Triumph Bonneville T120

Perhaps the most quintessential Brit-bike, the Triumph Bonneville. In 1959 Triumph introduced the Bonneville as their big fast bike. The bike was named for the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Bonneville was a large flat area where gear-heads could take their machines to their limits. In the 1950's Triumph promoted various speed record attempts. The Bonneville T120 (the 120 was supposed to stand for the top speed of the bike, which was slightly optimistic) featured a 650cc vertical twin, which was rather large for the time. This engine could make roughly 40hp and was capable of topping the "ton" or in other words surpassing 100mph. The Bonneville was introduced in American and its timing couldn't have been better. US consumers were craving bigger more powerful machines and the Bonnie was as good as it got. To add to this frenzy was the long list of celebrities who could be seen riding a Triumph. The Bonneville continued for about 10 years virtually unchanged. In the 1970's it grew to 750cc's and was known as the T140. With ever increasing competition form the Japanese the Bonneville along with all the other British motorcycle models was on it's way out. The vertical twin Triumph continued until the company closed its factory doors in 1983.

Fortunately for motorcyclists everywhere the Triumph brand would return. Triumph came back with a lineup of modern street machines. In 2001 a modern Bonneville was introduced. Although it shared nothing with the original (other than the looks of course) the bike was received very well the world over. The modern version became known as the Hinckely Bonneville (because of they were made in the Hinckely factory) thus the old Bonnies are sometimes referred to as the Meriden Bonnevilles.