Triumphrat

dogtired

I have what I thought was a October '71 Bonnie, the Engine number has the "NE" prefix, and according to my Haynes this places it as October '71.

To quote Haynes: -



It should be as I said. But I just came across this gem of wisdom from Webby: -


Ok, first question, has Webby accidentally put a "J" instead of a "E" where he says "The "J" is August 70 to July 71."
If I assume he has, does this mean all "Year E" engine numbers are from August 70 to July 71. And does this mean my bike which has the "NE" prefix was actually manufactured in August of 1970? (Even though it is in fact considered a '71 model)

Further questions: -
My bike has the distinctive wire frame headlight brackets, was it only the '71s that had these?

The front forks have the small raised ridge down the outside edge of the bottom half of the fork on the cast casing, was it only '71s that had this distinctive ridge?

And are these two very easy ways to spot a '71 at a glance?

__________________
Can a storm be officially designated as a tornado without touching down at a trailer park?

pookybear

dogtired,

http://www.klempfsbritishparts.com/techserialnumber.htm

A good link for number breakdowns.

Please remember that back in the day there were no model
years. Just made on dates and registration dates. Case in
point but slightly off line. I also drive an old truck. The body
style was made from 1965 mid year to 1971 mid year.
However, I have seen one titled as a 1974 model. It was not
an error, but just how long it took a remote dealer to sell
the truck. It was a 74 unit, built three years earlier. The
first registration date is the year model in many states in this
era.

The same applies to Triumphs, If your ride that was made in
71 could have been sold and title it would have been. But
due to shipping, demand, and other things, most likely it was
to be delivered in early 72. So most likely a 72 model. Keep
in mind most parts books go by the serial number to cover
this problem.

As for the finer details of the 71 72 models, I think the main
thing was the seat was higher. The seat frame was higher on
the main tube of the OIF unit.

Pookybear

t100rc

Pooky ... you're both right AND wrong. Vehicles have (almost) always been of specific model years. That's how we know that '68s are different from '69s which are different from '70s which are VERY different from '71s. The 'new' frame was released for the '71 model year.

That being said, back in 'the day' there were many states that titled a particular vehicle based (often improperly) on the date of first use. In other words, if a '64 Triumph Bonneville got forgotten in the back of a warehouse for several years and was then sold as 'new' in '71, it would have been registered and titled as a '71 Triumph ... that does NOT make it a '71 ...

I have seen many times ads for old bikes for sale that will say something like "1966 Honda Superhawk, titled as a 1967".

If you can prove (using documentation, etc) that the title reflects the improper model year, you could take it up with your state's DMV and attempt to correct it ... however, there are plenty of states where if you HAVE a title, you really shouldn't mess around with it too much as they keep making it increasingly difficult to legally own vintage vehicles.

__________________
RC
'70 T100
'56 T110 (in progress)
Crossroads Cycle

trayden

The "J" mentioned is the letter on the original British number plate (licence plate) nothing to do with the engine / frame number or build date.

Number plates in the UK show the year of registration by the last letter on the plate, in this case "J"

So your bike N E is October 1971. If your bike had been sold in the UK it may of had a H or J number plate depending on how long it took to sell it.

This is the way some people can tell the year an old Brit film or TV show was made,they look at the number plates on the cars or bikes


Den

dogtired

Thanks Den for clearing that up about the "J" in Webby's post, much appreciated.

After much further googling, I seem to have found an answer.
Source here.


So this means my '71 model with the engine number prefix of "NE" was actually built in August of 1970.
Making its "real" age a year older than I thought it was.

Amiright?

__________________
Can a storm be officially designated as a tornado without touching down at a trailer park?

trayden

Going by the info you got on that site It would make your Bike a 1971 "model" built in "N"= October 1970 For "E" = facory build year 1971, which run from August 1970 to July 1971

Looks like plenty of people have the right model year but it may be a year younger if built between August til December?

My book also says"season year of manufacture"

This would make my bike "KG" a 1972 model built in september 1971


Den

dogtired

If what I have found above is in fact correct, there are a lot of us OIF'ers riding round on bikes that are actually a year older than what we thought.

...won't make me ride it any less hard though.

__________________
Can a storm be officially designated as a tornado without touching down at a trailer park?

t100rc

That's how model years work ... that's why you've been able to buy a 2010 model of just about every vehicle for several months now.

__________________
RC
'70 T100
'56 T110 (in progress)
Crossroads Cycle

dogtired

I'm such a nerd at times...

__________________
Can a storm be officially designated as a tornado without touching down at a trailer park?

Webby

Hi Den,
That's exactly what I found! I too have a KG and have been thinking for the last year it's a 72, it was only when I started to look at a few books to reply to the post I realized it's a 71 (72 build season!)

Webby