Another Restoration

Almost 20 years ago I restored this 1968 Triumph Bonneville and put it on display in our living room:

Over the years, even being inside, it has gotten dingy and dull.  It is time for a little restoration and freshening up.  Although I rode it once after I restored it the first time, I had always planned to put it on display.  This time, I think I'm going to try to make it a rider. 

Just like the Mustang, anytime you do a restoration you have to decide whether to keep it strictly original, or make it better and more modern and usable.  The Mustang helped me decide on the latter course of action for the Triumph.  I like the idea of making it usable rather than just a pretty face.  For this reason I plan to replace the original zinc plated spokes with stainless steel ones, replace the rock hard old tires with new ones, and install an electronic ignition rather than the old points and condenser type.  I think a different set of handlebars would be better than the old buckhorn wide bars the bike came with.  The Brits didn't use those kinds of bars and only put them on the USA export models. 

The first order of business was to put some air in the tires so I could roll it out of the house.  Carolyn helped with moving some of the furniture out of the way and getting the bike out the front door.  Then we put it up on the work stand and got it ready for some disassembly:

 

Still one of  the most beautiful motorcycles ever made.

 

When I restored the bike 20 years ago, there was one disappointing result that I will have to correct this time, and that was that there were a couple of oil leaks.  There is an old saying that a classic Brit bike MUST leak oil, and in fact, I remember seeing brand new bikes leaking perfectly clean oil on the showroom floor back then.  Another snide remark was that if you bought one and it didn't leak, you could take it back.  Nevertheless, I'm going to try to see if with modern gaskets and sealers I can get it oil tight. 

Another interesting thing about this bike is that back when it was new, it was arguably the fastest production motorcycle made, and definitely an expert riders choice.  The model designation....T120....is supposed to denote that it could go 120 miles per hour.  According to Wikipedia, the Bonneville made 46 horsepower, which is actually one less than the specs for my current ride, the 2014 Honda CBR500R.  It's true that the Honda weighs quite a bit more than the Triumph, but I don't think either one of them can go 120 miles an hour in stock trim.  Also, while the Triumph was an experts choice, the Honda is generally looked at as a beginner bike.  Do you think riders have gotten that much better since 1968?  No.  More likely, we have gotten besotted with more power than we are capable of using.