1976 Triumph Bonneville Total Build from frame up crank up

A call from Jeff Phillips (owner of Redline Cycle Mpls.) telling me he had found what he referred to as "raw material" was when things really started to happen. Little did I know how raw the material actually was. A 1976 Bonneville, eft outside, eaning up against a garage in Minnesota for 14 years was just plain sad. Seat rotted right through the pan, iscs solid orange and chain so rusty we had to break it just to move the bike. But... he was right, ll the raw material was there. A 2 into 1 exhaust and Mikuni carbs were the only mods. No extendo frontendo or obvious signs of crashing. I'm not a trained mechanic but having previously owned 5 Triumphs (dating back to a "65" T100C) figured I was up to the challenge. A large network of biker pals to tap for advice and services helped seal the deal.

The motor was dropped off at Redline. The 2 into 1 was deposited in the nearest dumpster and the rolling chassis went to my basement workshop where it would live, n one form or another for the next few years. Armed with a big rubber mallet, cans of WD40 and some tools, he next few months were spent disassembling, agging and tagging. After cutting out the airboxes and some minor bodywork to repair where onetime highway pegs had partially collapsed the downtubes, he frame, wingarm, ripletrees and centerstand were sandblasted and sent to powdercoat. Installed new steeringhead bearings and swing arm bushings and the frame was done.

Wheels were another story. Rims rusted beyond repair, ad to be replaced. Spokes were upgraded to Buchanan polished stainless, ga.front, ga. rear and laced to the rebuilt and newly painted hubs. Discs were surfaced, rilled and nickel-plated. One rusty forktube needed replacing and a trick involving Trident frontend parts succeeded in lowering the front by almost an inch and improved dampening and rebound. Both master cylinders were upgraded to stainless. New shocks were added. A wider rear tire, etzler Perfect ME 120/90-18 required notching the chainguard, ut when combined with the heavier spokes gave the business end of the powertrain a more serious look.

At Redline I was the official parts washer, hich was referred to as "doing dishes". Jeff's generosity in, llowing me to help wherever I could, ept the project moving and helped keep the ever-rising cost down. Things like a new speedo drive or $300.00 for new stainless fasteners were constantly coming up. When asked by my wife how much a newly acquired part cost, said $100.00, o which her response was "I've heard that before, re all the parts $100?" Pretty much I said, xcept for the $200 ones.

Chrome had been going out in batches for a while. A local street rodder named "Big Ed" was the go-to guy. He had a connection with a plating company whose truck made weekly scheduled stops at his shop to service him and his club of builders. This was huge. Not only would they do big pieces, ike both fenders (which I was able to reuse) but they would do small pieces like tank badges, ork cap nuts, eadlight ears and even assorted bolts. Amazingly both gauges worked, ut to this day there's still a cobweb under the glass in the tach. The wiring harness was upgraded to clothwoven. The clutch-side handlebar switch was scrapped in favor of cleaner looking (old/style) horn/dipswitch.The taillight was polished and augmented with 2 Arlen Ness "speeding bullet" turn-signals, hosen specifically for the way they mimicked the headlight shell. Unfortunately the guts mimicked "The Prince of Darkness" and had to be retrofitted with L.E.D.s .A new seat was added along with a new grabrail. New 1"1/2 pipes were easy but prices for mufflers were all over the board, rom lowend reverse-cone megaphones, o two grades of high quality Norton/style imports, vailable from Minnesota Brit bike parts guru Mitch Klempf. I chose Norton/style, or which I got quality, erformance and a great sound. No regrets!

By now the tank, idecovers and jugs had been dropped off with my good friend and "House of Kolor" founder Jon Kosmoski. This would be the third bike Jon had helped me out with over the past 3 decades. Again I was allowed to help and was now #1 in charge of paint removal, anding and beadblasting. A high heat primer was applied to the jugs and red pearl was the choice of color for the double scallop on the tank. Jon's is also where I spent many hours standing at the buffing wheel trying to reverse 14 years of oxidation on the lower legs and engine covers.

The motor was completely rebuilt. Crank, ods and pistons were balanced, agnafluxed and shotpeened. Clutch hub, hift spindle and rockerarms were lightened. Timing gears beveled. Jugs were bored .040 over. Cams were changed and tappets re-radiused. Kibbelwhite Precision Machining valves and guides with intake seals. High output stator. Surflex clutchplates. Stock advance and points were retained for quicker advance. The head was "dual plugged" for which an extra dual-lead coil was added. Head also lightly milled to raise compression. The exhaust ports were threaded and fitted with screw-in spigots which reverted to the way the old/style pipes were installed versus newer press-in pipes which are notorious leakers. A custom heat sink was fabricated for the repositioned diode. The engine breather tube was rerouted under the back fender. Even the patent plate on the timing cover was replaced, hich for anyone that knows is a very touchy operation. Also fabricated were polished stainless mounting plates for the new mufflers. Later model sidecovers were added to accommodate K+N filters.

This bike build was a 3 year project during which every nut, olt, ushing, earing, crew and washer was removed, efurbished, eplaced or upgraded. Improving on the factory wherever possible was a priority. The end result was I got the bike that I had envisioned and the satisfaction of bringing it back from the dead. But most importantly...I now own something that Triumphs have always been about, A fun bike to ride." It is ridden regularly, long with my currently owned 1984 Kawasaki 750 GPZ and 1991 Honda ST1100.

This bike won “First in Class” at the BBC Rally (British Biker Cooperative), Wisconsin based club dedicated to the preservation of the British motorcycle.

Cylinder boring, lus modifications to cams and front suspension by Steve Ferree. Mileage since rebuildless than4,000 miles.

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