1969 Triumph Bonneville 650cc Solo Motorcycle

With origins dating back to 1902, when a bicycle converted with a Minerva engine mounted on the top tube appeared, Triumph established a long and proud tradition of building powerful and rapid motorcycles. It wasn't until the Thirties that, in new ownership, Triumph really began to build some very successful motorbikes, beginning with the Tiger range of singles and moving on to the Speed Twins in 1937. The history of the Meriden Bonnevilles begins in 1958 with the launch of the T120 model at the Earls Court Show, featuring a twin carburettor 650cc engine and single downtube frame. Named after the famed Bonneville Salt Flats, where Johnny Allen set records in the famous ?Texas Cigar? streamliner back in the Fifties, the Bonnie established itself as the fastest production motorcycle of the era and went on to become an all-time classic, with the post-1968 models generally regarded as the finest, with their individually adjustable twin c/b assemblies. The Bonnie was always the most powerful, fastest and most desirable bike in Triumph's catalogue during the Sixties and numerous variants were offered for sale. The 1969 T120 had twin Amal 930 carburettors, 9:1 compression ratio and the Doug Hele designed frame was regarded as one of the finest handling of all Bonnies. Inroads by the Japanese, along with the general malaise of the British motorcycle industry saw the formation of the Norton-Villiers-Triumph conglomeration that year. Such were the protests against shifting production from Meriden to the BSA factory in Birmingham that a co-operative was established in March 1975 to resume manufacture of the Bonneville at the traditional home of Triumph. Sadly, this too ultimately proved futile and the door was finally closed at Meriden in 1983, ending a proud chapter in British motorcycling history.