Triumphrat

itpphoto

Hello all,

First post for me, l've been without a bike for awhile.

Anyhow, to make a long story shorter;
Bought the Bonneville new in '78 and had fun with it for a few years, then I sold it to my Dad who had it a few years. He sold it to another friend who worked at the local auto parts store in 1986.
Fast forward to last year, my Dad passes away and when a friend heard about it he mentioned it to the old parts store guy who gives me a call and says he still has the bike, BUT he took the motor apart to fix an oil leak and the machine shop went out of business and he lost the jugs and the head. BUT would I like it?
Fast forward to today, I go take a look and there it is, dusty, dirty etc. still looked good though.
AND, he has a 1970 Trophy 250 and he'd like to get rid of that as well.
SO, on the trailer and back home, now the fun begins,

Frank

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Catenaccio

Welcome to TRATnet! Those are great looking project bikes! Keep us apprised of their progress!

__________________

I like to reminisce with people I don't know.

PaulF

Sweet ... rare that you get a second chance in life ... Post pictures as the restoration proceeds ...

__________________
"Even if you are on the right track,
you'll get run over if you just sit there."
-- Will Rogers

GrandPaulZ

Frank, that is so cool. My Dad never rode (or at least he never mentioned it).

Looking forward to reading the whole story and seeing lots of pix.

__________________
GrandPaulZ
Author of "Old Bikes"
Born Again Bikes
My Photo album

crazywelder72

thats cool.... good quick story...

KADUTZ

First sorry about your papa's passing mine left us in '53. You are one lucky SOB to get your scoot back and to live in Plainfield. You are close to the last REAL Triumph dealer in Illinois go see Harold at Werth's on Rte 30 just south of Renwick. Jus courious what color was the bike when it was new and who did you buy it from?
Made it down to Caton Farm Rd and Honora on Sunday.
K

itpphoto

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

Thanks K for the heads up on the dealer, I will check it out.

That is the original color in the photos, blue with gold (although somehow I thought it was blue/silver)

I got it from a dealer in Maywood, IL on Roosevelt road I think, I'm pretty sure I got it late 1978, like November, I remember riding it home and it was really cold. I paid like $1200 for it, might have been $1500 and I got the loan for $1200.

When I took my Dad to the DMV to get his M class, he took the test and passed and then I was going to drive the bike home. I went to start it and it would not start. I kicked and kicked - nothing. The other people waiting for a test were laughing, I kicked some more and then I noticed my Dad had flipped the emergency shut off switch. Ah Good Times.

I'm over near Rt. 30 and 135th if you get in the area give me a shout - 630-430-2487.

Take care,

Frank

KADUTZ

your bike was blue/silver when new the paint on these bikes aged better than the brown/gold or the black/red models.
The dealer in Maywood was Motorcycle Headquarters at 615 Roosevelt Rd. Lee & Pat Amundson owned the place. Mike and Phil were on the parts counter. At the time you bought the bike Jeff was the serv mgr later replaced by Don. I'm not sure when Ted started. The store was originally an Indian Dealer then BSA,Norton,Triumph and finally Triumph /Yamaha. Lee once told me the only reason he was able to take on Triumph was cause Harold didnt object when Norton went out. The man who started the business was interviewed by in Walneck's a couple of years ago.

I will have to finish this later as we are out of time sorr bout dat

By the way you didnt say if your bike is a T140V or T140E

itpphoto

K, thanks for the wealth of info, I had only a little bit of contact with the people from the dealer after I bought it, but I remember they seemed like nice folks.

The paint on the tank must have used a gold base coat because there is not much silver left, and like I mentioned I remembered it as silver (i'm not really to much of a gold person.)

Anyhow, it is a T 140 V,

Thanks again for the information, I'm hunting for some old family photos, if I find them I will post them.

Take care,
Frank