ROYAL WEDDING TRIUMPH
Meriden must have felt they had a winner when they rolled out their limited edition Royal Wedding Bonneville to public acclaim in 1981. 35 years later, Stuart Urquhart agrees. In fact, he reckons this Bonnie might be the best of the bunch…
Meriden must have felt they had a winner when they rolled out their limited edition Royal Wedding Bonneville to public acclaim in 1981. 35 years later, Stuart Urquhart agrees. In fact, he reckons this Bonnie might be the best of the bunch…
Designed to commemorate the marriage of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, the Royal Wedding was a popular model on both sides of the Atlantic, arguably more so than the previous Silver Jubilee Bonneville. Times were extremely tough at Triumph during the emerging 80s, and even though a new Conservative government had written off Meriden’s substantial £8.4 million debt there was still an outstanding £2 million tax credit to be settled. It was a feather in Meriden’s cap that their workforce managed to remain optimistic despite a UK recession, limited funds, depleted resources, crippling rates and an out-dated product in the shape of the T140V. Competition from Europe and Japan threatened to overwhelm the UK industry and in order to survive Meriden needed to roll out new models, and fast.
The new decade brought an overseas order for an armada of police motorcycles and a rejuvenated Meriden began to launch new models. First to emerge was the Tiger Trail 750 ( TR7), soon to be followed by an ‘economy’ 650 Thunderbird ( TR65). Several months later the LE Royal Wedding Bonneville 750 appeared and by 1981 two more 750s joined Triumph’s impressive line-up, the custom T140 TSX and the roadster 8-valve TSS Bonneville.
1982 saw the addition of another three models: the Bonneville Executive Electro 750 with fairing and rear panniers (à la BMW), along with the announcements of a reduced capacity 600cc Thunderbird and an updated, rubber-framed TSS. But just when Triumph appeared to be gaining market confidence an unexpected and catastrophic blow floored the Meriden Co-operative. At a time when Triumph needed volume sales in order to survive, the TSS Bonneville became plagued with postproduction faults and porous cylinder heads.
The ensuing explosion of warranty claims, bad press and accusations of insufficient development hit Triumph sales very hard, and after a brief struggle the Meriden Co-operative ceased trading in the autumn of 1983. It was a sad ending for what many had hoped would be a miraculous tale of survival for Triumph, and GB lost the last great bastion of a once dominant motorcycle industry.
When the royal couple’s marriage ended just 15 years later, owners of Royal Wedding Bonnevilles must have endured as many restless nights as the young Prince William. Perhaps their previously prestige machines would now be perceived as a royal turkey? To my knowledge the effect of the royal break-up has never been fully debated, but the public divorce must have dropped a spanner in the Royal Wedding Bonnie’s desirability – at least for the following decade.
Today values have recovered well and are catching up with Meriden’s other 80s classic, the Tiger Trail 750. Both models
were made in limited numbers, although Triumph’s adventurous yellow and black trail bike only became ‘limited’ when it was axed due to poor sales. Conversely, the Royal Wedding was always intended as a limited edition model, and of the 250 made, half were allegedly snapped up by the Royal family mad USA. I say ‘allegedly’ because I couldn’t find accurate figures relating to the USA consignment that left Meriden. However it is my understanding that a quantity of American models remained at Meriden to be sold in the UK. Competition was fierce in the early 80s. Various Japanese sports machines were flexing their muscles and funding for new models was a real concern for Meriden. Triumph really had just one bike to sell, an old-fashioned air-cooled twin. But they made the most of this opportunity and created two additional versions of the venerable 750. One Royal Wedding was aimed at UK customers and the other targeted the USA. The UK model sported a chrome and black livery with twin front discs and eight-spoke Morris alloy wheels, while the USA version had a chrome and smoked blue colour scheme, single front disc and traditional chrome rims. To confuse matters, an all-black ‘Royal’ Bonneville was also manufactured exclusively for the States, but limited to a production run of 50 machines.
The Royal Wedding Bonneville featured hereabouts is an original USA model. Certified as No 47 of 250, it was first registered in Glasgow in 1981 by renowned dealer Victor
Devine of Great Western Road. Although it was purchased with a two year extended warranty this extra would have been invalidated, because the original owner appears to have missed the first, second and third service intervals, the fourth being stamped by the dealer.
This patinated machine now belongs to my friend Bruce, and is just one of his stable of interesting Bonnevilles which includes an original 1959 T120. Bruce is a Triumph man through and through, and would be the first to admit he prefers polishing to fettling. In truth, entrepreneur Bruce’s hands are his livelihood and he owns a thriving beauty salon, renowned for having cosseted the golden locks of the famous and absolutely fabulous. So when he’s not glamming up the dames, Bruce can be found polishing his Triumphs. I wondered why he’s so obsessed with Triumphs.
‘I grew up among rockers,’ he explained, ‘and the Newport Café was the meeting place for our local bike gang. Road races along the Tay were the norm and I appear on a period YouTube film of 1960s teenage rockers racing Triumphs at Newport’s old ferry terminus. Most of the lads owned Triumph Tigers or Bonnevilles, although one chap had a BSA Golden Flash which was always blowing up its engine – this put me off BSAs for life!
‘My first bike was a Tiger Cub, and at a very impressionable age I soon understood the value of properly servicing a British motorcycle; especially if you didn’t want to be left stranded at the roadside and have your ear severely bent by your pillion girlfriend!’ sniggered Bruce. ‘Our Triumphs were always reliable, even when thrashed, so naturally I stuck with them. I loved their power, and the roar from the Bonneville’s twin exhausts was
You might decide that a bike this bright, this shiny, has no business getting muddy in the country. But you’d be wrong…
just awe-inspiring. The styling, the fashion, the café racer sect and the aura of the Bonneville were too hard to ignore. So much in fact, that if a nice Bonneville turned up for grabs I always found a reason to buy it. Over the years I’ve ended up with a nice little collection.’
Bruce found his Royal Wedding Bonnie in St Andrews, and I understand that the bike was running when he acquired it from its lady owner. However the engine began to backfire and soon afterwards the electric starter packed up. Being a stickler for 100% reliability, Bruce turned it over to local Triumph expert and professional motorcycle mechanic Greg Dawson to overhaul the engine, brakes and suspension and put it through an MoT.
When the engine was stripped Greg discovered premature wear of the bottom end and replaced both crankshaft roller bearings. Fortunately no regrind of the crankshaft was necessary, but the standard big end shells and both sets of conrod nuts and bolts were replaced. The timing side pinion bush was also replaced. The barrel and pistons were found to be perfectly serviceable and were simply de-coked. The cylinder was honed and new rings fitted to the pistons. Similarly, the top end was in good condition and Greg appropriately reground the valves and fitted new valve cups, springs and collets for long life. Greg beadblasted the engine covers and polished all the alloy casings. After checking and inspecting the gearbox internals the outer cases were bead-blasted and polished. The front and rear brake callipers were overhauled and a rusty front calliper was polished and re-chromed. The brakes were found to be in good working order, but additions such as new front and back calliper pistons, seals and new stainless hoses were fitted to help improve everything. Last jobs consisted of a new starter motor, 12V gel battery, replacement fork seals and a new brake light switch for the forthcoming MoT.
So is the Royal Wedding the ultimate incarnation of the 750 Bonneville? Here are the arguments:
THE GOOD
The chrome petrol tank with its smoked blue paintwork and gold coach lines, and the similarly treated sidepanels that match the tank’s bright and shiny look The polished alloy of the engine and silver cylinder block which enhances the Royal’s styling Other plus points are the Umberslade oil-carrying frame, non-standard Akront polished alloy rims, chromed mudguards, twin Veglia clocks, chromed headlight, Marzocchi rear shocks and the T140V’s excellent 5-speed box
THE BAD
BMW style matt-black indicators that look out of place among all the flash The fashion accessory ‘ape-hanger’ bars that also look incompatible on this model. A severe criticism perhaps, as the handlebars are described by Triumph as ‘extended’ bars and some riders may like them. My preference would be to swap them for standard bars or ‘low-riders’ more in keeping with the Royal Wedding Bonnie’s classic styling
THE UGLY
The elongated silencers look bizarre. Granted they’re a product of emissions control but Triumph could have come up with some glitzier-looking silencers, surely? The humongous but comfy king-andqueen seat (more of which later) also looks completely at odds on this otherwise royally handsome motorcycle
The most obvious changes to the Royal Wedding’s engine are the electric starter and its attractive kidney-shaped timing case. The casing is vertically split to allow easy removal of the electric starter. The starter itself is seamlessly grafted into the space left by the previous pre-unit engine’s old magneto and is a more robust Lucas unit than the ‘press to explode’ starters fitted to Mk3 Commandos. Another new feature was the change from Amal to twin CV Bing carburettors to ‘give easy starting and improved fuel economy’.
Internally the engine remained largely unchanged and is tried and tested T140V Bonneville technology. The 744cc engine has a bore and stroke of 76 by 82mm and a compression ratio of 7.9:1, giving a claimed power output of 49bhp at 6200rpm – once again, standard Bonneville practice. Depressing the scales at 429lb the Royal Hefty is a portly 30lb heavier than the standard T140V – not sure where Meriden has added the extra lard but my theory is that the heavy silencers are to blame – even though they’re the same silencers as the UK models. Hmmm…
In keeping with the bright and shiny look, both Triumph/Lockheed brake callipers are chromed. This USA Royal Bonnie however has only one single disc up front and not two as with the UK version. Any onlookers are left in no doubt as to this Triumph’s special status as ‘Limited Edition’ and‘Royal Wedding ’commemorative badges and plaques are plentiful – even the tank bung boasts ‘Royal Wedding, 1981.’
My friend Bruce again: ‘I was seduced by the Royal Bonneville’s attractive paint scheme and its chromed petrol tank. I’m also a huge fan of the electric starter which has proved utterly reliable – to the extent that I cannot recall when I last used the kickstart! I like the high handlebars, but I do appreciate they’re not to everyone’s liking. Similarly, I like the king/ queen seat because it’s comfortable for two-up touring. My wife said it’s the most luxurious saddle she’s ever ‘endured’ – who can argue with that!
‘The exhaust note is quieter than on my other two Bonnevilles and I always intended to bin the emissions silencers in favour of a more free-flowing and attractive exhaust system. But then our kids came along and suddenly I just didn’t have free time to use my Bonnies anymore. I only put the Royal Wedding back on the road again recently, with help from my son-in-law Mike, who’s an ace mechanic with a classic collection of his own. Mike took the bike
away and I understand he simply changed the oil and fuel, checked the carbs, changed the battery and she started first kick. Mike said he was amazed at how well the Bonnie ran after having been‘ retired’ for so many years.’
Indeed, own Mike’s very yellow Commando appeared in RC149. When he arrived with the Royal Wedding my first impressions of the Triumph were not flattering – I ridiculed the cloud-scraping ape-hangers, outdated K&Q seat and the overly-extended rear silencers that disappeared somewhere over the North Sea’s horizon. But the more we discussed Bruce’s Bonnie, the more I began to appreciate its unusual character. Mike was so enthusiastic about the eager engine, relaxed ride and superb handling that I had no choice but to slide on my leathers and boots, grab my hat and start up my Commando so we could both go and enjoy a test ride.
Over the usual quiet back roads that skirt the Tay estuary we stopped to swap bikes. Mike had left the Royal sitting on its centrestand. I was about to go through the motions of flooding the carbs and kickstarting the engine when Mike interrupted and pointed to the Bings and the electric start button. As the engine was already warm no choke was required. After first checking that the box was in neutral (there’s a warning light) I stabbed the starter button and Bingo! the engine was quietly ticking over. I didn’t even hear the starter engage due to the engine’s instantaneous firing. I was so impressed I had to cut the engine and fire her up again. Same result. Both now grinning from ear to ear we prepared to set off again on our different steeds.