Going price for a 1979 Triumph Bonneville "Special"?

Triumph Motorcycle Forum - TriumphTalk

Help Support Triumph Motorcycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
F

Freebooter

Well-Known Member
Hello all,
I know a guy who has a near mint condition 1979 Triumph 750 Bonneville "Special". He said he'd sell it to me for $6,500.00. Is that a good price for that model? What is the blue book or going price for it?
Thanks,
Freebooter
 
You are referring to the Silver Jubilee...and YES....buy that bike for that price!!!!!

Unless it's a pile of scrap, it's worth it.

They are numbered so the lower number makes it even more valuable, but that is a limited edition motorcycle and one that I've tried to buy several times.

PS: I hate you! LOL :y2:
 
Sounds like a fair price for that bike. I still have mine in near mint condition after owning it for almost 10 years. It's a great bike, almost modern (no e-start).

The Amal Mk II carbs are excellent.

183136454.jpg
 
Thanks y'all! I will go take a pic of it shortly. It is his hanger (at Millbrook Airport) and along with some other bikes and 1930s era cars he has collected and restored. It has been sitting up for some time so I will have to knock the dust off. Be back later.

Freebooter
 
Hello all,
Went and took a couple of pics of it with my cheapy cell phone. So not the best in the world. Hey Seeker, you mentioned serial numbers. On both the frrame and engine it has he same number. On the engine it is just like this:

"T140D
BA19200"

On frame it is all one line: "T140DBA19200". One thing I noticed is that the turn signals have been removed. He might have them. He said when they put that small windshield on it they took the signals off. I will pput them back on. My credit is shot, so this guy, whose kids I grew up with, is going to finance me. He said he would keep the bike in his shop until I paid it off. When asked why I can't take it when and if we make the deal he said he did not want me going off getting killed and he would be out of a bike and the money! I reckon I understand that.

Here is a picPhoto-0046.jpgPhoto-0047.jpg
 
As I said, it is in very, very good shape, new tires, paint in good shape, little to no rust. But there is a bit of dryrotting on the caps that go over the spark plug caps, at battery terminals, etc.. If I get it, I will of course replace any dryrotted rubber, hoses, wires, etc.. There is a Triumph place up the road in Auburn (Al) that specializes and works on the old Triumphs, has parts for them, etc.!
FB
 
Disregard what I said about them being "numbered".....I was referring to the Silver Jubilee Edition thinking that was the "Special" you were referring to.

Maybe someone can enlighten me, but I see a standard Bonneville T140 with solid rims. Aside from the rims, I'm not sure what made them "Special".

But it does look like a nice clean T140. The dry rot you mentioned is easily replaced (I'd check the tires too!). It is also obvious you'll need two new brake rotors and those are pretty rusty. You can get standard steel ones, or you can get chromed ones that won't rust quite as easily. Of course the chrome rotors are way more expensive and if you ride it often, the steel won't rust either.

The turn signals are something you want to be sure he has as buying news ones is a ton of cash (for me anyhow). They come on long chrome stalks. For my taste, the stalks are TOO long especially in the rear. What I did was get rid of the stalk in the rear completely and bolted them directly to the chrome rear hoop. Then I used the shorter stalks on the front. Now I don't smack my leg on the rear signals when getting on or off the bike.
 
Thanks Seeker. I am no expert, but I think the reason it was called the "Special" wa because that was the first year they came out with alloy rims/wheels instead of spokes, and it had a slightly stepped seat reminisent of the "king/queen" seats. I am not sure of anything else special about it. LOL!
Freebooter
 
The Seeker said:
It is also obvious you'll need two new brake rotors and those are pretty rusty. You can get standard steel ones, or you can get chromed ones that won't rust quite as easily. Of course the chrome rotors are way more expensive and if you ride it often, the steel won't rust either.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure about this part of your post AJ.
Cast rotors get that look quickly but usually don't rust too deep, a clean up with wet and dry may make them functional.
The chrome ones are rubbish if you actually use them to stop. OK for a show pony. I've taken chrome off them to make them work properly.
 
From the J.R. Nelson book "Bonnie":

The T140D "special" was finished in black, with a 3.6 gallon (US) black tank lined with broad gold upper and lower scallop motifs, chromed front and read mudguards, and black styling panels with twin gold horizontal styling lines. The "screw-on" badges were silver chrome lettering on a black background - the legend "special" picked out in red. The quilted "sculptured" twinseat was in black with chrome lower trim band. The black Lester wheels were machined back to give a stylish alloy rim and spoke effect."

FYI
 
As you can see from my pics, this one does not have those two wide gold lines on the side plate. Just a black side plate with the red "Special", etc.. And the tank is plain two tone black and silve with not wide gold painted lines as in someone else's pic. I wonder why this one does not have them?
FB
 
Freebooter said:
As you can see from my pics, this one does not have those two wide gold lines on the side plate. Just a black side plate with the red "Special", etc.. And the tank is plain two tone black and silve with not wide gold painted lines as in someone else's pic. I wonder why this one does not have them?
FB
Click to expand...


Could be the difference between a UK or Euro model and a US Import model.
 
The serial number "D" indicates that it started life as a Special.

It's been repainted from the Special's unique Gold-lined hollow upper & lower scallops.

Should be a 2-into-1 header, can't tell from the photo.

Other than the above, and the wheels & sidecover logos, that's what makes a Special a Special.

The one I posted (mine) is completely original except a replacement aftermarket muffler (still the original 2-into-1 header pipes).

I believe UK & US models were the same for the Special, not 100% positive on that. What we've got here WAS a Special, but it's been repainted incorrectly (though not bad looking).
 

Similar threads

Cobracita
1979 Triumph Bonneville T140E with Original Parts
Replies
6
Views
3K
CarlS
CarlS
R
Triumph Bonneville Special 1979
Replies
15
Views
68
Triumph Tom
Triumph Tom
A
1979 Triumph Bonnenville Special
Replies
5
Views
39
Admrowl
A

Latest posts

Back
Top