The Bonneville Project

Maltese skull tank decal

Before this bike came off the road in 1973, the then owner had obliterated any obvious reference to the fact that his bike was indeed a Triumph.

Most drastically, this involved removing the Triumph badges from the petrol tank, which was then resprayed black with a gold Maltese skull motif.

It also included painting over the "Oil Level/Bonneville" decals on the oil tank/tool box cover, and erasing the Triumph logo from the seat back.

All of this intrigues me. It also raises a number of questions:

1) Was he simply customising the bike to be different or reflect membership of a bikers club? (the bike is from the London/Luton area).

2) Was he actually (and somewhat unbelievably) ashamed of riding a 1969 T120 - a bike that was later to become so sought after?

3) What is the origin of the Maltese skull logo?

4) Should I respray the tank to its customised state or its factory state? I kind of like the skull motif.

It looks mean and certainly makes the bike stand out from the crowd. But I don't want it on my bike if it is tantamount to riding around with a swastika as a tank badge...

Stainless steel mudguards

The workshop manuals and brochures I have for the 1969 T120 show it with painted mudguards.

But the twisted mudguards on my bike (which had been partly customised) were stainless steel and I have decided to do a straight replacement.

Although expensive at £180 for a pair, they look good and won't need to be painted.

I ordered mudguards, associated brackets and stays from Len Craig & Son (pictured) last week and have already been to collect them.

Len has an encyclopaedic mind for old Triumphs.

He worked for a London-based motorcycle spares dealer for 25 years before setting up on his own in Norfolk and now works out of an end-of-terrace house in Great Yarmouth.

New mudguard parts are:

Part number	Description	Price/unit	Quantity	Total
n/a	S'less steel mudguards	n/a	2	£180.00
97-1681	front top stay	12.00	1	£12.00
97-1683	front middle stay	12.00	1	£12.00
97-3683	front bottom stay	14.00	1	£14.00
97-1685	mounting bracket	4.70	2	£9.40
82-6915	bracket	7.90	1	£7.90
82-7860	rear lifting handle	24.00	1	£24.00
82-6851	bracket	7.50	1	£7.50
82-5994	clip	2.80	1	£2.80
82-6031	backing plate	1.40	1	£1.40
82-7826	wiring protector	10.40	1	£10.40
			Subtotal	£281.40
			VAT	£included
			P&P	£collected
			TOTAL	£281.40

At the same time, I ordered a new set of cables for the bike, which cost another £80-00.

Because I bought so much at the same time, Len was kind enough to supply me with a new pair of rear shock absorbers free of charge.

I'll definitely be purchasing more spares from him as the project progresses.