Triumphrat

dave1068 · 02-24-2008

At motorcycle shows I go to I see older Triumphs (tigers, bonnes, t120s, etc) and they often look stock and are admired by many. They all seem to have their original fenders, bars, tires, paint, exhausts, deflectors, taillights, directionals, etc. Where as now, many owners seem to change a lot of things.

Were these older or should I say "classic" bike owners ( i know we have some here) less apt to change their bikes like many do now.

Seems like the ones in the shows look stock and seem to maintain their value

oldroadie · 02-24-2008

In many ways those bikes were the superbikes of the day and there was no need to mod them, they were the leaders of the pack. A lot got cafe'd and many got chopped but the stockers seem to have retained most of the stock parts because there wasn't any notion of an "upgrade".

dazco · 02-24-2008

Of course they didn't. Today we have the web, and that literally makes modding 1000% easier thru availability of parts, but even far more so, the information available. I was around back in the late 60's early 70's, and i had no idea what to do, how to do it or where to get the parts ! Now you just log onto a forum and in few minutes you more info than you could ever have gotten back then by a huge margin. Put it this way.........i never modded any of my bikes, but i didn't ride for many years and when i got back into it with the speedmaster i instantly started with the mods i found at this forum. i assure you if the internet was here back then you'd see far less modded classics.

mecscc · 02-24-2008

There were a lot of mods done to the older Triumphs, but you don't see many of those bikes left anymore. Most modders will tell you that if you don't intend to keep the bike long term you should hold on to the OEM parts and plan to put them back on when you sell. Modding is a very individual thing and most buyers of vintage bikes aren't interested in what somebody else thought would be a good mod.

I did little to no modding on my '68 Bonnie, bought new, when I had it, and it would be worth a good deal more today than the bikes my buddies modified. Generally speaking they just ran them until they fell apart and sold them for a much lower price than they would have gotten had they left them alone.

Interesting also that we don't change much. When I was young and raced bikes those were the bikes I modified, within whatever the rules would allow, but I never modded my street bikes. I still don't mod my street bikes . I do add accessories that are utilitarian for the type of riding I do, but no mods.

oldroadie · 02-24-2008

I should have added to my original post that the notion of a company selling a detuned motor as opposed to a hot rod hadn't become the norm. Triumph actually boasted about their engines with the model numbers when they came out with the T-100, meant to designate 100 mph. I do mod my bikes to return the throttle response to that "golden years" hooligan feel, after that most of the accessories are functional or simply "bling for my baby".

BeastInBlack · 02-24-2008

sixty8 that bonnie!...or maybe some fcr 39's.....all of my cosmetic mods have been to get rid of the cheap looking/over sized parts like cutting the rear mudguard, installing mini gauges, installing more graceful handlebars....personally I dont think the stock new bonnie is perticularly special, but i knew it had the potential to be made special...

RedBird · 02-24-2008

I did almost as many "mods" to my old '66 BSA Hornet as I have done to my '03 Bonnie. The list included: late model forks w/o the gaiter; shortening both fenders; getting rid of the side covers and having the oil tank chromed; different handle bars; later model exhaust system with mufflers--originally came w/o mufflers; higher compression pistons; and concentric carbs. At that age I wasn't afraid to tackle anything--even without a service manual.

The fork change was the most difficult, because I wanted to keep the original triple trees. I contacted a machine shop--needed a lathe that had at least an 18" swing to turn the triple trees larger and on a taper for the new forks. The shop owner gave me the name and phone number of a motorcycle nut that had access to their shop on the weekends. He agreed to do the job for me and the cost was very cheap as I remember.

As has been said, modified bikes have much less value--true for the old days and current days. Some seem to believe that because mods cost money that value is added to the bike--not so. The only exception is removal items, but then the worth of the removal items is MUCH less than one paid for it, IMHO.

peastick · 02-24-2008

I bought an old Triumph Tiger in about '85 that had been chopped about and modded something chronic. Spent lots of time and money un-modding it, changed back seat, removed welded-on sissy bar, replaced handlebars, returned tank to correct colours etc, etc, then drove it out to Germany where I was posted at the time (yes it was me who won the cold war, single handed) and sold it to a German trumpet obsessive. No doubt he would have continued the un-modding, and if you saw it at a show today you would wonder why they never seemed to mod the bikes back in day.

tspapa · 02-24-2008

We did'nt call it modding back then.A lot of guys kept theirs stock,I could'nt leave mine alone.Lots of chrome et

c. Tuck & Roll.No aftermarket parts either.

mikeinva · 02-24-2008

One thing back then people didnt have the money they have then.Most of mods where taking off any thing the bike didnt need to run chromeing what ever you could get enough money to do.High compression pistons cams and so on.things where not high tech like they are now.most of the raced up bikes from back then where rode hard and put up wet and long since seen the junk yard.Alot of the old bikes we see to today where put away in someones barn and not on the road for years.