Triumph Bonneville T120 test: Bonnie to do it all !

A true icon of British motorcycle production, the Triumph Bonneville is still evolving … for our greatest pleasure! Chassis, suspension, engine, equipment … Everything is revisited while taking care to preserve the essential: the pleasure of driving. Test.

Over a century of history

Over a century long, the history of Triumph begins in 1884 with the creation by a young German (sic!), Siegfried Bettmann, of an import / export company in London. Company quickly renamed "The Triumph Cycle Company" in 1886, then "New Triumph Co. Ltd" in 1887.

Motorcycle production did not officially begin until 1902, the brand then experiencing remarkable growth punctuated by troubled periods, including two World Wars … Gathering speed records and victories in competition, Triumph also gained notoriety thanks to the cinema and to the use of his motorcycles by stars such as Marlon Brando in "The Wild Team" (1953).

Certainly. But what is the relationship with the new Bonneville T120 that MNC is discovering today in Portugal? Patience, we get there! In 1956, the Texan pilot Johnny Allen reached 345.5 km / h on the salt lake of Bonneville, Utah: this record gave birth in 1959 to the Triumph Bonneville T120, resulting from the Tiger 110. This Bonnie first of the name, equipped with a double carburetor, is a huge success in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The Bonneville is everywhere, popularized by the stars of the time: Steeve McQueen, James Dean, Bob Dylan or even Clint Eastwood. In the United Kingdom, it becomes an emblem of rock’n’roll culture and thrones in number in the parking lot of the famous, famous meeting place of British rockers.

The 1970s were marked by a long period of crisis which led to the closure of the factory in 1983. An English businessman, John Bloor, then bought the name and the production rights, before creating in 1984 "Triumph Motorcycles Ltd ".

The Bonneville continued its career, produced under license by LF Harris between 1985 and 1988, until John Bloor put an end to it and decided – shocking! – leave the Bonnie aside … The businessman, however, is working on the revival of the brand and is investing in a new factory on the Hinckley site in Leicestershire.

It was not until 2000 to see the reappearance of the Bonneville, equipped with a brand new parallel twin 790 cc of 62 horsepower, still set at 360 °. In 2002, Triumph opened a spare parts factory in Thailand, then two other production sites in 2006 and 2007, where several models have since been assembled, including this new – and attractive – Bonneville T120 … Phew !

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