My new ride.

ivan H

ivan H

Ambassador of Tubes & Grooves
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I've always been into old British bikes, & while many of my favourites (like my "grail" bike, the Vincent Black Shadow) rarely are offered for sale & are extremely expensive anyway, other types, like the Triumph Bonneville are much more accessible for the average punter. When it comes to the old Bonnie's, a little research shows the 1968 model to be the most desirable. As well as featuring things like better braking (twin leading shoe front brake), more substantial rear swingarm, improved front damping & concentric carbs, '68 was also the year that motor parts previously only available through Triumph's "performance parts" catalogue now became standard fare. Still, finding a '68 for sale here in Oz took quite some time & I nearly gave in to get a '67 or '69. Luckily I held out until this gem became available about 4 hours away from where I live.
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The (approximately 75 year old) guy that I purchased the bike off had his shed full of old British bikes. He told me he has been restoring old British bikes for most of his adult life & that he likes them to be restored to "as they came from the manufacturer".
At the time of my purchasing the bike, it had just over 6,000 miles on it since he had done the following;
Motor top end rebuilt,
Transmission & clutch rebuilt,
Rear swingarm bearings replaced,
Steering head bearings replaced,
Front forks/dampers rebuilt,
Rear dampers replaced with Koni's,
Drive sprockets & chain replaced,
Brake drums machined,
Brake shoes all replaced,
All cables replaced,
New battery fitted,
New, correct type exhausts fitted (previously had a 2 into 1 system),
New front tire fitted.
While the two Amal carbs are the correct type, they are not original to the bike. The original carbs had needed to be sleeved, so he had simply fitted a pair he had that hadn't required this be done yet.
I've probably left out a few things that have been done.
Yes, it goes as well as it looks. I'm looking forward to doing some weekend touring on it, as there are some great "riding" roads up in the mountains here.
I'll post some better pics as soon as I take some. Cheers
 
Thanks guys, much appreciated.
Although I hopefully won't need it for some time, I ordered a printed copy of the original Triumph workshop manual, covering the 650 twins from '63 to '70 (Bonneville, Tiger, Trophy & Thunderbird).
One thing I forgot to mention in the list of work done by the previous owner, the throttle twist grip has been upgraded to the twin cable type, thus doing away with the "1 into 2" type throttle cable .
The bike still has the original twin breaker points type ignition system, so I may fit a CDI ignition in the near future. I've made quite a few CDI's for dirt bikes in the past, so may even have a crack at making one for this.
Im thinking of also fitting turn indicators. Even though they are not necessary, considering that a very high percentage of road accidents involving motorcycles are not the riders fault, I'm thinking indicators may be a good idea.
I've discovered that my old leather jacket & strides (that haven't been used in about a decade) no longer fit me. Seems I've gotten a little rotund around the middle (who'd of thunk), so some new riding apparel is in order.
iblive said:
Way back in the 70s, thought it’d be cool to have a British bike. Seemed I leaned more to the Norton 750. Just llll pulled the plug.
Click to expand...
I very much like Norton's & yes, a 750 Atlas or Commando would be great. I especially like the old 350 & 500cc singles, as seeing the old Manx (race) models as a teenager first got me interested in Norton's. I mean, who wouldn't really like having a crack on something like this old 500cc Manx Featherbed.
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Cheers[/QUOTE]
 
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@ivan H my favorite part of English motorcycle repair manuals is: "Apply Hide Mallet." It's the one step, cure-all.

My first motorcycle was a '73 Norton 850 Commando. I wish that I knew more about bikes at the time, and knew what I had. The mentality at the time, was learn to ride on an English bike, then buy an old Harley FLH, preferably with 3, 4, or 5 as a third digit in the model year. I sold my Commando to get parts to keep my '59 FLH running. It wasn't very long before I regretted that decision, but I was making crap money at the time and didn't want two broken motorcycles.

Manxes are my favorite bike of all time. When my Monkey (sidecar passenger) said he was going to compete in the '99 Isle of Man GP and wanted me as his pit crew, I jumped on the chance. We spent Wednesday morning on the balcony of Creg-Ny-Baa drinking Guinness watching the 500 Masters race, and Joey Dunlop was on a 500 Manx. It was great to see all the Nortons, Seeleys, Matchlesses, Velocettes, etc... screaming under us at 100 MPH.


A happy 18 year old on a Norton.

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