1964 Triumph Bonneville "TT Spec"

Original Paint, Original Tires, Built to "TT" Specification, 1 Kick Bike, Fresh Motor Service

Of the 95 bikes that have come through the shop in the last two years, this 64 Bonneville scores pretty high. It is one of the most original, best running, and most special-feeling bikes I've come across. A friend of mine has a large collection of original paint motorcycles. He had this bike along with an original paint TT and two original paint T120cs. I purchased the bike from him.

The bike has its original fuel lines and original Dunlop K70 Gold Seal "Made in Great Britain" tires. It appears as if it has been altered very little throughout its life, besides the TT upgrades made in period.

I tested the paint with my paint meter and it meters as original (less than 100 microns.) The TT pipes are straight through- it's loud and sounds incredible (especially on the overrun.)

According to Adam, who bought the bike from an midwest collector, this bike was upgraded to TT specifications by a Triumph mechanic in period.

When I bought it, the bike had not run for 4 years. We cleaned the points and some connections, put in some race gas and it fired up on 3 kicks. The inside of the tank has not been lined and is super super clean, looks basically brand new. It is one of the best running bikes I have, including completely fresh restorations. It always starts on one kick and settles into a smooth idle immediately with almost no throttle input needed at all.

I took the bike to Hugh at 6th Street Specials and he verified that a lot of the components on it are hard to find TT parts. These include:

ET charging system (no battery)
TT pipes
TT carbs and airbox
TT aluminum throttle housing
C model fenders
TT kill switch

Hugh did the following items:

Remove carbs and clean, reassemble and tune
Go through and clean up ignition wiring
Replace point and condenser plate
Replace spark plugs with new units

The bike also appears to have fairly high compression, corroborating the idea that it probably has the 11:1 compression TT pistons as well. A recent compression test revealed 210psi on each cylinder.

Bike is matching numbers.

This is an excellent opportunity to buy a charismatic original paint mid 60s bonneville that has quite a bit of kick given all the TT motor upgrades! The original paint, original tires, and all the other original bits on the bike give it a lot of character and the riding experience is not to be missed. See all photos and riding video below.