If you are a vintage motorcyclist, you know about this bike. It is a race version of the Bonneville T120, 650cc twin. This is my father's bike he is restoring. He has owned it since 1972 (at 20 years old). It is a numbers matching TT Special and can vouch that it is legitimate through paperwork. He's been restoring it for almost 1 year now. It took several months to locate parts and correct information about his bike. His is a rare Aubergine (the red/purple) and Alaskan White color combination. Most others are Aubergine and Gold. They only made roughly 600 (or maybe it's 500) of these bikes and are very rare and sought after. Unfortunately, many people are fraudulent and misrepresent what they have, going to great lengths of changing their serial numbers on their frame and bottom end. A bike in concours condition can fetch upwards of $19,000. With the history my father has, and the attention to perfection, this bike will hopefully be a show winner. He is putting a different electrical system. He is going with a more reliable ignition over the standard Lucas wiring. Aside from that, the bike will be completely stock and shown as though it is how it came from the factory. He also has a quick release rear wheel that is also rare for its year. This helped racers take off their rear tire without having to be pestered with dealing with the chain. While not exactly stock, it is a period correct piece that adds to the personality and authenticity of a racer's Bonneville, the T120TT Special. Sorry these pictures are from my phone. We went to his restorer today and weren't expecting to see the motor and fenders on the frame. It's been a long, slow ordeal primarily caused by long waiting times. It took several months to get all the ORIGINAL BOLTS to be re-cadnium plated and the motor to be complete. It needed a new top-end, as it was already bored over. We needed new pistons and cylinder heads because of being .060 over. The bike is coming together and I can't wait to see it at the next Monterey Motorcycle D'Elegance. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Oh, that's a seriously beautiful thing. Just pristine! Spent an inordinate amount of time looking at Triumphs yesterday, old and new, and learned a wee bit about these - you ain't kiddin' - rare beauts, as relative to the rest of Triumph's production, just a few Bonneville Specials were built, and only in '66-'67.
Glad you dig it, Wax! I'll try to get my father to email me all his pics of it. He has some other ones that are better quality. Not too much to look at right now, but it's something!
Bring it out to the AMCA events as well. I'll look for it at the Legend of the Motorcycle show in Half Moon Bay.
I once owned a plain old '66 Bonneville, my first (and only) motorcycle. What a great machine it was!
I saw your BMW R60/2 at the Concours at Serrano. What a beautiful bike! I'm hoping my father will bring it down to the HMB show. It probably won't win because of the electrical system upgrade. Stupid, because it is actually an improvement to make it more reliable and rideable. Oh well. A&S BMW has a vintage show. This year they didn't have a formal show with awards and the show flopped. Last year was supposedly a great turn-out. So I know my father will bring it to that show. I know my father is more of the guy who wants his bike to ride it occasionally and not be a trailer queen. He's restoring it for himself and not for awards. But I really hope he brings it to the HMB show because I really want to see it on the grounds there along with all the other amazing machinery.
