Life of a Legend
1964 Triumph Bonneville T120R
“The Beast”
Owner: Rich Hall of Swartz Creek
Some of my earliest childhood memories are of my older brother, Bill, and his friends congregating on the cement slab behind my parents’ house, it was “the place” to hang out. They would sit around playing their guitars and singing 60s protest songs. There were always several motorcycles, old Harleys, Triumphs, Zundaps, Ariels, Vincents and more. It fascinated me to watch them work on the bikes, start them and ride away. That’s what I wanted to do.
As soon as I was old enough, I got my hands on a mini-bike; it didn’t have brakes or a clutch. It was a challenge to ride to say the least. From that point on I owned too many motorcycles to name; several Honda’s, a “47 Harley Knucklehead, trail bikes even a three-wheeler with a Volkswagon engine.
Fast forward to 1983, I had sold my Gold Wing and was between motorcycles when I met my future wife Joy and fell head over heels for her. Never got around to getting another motorcycle until 2013 when I asked my brother “Hey Bill, why don’t I see if I can fix up your old Bonneville?” He agreed and the next thing I know, it’s in my garage and I’m tearing it down. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing or getting into.
My brother bought the Bonneville when he was in the Navy from a shipmate on the USS Farragut (DLG6) in 1967. It’s had quite the life. When he was stationed in Mayport, Florida his future wife Judy would ride double with tools in her purse. They would often ride on the beach without air cleaners. Not a good idea; he sucked enough sand through the carburetors to seize the engine. Bill decided to rebuild the motor himself and borrowed some tools to begin the process. Not really knowing what he was doing, he hammered the crankshaft out of the case mushrooming the end. He gave up and took all the parts to a local motorcycle repair shop and asked them to “fix it”. Soon he was far away on a several week cruise in the Caribbean. When he returned, the shop had done nothing to his engine, so he picked up the parts. Later discovering that some pieces were missing, and the connecting rods were not his but had been salvaged from other engines. No riding for some time was the unhappy result.
Some months later, his ship sailed to the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. One port of call was Portsmouth, England. He found a Triumph motorcycle dealership in the Elephant and Castle area of London and bought a new crankshaft there. He lugged it around London with the sisal sling that the dealer supplied. At his next duty station, New Haven, Connecticut, he found a Triumph dealer, Nash Brothers Triumph. Jack Nash and his brother Jim were most helpful in reassembling the Bonneville.
Bill found out that the Navy would charge him to ship a vehicle, but there was no charge to ship boxes of parts. So, the poor bike was stripped down and reassembled several times. Needless to say, many parts were either lost or put together incorrectly. A lot of parts came from the local hardware – nuts, bolts, brackets made out of pipe clamps. It made it a real challenge to put the puzzle back together.
When Bill got out of the Navy he bought a home near Milan, Michigan where he and his wife could have horses. The Triumph broke down in 1971 and was parked in the barn behind the horses for several years. What a mess, it was covered in manure and mice had stuffed more manure under the tank and acorns in the silencers. From there the bike went to Ypsilanti, Michigan and sat in a garage for several more years until I dragged it out.
Back to 2013. I finished painting the frame and associated parts. Armed with a parts manual and shop manual I began putting the puzzle back together. The project continued off and on over the next several years. I would get frustrated or run out of money or both and let it sit. Then one day a few years back I was sitting on my deck watching all the motorcycles go by and said to myself “It sure would be nice to ride again”. I didn’t think I would ever finish the Triumph and mentioned to my wife I would like to get a bike. Nothing fancy, just something to putt around on. “Well,” she said, “Why don’t you finish the one you got?” Cool, she was on board, but I don’t think she knew what she was getting into. However, she has backed me all the way. I’m sure it wasn’t always easy for her. At about the same time Covid hit. What with stimulus money and home values soaring it made it financially possible to dig in and get it done.
I spent hours and hours looking at photos online and watching videos by Terry MacDonald and Jay Leno, Jay also has a nice “64 Bonneville. Slowly the puzzle started coming together. I drove all over Michigan, Ohio, and shopped online all over the world to get parts. I had to learn all kinds of new skills, wiring, lacing and truing wheels, safety wiring, polishing aluminum starting with #80 grit sandpaper because the cases were so bad. Eventually it was ready to start.
Got her running and seemed to be running great. However, after about 600 miles it developed a knock. I didn’t rebuild the engine thinking it had been rebuilt already but that’s another story. I found all kinds of surprises tearing it down, mismatched rods one of which was coming loose causing the knock, the cam lobes were wearing down, the nut holding the main drive sprocket on spun off with my fingers after loosening the safety tab, the kicker gear nut was also coming loose to name a few.
A few months later it was running again with new rods, cams, bushings, bearings, seals, clutch, primary chain and more. Just about everything new except the crankshaft. Almost 6,000 miles later it’s running great, it’s an absolute gas to ride. She’s quick, nimble, handles great and lives up to its name, she likes to go fast!
I restored as much of the original parts as I could, I was amazed at how much of it cleaned up. Anything I replaced I used NOS (New Old Stock) as much as possible. However, I did build it as a daily rider and put modern electronics on it. After one summer of riding, it is showing some wear.
The old Triumph has had a long hard life but came back to win “First in Class” at the 2023 “Battle of the Brits” in Milford, MI. I never dreamed I would enter a bike let alone take first place. It made my day! It’s still a work in progress; I have a few remanufactured parts that I’m replacing as I find original Triumph parts. It took two years to find a mate to an original tank badge and both been off to the chrome shop and are now back on the bike.
Recently, I didn’t know if I would make it to Bikes on the Bricks in Flint, MI since The Beast wasn’t running well, but I was able to solve the problem at 6:00 the morning of the show. It turned out to be a great day, met some great people, saw many interesting motorcycles, and was fortunate enough to bring home a show brick for “Best Restored Antique.”
Maybe down the road I may try to take it to a Concours level, tear it down, repaint, replate all the nuts and bolts again and put the points back on. But for now, it’s just too much fun to ride!
