Triumph's 1960's icon brought up to date

Published Sep 22, 2009

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Triumph chief designer Edward Turner got it oh, so wrong when he told experimental department manager Frank Baker in 1958: "This, my boy, will lead us straight into the bankruptcy courts!"

"This" was the prototype, "tuned" Triumph Tiger 110 with aluminium cylinder head and twin carbs, the fastest production bike of its time with a top speed of close to 200km/h.

Turner was so convinced the bike wouldn't sell that it wasn't even included in the company's 1959 catalogue but - renamed in honour of Johnny Allen's 345 km/h unofficial World record run on a twin-cylinder Triumph streamliner at the Bonneville Salt Flats three years earlier - it went on to become a worldwide bestseller.

The new-generation Bonneville, introduced in 2001, builds on the iconic status of the original "Bonnie" by faithfully reproducing its styling but, truth to tell, that's all it has in common with it.

It has an 865cc parallel-twin engine with dual cams in place of the old pushrods, electronic fuel-injection in place of the twin Amal carbs that started all the fuss, balance shafts instead of the original's bum-numbing vibration, disc brakes, an electric start in place of a temperamental kick-start and 50kW at 7500 - 50 percent more than the 1958 prototype.

New for 2009 - the 50th anniversary of the Bonnie - is the Bonneville SE, reflecting the Bonneville 750 of the mid-1970's.

It comes in dark blue and white (or plain black for the truly retro) with chromed panels on the fuel tank, brushed aluminium engine cases, 17" cast-alloy rims, new mudguards, megaphone exhausts borrowed from the sporty Thruxton café racer, pull-back handlebars and a 25mm lower seat, for R88 600.

The full Bonneville line-up is:

Bonneville- R88 500

Bonneville SE - R88 600

Scrambler- R88 500

Bonneville America- R89 500

Thruxton- R92 500

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