Triumph Bonneville by Ulf Penner in the test

Triumph Bonneville in the test

Tuning treatment for a 2003 Bonnie

The Triumph Bonneville of the 21st century is a well-behaved, everyday retro bike: neat, pretty, predictable. But isn’t it possible to do both: nice and fast? Sure, said tuner Ulf Penner and took a 2003 Bonnie to his chest.

AT.he world-famous salt lake in Bonneville / Utah has written legends on the hunt for speed. Rollie Free’s, for example: In 1948, when he was only wearing swimming trunks and lying for a long time on a naked Vincent HRD, he drove 150.313 miles per hour, around 150 mph. Also in Bonneville, Johnny Allen reached 345.45 km / h in a faired Triumph twin in 1956. The commercial offshoot of the record-breaking motorcycle became immortal as the Bonneville. From 1959 onwards, this T 120 with double carburettor was the ultimate sports motorcycle, even if it only managed 120 miles per hour after backyard tuning.

Triumph Bonneville in the test

Tuning treatment for a 2003 Bonnie

Buy Triumph Bonneville on markt.motorradonline.de

As early as possible as much torque as possible

In addition, the tuner has "lightly processed" combustion chambers and channels, milled and smoothed transitions. Plus the compression increased from 9.2 to 10.5. This time, Ulf Penner did not rely on the know-how of his own camshafts in his head, but instead “diced” series cams: the original exhaust camshaft rotates in the intake, the intake camshaft of a Triumph Thruxton controls the exhaust valves. “Because all current Triumph Twins don’t get enough air”, instead of the castrating suction snorkel, a larger aluminum funnel with a diameter of 45 millimeters now snaps for oxygen. In the airbox, a restrictor plate hit the collar.

The mufflers come from Shark and have been modified by Classicbike Raisch. The air-cooled engine hums with it in a robust, but not obtrusive manner, bubbles powerfully through the speed range. "The aim of the tuning was to get as much torque as possible as early as possible," says Ulf Penner. Operation succeeded. The "bottom / middle coordination" with significantly increased peak performance pushes ahead emphatically.

This motor is nice and smooth for those who enjoy using the throttle. Its two equal pressure carburettors hang wonderfully softly and gently on the gas. That pearls! With this rubber band character, the small torque drop at 4000 rpm is not noticeable when driving. From 60 km / h at the latest, the fifth can enter, and the rest is done easily with the throttle. The punch offered actually makes the Bonnie a cool car. It’s good that the retrofitted Muller four-piston brake caliper grabs the single disc at the front. A fork stabilizer should prevent the fork, which is provided with Wilbers springs, from twisting. At the rear, Wilbers struts provide punch reserves. Old Style embodies standard knee cushions on the tank, wire wheels and metal mudguards. Not tame, not lame, just a little poor – after conversion costs from around 3600 euros.

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Conversion info

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The power and torque curve speaks for itself.

The power and torque curve speaks for itself: a fat buffalo saddle instead of a standard rather slim course. Ulf Penner’s power and displacement cure makes the torque much more voluminous over the entire speed range (!). The curve is shifted parallel upwards – by a massive 20 Newton meters. With a programmable ignition system from Ignitech installed after the test, a maximum of more than 90 Newton meters should be in it – with less pre-ignition and less hot engine. The tuning twin offers a lot more lard from below, accelerates better, delivers a whopping 79 instead of 64 hp peak power. respect!

Prices: Drill out cylinder around 500 euros; Big-Bore-Kit from Wiseco incl. 92 pistons and displacement increase to 904 cm3: 800 euros; Thruxton camshaft: 380 euros; Process ducts and valve seats: 280 euros; Shark 2-in-2 slip-on muffler with other caps: 580 euros; Ignitech ignition: 160 euros; stronger clutch springs: 13.90 euros; Carburetor tuning, airbox conversion, installation, test bench tuning: around 900 euros.

Contact and information: Ulf Penner, phone: 01 57/81 57 59 52, email: u.penner@gmx.de, www.tuning-fibel.de

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