Britt Bike Experts....

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BuzZz · #1 Unread post by **BuzZz** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 3:45 pm

Dad is looking at an old 71 Triumph Bonnieville here in town, and soon as I get ahold of the owner, I'm going to check it out for him.

I can't seem to find out (easily... my turn to be lazy

) when they stopped useing Whitworth fasteners on the old Trumpets. Anyone know how they held this 71 together?

TechTMW · #2 Unread post by **TechTMW** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:24 pm

I think they used em all the way up until they crashed ... but only in certain places. Your bike (should) be mostly SAE. But you are still going to need a few whitworths I bet...

I'm sure there are plenty of trumet resources out there to give you a better idea.

Gonna do This to it?
http://www.motorworld.com/features/2000/uden_triumph/

BuzZz · #3 Unread post by **BuzZz** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 6:04 pm

Man, that's a beautiful bike he made himself. I love that Rickman-esque look that bike has, I wouldn't mind finding me an old Rickman chassis someplace. Awesomely cool machines.

But it's actually my Dad who is interested in this TR-6. It is sposed to be an incomplete restoration, mostly ready for final assembly..... but I'm unsure of the quality of work done on the parts and assemblies up til now. I know the bottom end hasn't been rebuilt, but the top-end is sposed to be new/refurbished. I think the engine is still disassembled... but not positive. New paint on the frame and bodywork, that's how I came to know of this bike. The owner contacted me via this site about original colors and pattern designs... not that I had any idea, but I looked it up for her and passed on the info to her. That was early last spring.

She (her B/F mostly, I think) worked on it slowly, then she crashed her Harley and split with her B/F, has to move so the Triumph has to go. The bike has always been for sale, started at 7 grand this spring, now Dad has her down to 2 thou and the bike has more stuff done than it did in the spring.

Turns out, this lady lives about a block away from me. If I can ever get her on the phone, I'm going to go take a look at it for Dad. He wants something to putter around with in the garage this winter. But he don't want to have to find and buy a complete set of otherwise useless Whitworth tools to do it. A few wrenches here and there is another story though....

Gummiente · Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:51 pm

My '71 BSA Thunderbolt 650 shared the same oil-in-frame setup and many common components, as Triumph and BSA had merged in a last ditch effort to stay afloat. As I recall, the only fasteners requiring Whitworth wrenches were the cylinder barrel base nuts. Everything else was SAE sized, so I would expect this Triumph you're looking at to be the same way.

BuzZz · #5 Unread post by **BuzZz** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 3:43 pm

Good info, thanx Gummi.

I have seen this bike now, and it's not exactly as advertized. The frame is done, fresh powdercoat and all. The rest of the bike is...... uummm.... rough. The engine covers have been 'polished' but very poorly. The barrels have been painted, but need either a major honeing or moe likely a bore job. The head has been striped and beadblasted, but needs rebuilding. The forks are completely disassembled, but not cleaned, same with the pipes, shocks, gauges... the wireing is all original(dirt and all) but removed and coiled up in a box, the tanl trim and badges need polishing/chroming. The tank and fenders are not done as she said, they have 20 year old black tremclad on them..... Lots of work and money needed for this bike. One thing that has been done is all the nuts and brackests, ect, that were originally Cadnium coated have been re-coated.... but that's about it.

I'll tell Dad that I wouldn't get involved with this bike if I was him... but he may decide different. I feel bad for this lady, she really needs to sell this bike, but 2 grand is twice what's going to bring.....I'm glad I don't have to tell her 'No Thanx".

Gummiente · #6 Unread post by **Gummiente** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:03 pm

BuzZz wrote:The engine covers have been 'polished' but very poorly. The barrels have been painted, but need either a major honeing or moe likely a bore job. The head has been striped and beadblasted, but needs rebuilding. The forks are completely disassembled, but not cleaned, same with the pipes, shocks, gauges... the wireing is all original(dirt and all) but removed and coiled up in a box, the tanl trim and badges need polishing/chroming. The tank and fenders are not done as she said, they have 20 year old black tremclad on them..... Lots of work and money needed for this bike.

In other words, it's a typical Brit bike basket case.

BuzZz · #7 Unread post by **BuzZz** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 5:06 pm

Oh, you've been there, eh?

Gummiente · Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:49 pm

More times than I'd care to admit.