Throwback; 50 YEARS OF TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE.(NEWS)

Byline: GEORGE P. BLUMBERG

"GREAT RESTORAtion. What year is it? motorists ask in stopped traffic, reacting to our black Triumph Bonneville, which, at a glance, could have been minted anytime since 1959.

As we sit parked at a coffee hangout, passersby of a certain age stare wistfully, bending ears with Triumph memories of the "60s and "70s, comparing this Triumph with theirs. This Triumph is an "08 Bonneville Black, part of Triumph's Modern Classics lineclassic styling and engine layout with modern engineering

The Bonneville name commemorated Triumph speed records set there in streamlinersa 650-cc racer achieved 193 mph in 1955, 214 mph 1956. The 650-cc T120 Bonne-ville, introduced at Earl's Court in 1958, went on sale in 1959, a pushrod-operated, 360-degree parallel twin. Brit bikesTriumphs, BSAs and Nortonswere the post-World War II performance bikes on U.S. roads. Bonneville racing successes were prominent, winning their 1959 Isle of Man class and, later, AMA races.

While 100-mph-plus performance excited many, Bonne-villes were high-maintenance. Improvements were ongoing between 1963 and 1983, including unit transmission-engine construction, 12-volt electrics, twin leading-shoe front brakes, new tubular frames, a single front disc brake, five speeds, a rear disc brake, electric start and dual front discs. The T140 model upped displacement to 744 cc.

As Bonnies slowly improved, the Japanese leapfrogged Brit bikes, with machines such as Honda's revolutionary 1969 CB750 four-cylinderfive gears, disc brakes, electric start, 76 hp and reliability. Suzuki, Yamaha and Kawasaki piled on. This competition and labor and supplier problems killed the Brit bike. Triumph's Meriden, England, works closed in 1983. Some Bonnevilles were built under license by British parts maker LF Harris from 1985 until 1988.

The Triumph name was revived by John Bloor, and a new factory at Hinckley was producing new-generation Triumphs by 1991. The Bonne-ville was reborn, hitting the market in 2001not as a performance bike but as a basic, ...