1970 T120R Restoration

[gage505]

Hello to all the Triumph enthusiasts.
I am in the early stages of restoring a 1970 Triumph T120R Bonneville. The bike is a matching numbers bike which I had brought over from New Mexico USA about twelve months ago. Work and family commitments have meant that little has been done at this stage apart from take some photos and source a few parts that will need to be replaced. Hope to document the process over the coming months - probably years.

 

[grandpaul]

Welcome to the forum!

I spot front fender, tank emblems, left sidecover and tail light missing; other than that, it looks like a survivor.

Should make some decent "before and after" photo comparisons!

Ignition coils belong up underneath the gas tank.

 

[Tassie Tiger]

Welcome to TT. I look forward to following your progress with the project.

 

[Bonnie79D]

Hi and welcome to TT from another Perth triumph nut.

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

 

[DaveM]

Well it sure looks like you have a very nice bike to start with so this should turn out great. Will be looking forward to following this thread on the restoration

 

[grandpaul]

There are a few styling cues on classic Triumphs that speak to me personally.

One is the "finned egg" zener diode heat sink under the headlight.

Another is the grab bar.

'70 happens to be the ONLY year for the removable front engine mount tabs.

Some argue it's not perfection. It's close enough for me.

 

[Rocky]

Hello and welcome to TT
1970 was a pivotal year for Triumph and the year most consider that Triumph "got it right" before the oil in frame models came out.
Great find

 

[grandpaul]

If you do tear it down for a total refurb or restoration, take MANY photos of the bike BEFORE you pull it apart.

It helps with re-assembly to see how some bits are hung. It also makes for great before & after detail shots.

 

[CarlS]

Thanks for the pics. You have a great bike for a project. I am looking forward to following your progress.

 

[gage505]

Thanks for all the encouragement. It should be a good base for a restoration. It is hard to be patient when you are looking to buy, but I had my heart set on a 1970 Bonneville that was mostly all there. These sort of bikes are hard to find in Australia and because they are rare we seem to have to pay a premium. Bike is now stripped - lots of photos taken, pre-strip and waiting for parts to come back from powdercoating, chrome plating etc.
Hope to post some photos next week.
Cheers, Ron

 

[CarlS]

Looking forward to the photos and following your progress. A restoration project is very rewarding.

 

[gage505]

Frame and other parts came back from the powdercoaters yesterday. They did a nice job and a very fast turn around.
Had a broken off sidestand which was a bugger to fix. I took a heap of measurements of ground clearance before stripping the bike down. Lots of angle grinding to remove some of the old sidestand lug and then suspended the bare frame from the shed rafters to the correct ground clearance, then the replacement sidestand bracket was welded in place. I won't know for sure if I have got the angle right until the wheels
are on the bike and I can lean it on the new sidestand - finger crossed.

 

[Bonnie79D]

Nice work.

Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

 

[CarlS]

You do nice work.

 

[Rocky]

Nice job

 

[grandpaul]

Just remember never to kickstart it while it's sitting on the sidestand.

 

[Rocky]

Just remember never to kickstart it while it's sitting on the sidestand.

I watch some of my bike buddies start their bikes with the weight on the side stand and cringe every time I see them do that.
The side stand was never intended to take that sort of abuse and one of these days........... SNAP!!!!!!!!

 

[CarlS]

You are spot on.

 

[DaveM]

With all my bikes I would always get on it stand up and then kick start it, this just seemed the logical way of doing it

 

[Tassie Tiger]

Any further progress ?