A COUPLE OF SHOTS OF THE BONNIE FROM THE ZOO BOY-G COLLECTION . . . . SITTING OUT FRONT OF HIS PLACE IN 1991 ABOUT A YEAR AFTER I GOT IT . . . . I'D ALREADY HAD A '69 T120 AND IT WAS TECHNICALLY AND HISTORICALLY THE BETTER BIKE . . . . HOWEVER IT WAS THIS '74 T140V THAT BECAME MY MOST LOVED BIKE AND I REGRET FLICKING IT EVERY TIME I SEE ONE.

TRIUMPH AND THE REST OF THE POMMY BIKE INDUSTRY WAS WELL ON THEIR KNEES BY 1970, THE NVT CAPER WAS AN UNMITIGATED FUCK UP AND THE JAPPY BIKES WERE RULING THE ROOST, BY THE END OF THE SEVENTIES IT WAS ALL OVER BAR THE SHITTY HARRIS VERSIONS AND HIGH GRADE INDIAN SWARF IN THE CRANKCASES . . . . THERE'S NOT MUCH ARGUMENT THAT THE '69/'70 T120's WERE A PINNACLE MODEL OF THE EDWARD TURNER DESIGNED PARALLEL TWIN, THE SIX FIDDY WAS ABOUT MAXED OUT AND EVERYTHING WAS RIGHT, THE OIL-IN-FRAME '71 MODELS WERE A UNIVERSAL JOKE OF PANTS WETTING PROPORTIONS AND WERE ONLY NOMINALLY IMPROVED BY THE TIME OF THE ARRIVAL OF THE '73 DISC BRAKE VARIANT . . . . HAVING SOLD A SEMI BASKET CASE '69 TO OBTAIN THIS JIGGER I WAS STILL OBVIOUSLY A TOTAL NOVICE IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE FINER POINTS OF THE BONNEVILLE LINEAGE, I FIGURED A 750cc MOTOR AND A DISC BRAKE FRONT END HAD TO BE A BETTER THING, I WAS WRONG. THAT SAID, BY THE TIME I'D FINISHED A SUCCESSION OF UPGRADES AFTER A SUCCESSION OF FAILURES IN 1994 INCLUDING MOTOR REBUILD [CAMS, 'R' FOLLOWERS, OIL PUMP, MUSHROOM HEADED TAPPETS ETC], GEARBOX, PIPES, MUFFLERS, OIL COOLER, REAR SHOCKS AND A BUNCH OF AESTHETIC STUFF, IT WAS A CRACKING BIKE . . . . RIDDEN DAILY, IT WAS RELIABLE, OIL TIGHT AND WENT AS HARD AS MOST TRUMPIES CAN BEFORE YOU COMPROMISE THEIR INTEGRITY. I LOVED THE LITTLE FUCKER AND CLEARLY STILL DO, WE'VE ALL SOLD BIKES AND REGRETTED IT, THE LESSON LEARNED FROM THIS ONE IS THE THIS TIME ROUND, THE SKIRTSTER, FOR ALL IT'S MUNDANE MODERNITY, IS NEVER GOING ANYWHERE, ONE DAY IT WILL BE JUST ANOTHER OLD, USED AND MUCH LOVED BIKE.