Triumph Bonneville Tugs: An Owner's Perspective

Ah, that makes sense!

Hey, you're in Southern Pines? I spent some time in that neck of the woods (well, a bit East of there) when Uncle Sam was my employer.

We have every thing needed to add a sidecar to the Scrambler (or the T-100 and others) the Scrambler has mounts that are a bit different then the T-100 due to the high exhaust system. The new from billet triple tree's we make for the T-100 will work on the Scrambler.
BTW we are also building two sidecars now for the Steve McQueen edition of the Bonneville with matching wheels and one is getting WW2 aircraft type nose art on the front.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

I happen to commute a bit east of here to keep Uncle Sam happy myself.

Sent from the voices in my head, and transcribed by their drinking buddy.

Finally got my Taos pictures posted.

Here's the one that really got my brain buzzing, seeing as how it's on a Scrambler identical to mine except for the color:






There was also a nice T100 hack:





I really like the auxiliary headlights and the spare gas on the T100.

I have to say, this is really starting to appeal to me! Already casually searching the Interwebs for chairs. I figure since I'm not in a hurry I can buy the parts piece by piece and worry about putting it all together once I have all the stuff I need.

Got a set of Hagon progressive springs in the mail last week. I'm looking for a set of fork caps from a Thruxton now. Those will allow me to make adjustments to front forks easily. Once I get it all assembled, I'll report how the mod works.

I still haven't found a set of Thruxton fork caps, so the spring job hasn't happened yet. That, coupled with a few trips to Southwest Asia, and a new Husky, have limited my tinkering time on the Bonnie.

That said, it is getting close to tire time. The front will assuredly get an Avon Sidecar Triple Duty.

I'm looking at the Safety Mileage for the pusher. Anybody running those? Any other ideas for good pushers?

I run a Safety Mileage on the rear and Sidecar Triple Duty on the front and side.
All wheels are 19s though, and the profile of the rear
SM is a bit taller than the others.
I did not know those tires were made in modern bike sizes- my outfit is a 64 Bonneville/Steib S-350. 19s all around.
I think those Avon tires handle great and last well.

You know what, I haven't checked yet to see the size offerings yet. I just assumed they were made in modern sizes with the amount of people talking about the triple duty on here.

I am curious about what that outfit weighs. My 1964 Triumph/Steib with full tank, rider and passenger, and camping gear for three weeks on the road weihs 1300 pounds, a lot for 45 HP...
Are those new Triumphs revvy and sporty? Can you fling that outfit around and drift it?
Or are they heavy and dull?
I have never ridden one of the new ones.
I think I am too old to change bikes now, just curious.

I've found my Scrambler/Velorex outfit to be a bit underpowered, especially loaded for bear (wife and I camping in Alaska).

The Velorex has been replaced by a Dauntless sidecar, and I've also taken out the intake snorkel, gone to TORs and some minor carb adjustments (jets, shims). Feels a heck of a lot better now, but still not gonna set any land speed records.

There's plenty more power, if you're wiling to pay for it.

http://bonnevilleperformance.com/bonneville_performance_800gt.htm

The modern Bonnevilles have gobs more power than their 60's predecessors.

As for weight, I don't know exactly, but using this logic, I can get pretty close.

A Ural has 40hp.
A 1WD Ural weighs 705lbs
A Ural Solo weighs 441lbs dry.
So it is safe to assume the sidecar and subframe weight about 264lbs.

A stock Bonnie weighs in at 495lbs wet. Add in the the 264lbs for the sidecar and you're at 759 lbs with 67hp. I would say my rig is probably a little lighter since there is a lot less sheet metal on a cargo tub than normal Ural tub.

It has more than enough power, plenty to get me in trouble. I almost got a performance award for going 89 in a 65 while fully loaded for a two week trip. Now, granted I was trying to find its max speed on the highway, not just cruising along at 89. I had two full dry bags, cooler full of beverages, tent, chairs, supplies for the hack monkey, etc. This is the best picture I could come up with at the moment.



All in all, I'd say it was about 200 lbs of gear. It hauls nicely. I'm not much of an interstate guy, but I have no qualms about hopping on the highway to make up a little time with this rig.

Keep in mind that the beauty of the Bonnie engine is that it is underpowered and overbuilt. There is gobs more potential in that engine if you want it. However, I like the fact that it is an underpowered, reliable work horse in stock mode. The stock 67hp works well enough for me. However, there are tons of guys out there cranking out much larger numbers if you want more power out of it.

Thanks for that information, my 650 T 120R wouldn't make that much HP if it was...was....running on nitro.

thanks for posting up this thread RD!

I've been struggling, trying to figure out what bike to get as a tug. Been leaning towards the Bonneville, like the looks and extra HP and reliability compared to the URAL (but love the character/looks of the ural).

Think I'm getting a Bonneville after reading the positive responses in this thread

Owning both and comparing them side by side on a regular basis, you can't go wrong either way. They are two very different machines, and both shine at what they do.

Just switched the rear tire to a 140/80/17 Tourance. The only reason I used the Tourance was because I had a brand new take-off from my Husky Strada to Terra conversion. So far I love the extra traction I get in the sand. I also appreciate the extra 1/2" of height I get in the rear. Yes, 1/2" doesn't seem like much, but it is when you scrape over speed bumps.

Current size on the front is 100/90/19. I'll likely switch it out to a 110/90/19 to get an extra .7" up front when the time comes.

Looking for a different bike for my Dnepr car. /5 and Gs have been considered.
Wife's forgotten T100 now seems a more likely candidate. Too bad It can't mount on the left though. Nice to see the hurdles others have cleared.

Ashland is a fairly long haul to our shop (about 450 miles) but if you were to come up here we have 4 Bonneville's in the shop right now, one done it is a Steve McQueen edition, one being repaired after hitting a car and two brand new bikes straight from the dealer about to have their sidecars installed one of which also received a custom paint job. All our getting our new from billet triple tree's.
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793

Here is a picture of our 'Bullet' sidecar. Aluminum body. Have done numerous Triumph based outfits and personally like them a lot. We will be doing one on a Triumph Scrambler soon for the shop. Plan to make specific mounts for this and the Bonneville bikes.

Claude, I'd love to get one of those Bullets on a Thruxton. Resale Red and ready to roll. It's just the buying the Thruxton and paying you part I can't figure out.

Seriously though, that sidecar looks great on a Triumph.