TRIUMPH 140D BONNEVILLE
Triumph’s 40-year-old T140D Special may well be the best-looking factory custom ever – but it was born out of a combination of desperation as well as inspiration
We celebrate 40 years of Triumph’s factory custom with our cover bike
Factory customs. Love ’em or hate ’em? I’m in the second category. I’ve always thought they miss the point of the whole custom concept – individuality. And generally they’re clumsily executed, too. A Yamaha XS650, for example, is a fine looking motorcycle, in my opinion. An XS650SE, with its hideous stepped seat, small rear wheel and preposterous handlebars? Not so much. But I’m happy to hold my hands up and agree that Triumph’s 1979 T140D Special is the best looking ‘factory custom’ ever to leave a mainstream factory. In fact, it’s just a great looking bike, full stop.
That makes it all the more amazing that, 40 years ago this year, the T140D Special came about almost as an act of desperation rather than inspired development. Triumph were under the cosh at the tail end of the ’70s. They had tried to bring their range of twins a little more up to date, but in September 1973 the well-documented workers’ occupation of the Meriden plant – called to prevent the planned redundancies of around 1700 workers and the closure of the factory by new owners Norton Villiers Triumph – brought progress to a shuddering halt.
It would be 1975 before a government-supported workers’ co-operative resumed production at Meriden – and a deal of damage had been done to the Triumph brand during the layoff. Unable to source bikes, some dealers had taken on other agencies and customer loyalty had been dented, too. Perhaps more importantly in the long run, nothing had been done in terms of research and
development. The competition had been racing ahead, while the new Meriden Co-op was still reliant on a model range powered by a 744cc parallel-twin engine that could trace its origins to the pre-war era.
By the time the factory was ready to start production of 1979 models, there was still little development of any substance evident. But the Bonneville at least now sported disc brakes all round and electronic ignition. Without any significant investment in R&D, the Bonnie was still falling further behind its rivals. It was a Catch 22 situation. Without investment, there could be no new models – and sales were starting to tail off. Without increased sales, there could be no cash to spend on R&D.
Triumph’s beleaguered design team came up with a practical and cost-efficient plan to introduce a new model – one specifically targeting their traditionally loyal and enthusiastic following in the USA. What if they could make minimal – and cheap – alterations to the existing T140E and market it as a completely new model? Cashing in on the then-popular ‘factory custom’ concept that most of the Japanese competition were embracing, Triumph came up with the T140D Special.
A new seat and handlebars, a small Us-market tank, a two-into-one exhaust, a restrained (yet inspired) black and gold paint scheme, a revised swingarm and gorgeous Us-made Lester cast alloy wheels transformed the standard T140E into a thing of beauty. Early bikes had a 4.25in-section rear tyre, but problems with the tyres fouling the rear mudguard when carrying a pillion saw
‘TRIUMPH’S BELEAGUERED DESIGN TEAM CAME UP WITH A COST-EFFICIENT PLAN TO INTRODUCE A NEW MODEL’
later models reverting to 4.10-section rubber. The new T140D Special may not have been startlingly innovative or high-tech, but it was a great looking bike.
Sadly, it seemed it was too little, too late. Sales weren’t that impressive in the USA – and even fewer sold on the home market. That’s probably more to do with technological leaps and bounds by the competition – dohc fours had been common fare for years and Triumph’s dated engine tech was becoming a terminal hindrance. The T140D was listed for a second year in 1980, but that was it. Maybe looks don’t count for much, and anyway, by 1983 it was the end of the line for Meriden.
Forty years later, the classic world is happily indifferent to cold-hearted logic. We like what we like. By and large, it’s a friendly world, too. We’ve probably all met a few faces we don’t really know, but bump into every now and then. Perhaps it’s that guy you always see at Stafford. Or maybe it’s the man who bought your pre-65 trials bike a couple of years ago and still turns up at random events with it. We’ll have a chat, exchange what we’ve been up to with our bikes and go our separate ways with a smile. It’s part of the joy of being into old bikes.
But it’s not just people. Bikes seem to have a habit of coming back into your life, too. The summer before last, we caught up with James French’s lovely Royal Enfield Continental – a bike that entered our Classic Bike of the Year competition 10 years earlier. I spotted one of my old bikes up for sale last year and only the usual lack of spare cash prevented me from renewing old acquaintance.
That’s certainly true of Lee Paxton’s gorgeous Triumph T140D Special. Lee’s always admired the T140D since seeing one up on a plinth in his local dealer’s back when he was just 18. “I used to go in and drool over what I
couldn’t afford,” he says. “Of course I didn’t have the money to buy one back then, but I loved the look of the bike and it really stuck in my mind.”
Lee dropped out of bikes for a while when he had a young family but, by 2013 they were back in his thoughts. “I had a bit more spare cash and started to look for another bike,” he explains. “I spotted a T140D Special for sale in MCN classifieds. It was in the Isle of Wight, so my wife dropped me at the ferry and the owner met me at the port on the island. The bike looked just as I remembered it and I did the deal and rode it home. It was probably the best ride of my life. I really felt 18 again.”
Once he got home, though, reality began to set in. “The bike was in good condition,” says Lee. “But it hadn’t been used much in the previous 10 years and there were a few issues with it. The rocker gaskets started leaking on the way home, the brakes were binding and there were a few more niggles that needed sorting. I didn’t really have the skills – or the inclination – to get it right. I just wanted a bike that I could get on and ride, so I bought a Hinckley Bonneville and loved it.
“The T140D was the right bike at the wrong time. After six months, I sold it to a guy in the Lake District and forgot about it for a while. But as time went on, I started to regret selling it. I’d got a bit more into the classic scene and had seen a few T140D Specials at different events and realised I missed mine. About 18 months ago, I spotted this one on ebay. It was being sold by a dealer from Manchester and he offered to bring it down to my home in Amesbury as he had a few bikes to deliver down this way. As soon as I saw it, I knew I’d have it, but it wasn’t until I glanced at the registration plate as I wheeled it into my garage that the penny dropped. It was the bike I’d sold back in 2013. What are the chances?”
What indeed? Lee can be excused for not recognising his old bike – the tank had been resprayed and there was a new replica silencer fitted. “Best of all, though, the guy from the Lake District I’d sold it to had recommissioned it properly before selling it on to the dealer I bought it back from,” he continues. “It was running really well and everything worked properly. This time round, I’ve been able to enjoy the bike for what it is. I’ve just had the cylinder head reconditioned and a top-end rebuild with new pistons, rings and gaskets. The bores were slightly scored and I wanted everything done right. The carbs still need a little fine tuning, but otherwise it’s all good.”
It certainly seems it, as it fires up first kick and I can make my way across the busy ring road and out onto the
fringes of Salisbury Plain. It’s fabulous riding country. The road dips and twists through a landscape of chalky downland that has changed little over the last couple of centuries – save by the activities of the army, for whom the plain is the largest military training area in the UK. The Triumph is the perfect tool for aimless meandering across the scenery on a day like this.
The T140 engine might be regarded as the poor relation to the ‘classic’ 650 unit of the T120 and TR6 by many Triumph aficionados, but it’s actually a very pleasant and capable unit. The slightly softer and less frantic power of the overbored 744cc lump is torquier than the old 650 – perfect for wafting along in top gear, enjoying the view. But when I need to use the (left-foot change) gearbox, it’s sweetness itself and the clutch behaves perfectly, too. If you haven’t ridden a well set-up T140, you really should.
That left-foot gearchange isn’t the only feature of the T140D Special that will appeal to those riders who are better acquainted with the more modern end of the classic bike spectrum, either. The disc brakes at front and rear are reassuringly effective (though not stunning) and the electronic ignition just keeps banging out the sparks on time without any maintenance.
Because the D is little more than a (very nice) styling job, I get to enjoy some pretty decent handling, courtesy of the oil-bearing frame. And if you think that the oil-inframe Triumphs are somehow inferior to the earlier models, just remember that Steve Trasler won the 750cc class of the hotly contested Avon Production Series in the UK on a T140 back in 1978.
‘THERE’S A CERTAIN STYLE ABOUT IT THAT JAPANESE ‘CUSTOMS’ COULDN’T MATCH. IT STILL LOOKS GREAT TODAY’
But that’s just all practical stuff. The T140D Special may actually be a pretty good everyday rider, but no one would buy one just for that. You buy one because it turns heads – most importantly, your own. The black paintwork with its gold lining is wonderfully understated, the handlebars would suit Goldilocks (not too high, not too low, but just right) and those discreet, black Lester alloy wheels just ooze class. This is one classy motorcycle.
That’s an opinion that’s shared by Lee Paxton. “I’ve got other bikes to ride, but I love showing off the T140D,” he confirms. “It’s a stunning bike to look at – simple but utterly gorgeous. Its frame had been powder-coated way back in 1996, long before I owned it first time round; the tank has been repainted and it has a replacement silencer – I’ve got the original – but other than that it’s a very original bike. I like that about it – it hasn’t been overrestored. It proves that Triumph could still build a great bike at the end of the ’70s.”
I have to agree. Maybe by 1979, when the T140D Special appeared, the Japanese had surpassed Triumph in purely engineering terms – but there’s more to a bike than that. There’s a certain style about the D that the Japanese ‘customs’ just couldn’t match. It still looks great today. And that’s one of the things that makes a genuine classic. Oh and you know what I said about bikes coming back into your life? It turns out Lee’s Triumph has got previous form with CB, too. It was on the cover of our September issue in 1993 and now it’s back for another generation of readers to admire and the long-term CB faithful to catch up with. Some things are just too good to disappear.