict British bikes and having great faith in this particular Triumph, I had no qualms, four years ago, about taking the bike down to Italy. The wife refused to entertain the idea of riding pillion and was not amused when l informed her that l was taking all five weeks holiday for that year in one go, and she could take a package tour wherever she wished on her own if she didn’t want to be part of the adventure.
I left in early June, to get the best of the weather without too many tourists ruining the scenery. This was to be strictly a leisurely back road tour, staying at cheap hotels that would never rate a mention in a guide book. I had toyed with the idea of camping but decided my aged body did not deserve that trauma in addition to controlling the Triumph, and I did not want to overload the bike with excess baggage When I mentioned, on the ferry, to some elderly Americans what I planned and my means of transport they refused to believe it until I showed them my open face. This was to be quite a common occurrence in my travels. I was exceedingly lucky with the weather, suffering only four days of rain.
two of which I avoided by laying low.
The one really torrential downpour I did experience had the effect of allowing water ingress into the Triumph's electrics. It happened. luckily, in a French town, and I knew enough to rush into a nearby cafe, to wait for the rain to stop and the bike to dry out. Six hours later it started first kick) Neither the French nor ltallans were very good drivers and i had several narrow escapes on the Bonnie. Whenever possible I rode the bike at a relaxed pace down deserted country lanes with hardly a care in the world. I often did ten hours in the saddle in a day and because everything was so interesting I ate less and slept better in the nights.
On my return to England. many people commented that I looked younger and had lost weight, though not the wife who had not a good word to say about my absence.
On that trip the only attention the bike needed was fitment of the spare set of points, an oil change, a slight adjustment to the chain and repair of one puncture. This lack of attention was probably due to the fact that I was not travelling very quickly, so much so that the bike was doing 70mpg most of the time. Old Triumphs are exceedingly rare in Europe so my well travelled stained bike usually drew a large crowd wherever I stopped; in my more sanguine moods I told them I was on a round the world trip.
That leave of absence was to prove so unpopular with she who must be obeyed that l have not yet summoned up the courage to suggest a repeat journey. One day! Since then my forays into the distance have been limited to the odd long weekend off in the more remote parts of the United Kingdom.
I particularly like North Wales, having perfected a back road route up from the Smog, far from the congested motorways and A routes. Roaming through the deserted mountains with only sheep and the odd farmer for company, does not quite match my Continental experiences but it will do for now... my age assures me of admittance to even the most posh of public houses and even in the smallest of villages there is usually someone willing to put me up for the night for a few quid.
One journey was spoilt, though, when returning from a pub lunch in Hereford l spied some rascals trying to lift the Triumph into the back of a Transit van. Without a thought for my own safely, only worried that my precious vehicle might be damaged in the following affray, l rushed across the courtyard bellowing at the top of my voice. Thief, Thief.
Startled by my appearance, these louts proceeded to drop the bike heavily on its side. rush to the front of their vehicle and wheelspin out of the yard. l rushed to the bike, pulled it off the ground without thinking about the affect its mass might have on my back. and inspected the damage. Luckily slight. nothing a bit of paint and polish would not cure. Since then I have taken care to chain the Bonnie to something immovable.
I really don't know what the Triumph is worth, these days. To me its value is beyond mere money, it has been part of my life for so long that i can never see myself parting with it. It may eventually be put into semi~retirement if I can find another machine to use as my main vehicle, but even then i doubt if anything else will take its place in my affections.
Albert Reading