Topic: Am I an idiot or just plain stupid?? 1965 Triumph in house, work begun

[754]

The term get misused,  or abused a lot..
 Look up Trackmaster Triumph........ Then add lighting and front brake..... Then you would have the real thing..

[MoMo]

Look at the link Larry...

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=street+tracker&biw=1366&bih=663&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIsfK04JyCxgIVKBqmCh1nrQBD#tbm=isch&q=street+tracker+kit

thanks, looks like what one does is take off the front fender and add an uncomfortable seat .   I am leaning to making it road worthy as is and then maybe restore to stock, but that could be too costly, or doing some sort of build similar to "the street tracker" but with fenders(because fendersrule ) and an original seat if I can find one...Larry

Agreed, sensible length forks,  bars and seat , thats it...

Found  a seat I am  watching on EBay  300$ for a Wassel repop.  thoughts?...Larry


http://www.ebay.com/itm/161100296808?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Retro Rocket]

Seat looks good, make sure it fits, sounds like he's not sure...

[MoMo]

Not up on all jargon Triumph related.  Friend keeps calling this a Tiger but all price guides say a T120R is a Bonneville 650, which I thought had two carbs.  SN is T120Rdu18541.  Anyone know for sure what to call this monstrosity...Larry

[Terry in Australia]

That's a nice old Bonny Larry, with a single carb (probably Tiger) set-up, hence your mate's confusion. The T120R serial number is the key, that identifies it as a US export 650 Bonneville.

They're a lovely bike mate, light, fast(ish) and great handlers. (quite different from the Golf Cart) I'd replace the seat with a double seat as chicks dig Triumphs, but I'd leave the bars and forks as is, as a "homage" to days gone by. Dust off your "Captain America" helmet, and enjoy. Great find! Cheers, Terry.

[ken65]

Good buy,  the 2 letters before the vin or engine number will tell you the year and month of production. ive a 72 bonne and when i sorted the front drum brake (conical) it works  better than my cb750 . as usual a photo

[MoMo]

That's a nice old Bonny Larry, with a single carb (probably Tiger) set-up, hence your mate's confusion. The T120R serial number is the key, that identifies it as a US export 650 Bonneville.

They're a lovely bike mate, light, fast(ish) and great handlers. (quite different from the Golf Cart) I'd replace the seat with a double seat as chicks dig Triumphs, but I'd leave the bars and forks as is, as a "homage" to days gone by. Dust off your "Captain America" helmet, and enjoy. Great find! Cheers, Terry.

Thanks for the info Terry,  I found a Wassel repop seat and purchased it for the tidy sum of 312 with free shipping, post up photos when it gets in.  Don't know why you keep maligning the most impressive Honda ever made.  After all, what other bike can double as a scooter on steroids and a golf cart?  Oh yea, wish I had a Captain America helmet...Larry

Good buy,  the 2 letters before the vin or engine number will tell you the year and month of production. ive a 72 bonne and when i sorted the front drum brake (conical) it works  better than my cb750 . as usual a photo

Nice Triumph.  would you happen to know the date codes Ken? d is the month and u the year? thanks for the info....Larry

[Stev-o]

Larry - there is no way your PC is the most impressive Honda. C'mon man, you know the 450 is!

[ken65]

this should help, by the looks of it, the 2 letter month and year dating codes only came in in 69, my blue, sorry.

1963 to 1968 Unit 650cc
1963 - DU101 to DU5824
1964 - DU5825 to DU13374
1965 - DU13375 to DU24874
1966 - DU24875 to DU44393
1967 - DU44394 to DU66245
1968 - DU66246 to DU90282

[MoMo]

Larry - there is no way your PC is the most impressive Honda. C'mon man, you know the 450 is!

but my fenders are way more impressive 

this should help, by the looks of it, the 2 letter month and year dating codes only came in in 69, my blue, sorry.

1963 to 1968 Unit 650cc
1963 - DU101 to DU5824
1964 - DU5825 to DU13374
1965 - DU13375 to DU24874
1966 - DU24875 to DU44393
1967 - DU44394 to DU66245
1968 - DU66246 to DU90282

thanks for the good info Ken

[grcamna2]

is that a Bonney then ?

[MoMo]

New parts arrived today..Emgo repops



a very nice Wassel repop seat

[MoMo]

Guess it is a 650 Bonney with single carb Bill

[Terry in Australia]

Nice pipes and seat Larry, and yep, if you know much about balancing Amal carbs, one is much easier than two, (actually, there is still a single and twin Mikuni carb conversion which will work better again) and I think it was pretty common for guys to convert Bonnie's carb setup's to single carbs due to issues with twin carbs. If I had a Bonnie, I'd install the Boyer ignition and Mikuni carb/s, which would address most of the "reliability" issues.

That's gonna be one sweet ride Larry, you better get yourself one of these mate!     http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Low-Profile-Captain-America-Easy-Rider-Chopper-open-face-jet-USA-biker-helmet-/331092614298?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&var=&hash=item4d16a85c9a

[MoMo]

Nice pipes and seat Larry, and yep, if you know much about balancing Amal carbs, one is much easier than two, (actually, there is still a single and twin Mikuni carb conversion which will work better again) and I think it was pretty common for guys to convert Bonnie's carb setup's to single carbs due to issues with twin carbs. If I had a Bonnie, I'd install the Boyer ignition and Mikuni carb/s, which would address most of the "reliability" issues.

That's gonna be one sweet ride Larry, you better get yourself one of these mate!     http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Low-Profile-Captain-America-Easy-Rider-Chopper-open-face-jet-USA-biker-helmet-/331092614298?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&var=&hash=item4d16a85c9a

Yep, even an idiot can balance one carb.   This was already converted to electronic ignition(not sure what brand tho) by my friend that turned me on to the sale.  His father makes a belt drive conversion for Triumphs that is really cool.  That helmet with a vintage style leather and I could relive the 60s-70s.  Spent a few minutes trying to get the Anal carb off but the clamp on the air filter is rusted up solid, sprayed it with PB Blaster and will try again tomorrow.

[grcamna2]

Guess it is a 650 Bonney with single carb Bill

Nice parts Larry  I'm thinking if it's a Bonney it may have a hotter engine than the Tiger.. Cool 

[MoMo]

Guess it is a 650 Bonney with single carb Bill

Nice parts Larry  I'm thinking if it's a Bonney it may have a hotter engine than the Tiger.. Cool 

thanks and not too badly priced.  a tad over 300 for the seat with shipping and 170 for the two pipes with shipping.  I'd really like to find a set of stock fork tubes....Larry

[Stev-o]

Hey Larry....looks like you are on your way.  I know very little about Triumphs, my brother wanted one, but bought a Kawasaki instead!

Not sure if these will fit your bike, but there are fork tubes out there...


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Triumph-5TA-T100-T110-6T-TR6-T120-Pre-Shuttle-Valve-Hard-Chrome-Fork-Tubes-Stock-/261323472911?fits=Year%3A1965%7CMake%3ATriumph&hash=item3cd817c00f&vxp=mtr

[MoMo]

Hey Larry....looks like you are on your way.  I know very little about Triumphs, my brother wanted one, but bought a Kawasaki instead!

Not sure if these will fit your bike, but there are fork tubes out there...


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Triumph-5TA-T100-T110-6T-TR6-T120-Pre-Shuttle-Valve-Hard-Chrome-Fork-Tubes-Stock-/261323472911?fits=Year%3A1965%7CMake%3ATriumph&hash=item3cd817c00f&vxp=mtr

Me either, never drove one nor worked on one. There are lotsa tubes out there just need to figure which ones this monstrosity uses..I.Larry

[Terry in Australia]

That's an excellent eBay link from Steve Larry, those fork tubes will fit your bike according to their compatability chart, and you can't complain about the price! (well you can, but none of us will really care that much...........)

[MoMo]

That's an excellent eBay link from Steve Larry, those fork tubes will fit your bike according to their compatability chart, and you can't complain about the price! (well you can, but none of us will really care that much...........)

I rarely complain about prices Terry, just about the incompetent young corporate fools that are running(ruining) the Home Depot and the lack of common sense and work initiative among young fellow workers, and that is a very good price...thanks...Larry

[ken65]

i fitted 2 new amal premier carbs to my bonne after not being able to get the old worn out ones dialed in. there easy to balance and my sweet bonne starts 1st kick 99% of the time, after 1 minute idling it ticks over at 900rpm and sounds sweet.   if i havent mentioned it before , i love my bonneville, also its surprisingly fast..

[Terry in Australia]

That's a lovely Bonnie Ken, I almost bought one of the last "Electric Start" Bonnie's back in the 1980's, but I bought a Harley Sportster instead, which was a great bike too. Cheers, Terry.

[MoMo]

Slide on the Amal was sticking wide open so I took the carb off, cleaned it and spent an hour or more fine sanding and polishing the carb body and slide so the slide would move freely. Carb was fairly clean considering the bike has been sitting for a year or so since the motor was rebuilt.  Think I am going to make it roadworthy, ride as is while accumulating all the stock parts. Hopefully, I will get majority of the parts in trade for the work I am doing on the Yamaha DS6

Not bad at all




Slide moves freely now, however my joints sure don't sometimes ....Larry
After sanding but before polishing

[Terry in Australia]

Beautiful work Larry, and good idea to keep it on the road while you're restoring it, once you strip it down it's no longer a bike, it's just a pile of parts.