pre unit bonnie

[whipirongeoff]

I have a rather interesting problem...... a few months ago a mate asked if I would help clean out a big shed, from a deceased estate. It was full mainly of early triumph parts, which he wanted me to sell on ebay, which I did. Anyways to cut a long story short, in return for my help I ended up with a basket case that the deceased owner must of had ear marked as a project, as it was separate from the rest of the parts.
It consists of a 59 t120 bottom end and matching frame, with a 9 stud bonnie top end, primary cases, gearbox cases with a box full of gearbox internals, clutches, etc. plus an oil tank, engine mounts, magneto, generator, rear shockies, and that's basically it. The triumph register tell me it was shipped to Australia in April 1959.
Bearing in mind that it's basically half a bike, what's your opinions on the best approach? To try to source all the parts to restore it to original would cost a squillion dollars, assuming the parts could be found Worldwide, ( long odds ) So I guess my only option is to create a mongrel. what would you do in this situation?

[Rex]

Build it with anything suitable that fits and works (no silly BMW front ends though) use it, and look for "correct" bits as and when. You're very lucky!

[whipirongeoff]

Thanks for the reply, bmw forks? I wouldn't do anything that nasty to a triumph. When I said mongrel, I didn't mean cross bred and nasty. I meant forks and wheels etc off a unit triumph maybe. My desire is to get it on the road again.

[Rex]

Sounds good to me. I'm sure some owners die of old age waiting for the last correct Meriden spring washer to turn up before they get to ride the bike. Better a mix of years than that.

[mini-me]

late forks fit straight in, you can use the better brake as well.

Just make a bike out of it and if the bits turn up work from there.
I have been a Triumph man since 17 and one of the joys of them is the amount of mix and match you can do with Triumph parts.

Mind you, I don't have a Triumph now because of the sheer ridiculousness of the price of spares, and the crap that is sold as pattern.

[Rex]

By coincidence I "left" Triumphs behind nearly ten years ago for the very same reasons. Spent some years importing parts from the US but they're no longer either cheap or available, it seems.
Sad though, as they're good bikes, but five hundred quid + for a bare frame?

[chaterlea25]

Hi,
Heres my 2 cents worth 

Advertise it and sell on Ebay,
The way things are going its worth more "as is" than built as a mongrel
Being a "genuine" first year Bonny the skys the limit
It will fetch enough so you can buy an up and running bike of your choice

John

[mini-me]

which is also a viable option, and will open the doors to maybe a better bike.

[murdo]

I agree with Chaterlea, that is what I would do.
What you could get for the incomplete set of bits would buy you a ready running later (read less trouble) model of your choice.

[mini-me]

yes, prices for  even secondhand Triumph parts for pre unit T120 go mad.

If I can find a used nut in my box of old bits I can truthfully say is genuine Triumph it goes on ebay.

some folk have too much money.

[whipirongeoff]

I must admit, ebay is an option. As I mentioned, I recently put a heap of pre unit stuff on ebay, and the prices they bought were insane. Example.. a set of rigid frame triumph primary cases were bid up to $650.00 by a bloke from Japan. But I'm sure there are many of us, who have looked back on bikes we've owned in the past, and thought bloody hell, I wish I hadn't sold that. I have always loved the bikes from the 50's and early 60's. It's probably my age showing, but to me it was the golden age of motorcycling.
Yes, there faults were many, but you didn't need to be an I.T. specialist to tune them, nor were they coated in overpriced plastic bits that made them look like they had been beaten with an ugly stick. To me, the pre unit triumph motor was one of the prettiest looking motors ever made, and warts and all, they early bikes had a character that later model bikes seem to lack, but as I said, maybe it's my age showing. But I appreciate hearing other peoples opinions.