Triumph Modern Classics- The Thruxton

[Voltaire]

I recently swapped my Ducati 900ssie for a Triumph Thruxton as I never really took to the more modern sporty Ducati, being more of an older bike fan.
Fitted new tyres a couple of weeks ago and rode it down Sh 22 and the next day up to Warkworth..even did a bit of gravel to Puhoi. After that new shocks were on my to do list...
Bought in a set of IKON's from Aussie for around $530 and fitted them on yesterday.
Today after the fog lifted a great riding day presented it self and I headed off the motorway at Papakura, skirted around Pukekohe and on down SH22 picked up a mate on his Guzzi and did Heatherington Road accross to TeKauwhata and back to SH 1 via Meremere.
The Thruxton is a great all rounder for me, really suited to tight winding roads as well as more open sweeping roads. Sure it's only supposed to have 65 HP but then thats more than my other two old bikes, and its where I want it, in the 0 to 140 kmph range with lots of mid range stomp.
I took a Demo Bonnie out for a test last year and I was disapppointed....too quiet,too upright,and the power was lacking, but this bike has a more 'sporty' riding position but less aggressive than the SS, and nice loud exhausts.
The Bonnie/Thruxton range is strangled by emissions and noise junk, there is a huge aftermarket in exhausts, air box removal kits, suspension parts etc....

Probably look at replacing the fork springs with a Racetech spring/emulator kit and that would be about it for the chassis.
Booked a day at the California Riding School to improve my 'style' as I'm building a classic racer to play with.:mellow:

[Kickaha]

and on down SH22 picked up a mate on his Guzzi

Was that the mate who said this :laugh:
So the only answer is that the modern classic bike owner is a soft cock.

[Voltaire]

Yeah...its a Guzzi thing....they do spot checks at Guzzi Rallys....its the only way they tell the new from the old...<_<

[Motu]

The Thruxton always looks good in Black...Nice choice of bike.

<img src="http://www.bikeexif.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/velocette_venom_thruxton.jpg">

[Voltaire]

Yeah...another bike named after a ractrack. S'pose at least Triumph did acutally win some races there...:laugh:

[Road kill]

I understand the only real difference between the Thruxton an the Bonnie is the cam.
I also believe you can gain another 10-15 horses with a few simple exhaust,air box,ignition,carb or injection up grades from Newbonneville.com in the states.
They also stock some nice shinny stuff as well.

[Edbear]

Now, everyone should know by now that pics are a necessity! :soon:

[Voltaire]

I understand the only real difference between the Thruxton an the Bonnie is the cam.
I also believe you can gain another 10-15 horses with a few simple exhaust,air box,ignition,carb or injection up grades from Newbonneville.com in the states.
They also stock some nice shinny stuff as well.

When the Thruxton came out it was a larger engine, different cams, different steering angle and riding postion.
Yes you can gain extra HP with a few easy mods.
I didn't like the Bonnie riding postion too upright.

[Voltaire]

Now, everyone should know by now that pics are a necessity! :soon:

Too busy ridin' to take pics....heres one from the week I bought it. Needs a bit of work but hey its only my modern everday bike....:laugh:
The coin get spent on the classics.:love:
Plenty fast enough for me and the handlings ok for 60 ish HP.

[Ixion]

The Thruxton always looks good in Black...Nice choice of bike.

<img src="http://www.bikeexif.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/velocette_venom_thruxton.jpg">


Yeah...another bike named after a ractrack. S'pose at least Triumph did acutally win some races there...:laugh:

They only came in black AFAIK. The Thruxton was called thus to commemorate the occasion when Velo took 3 Venom Clubmans to Thruxton race track. And rode them non stop (except for brief stops to refuel and change riders) for 24 hours. Flat tit. All three completed the 24 hours and all three *averaged* (including fuel stops) over 100mph (mph not kph) for the 24 hours. AFAIK the record still stands. Not bad for a 500cc designed 80 odd years ago.

[PeteJ]

Ahemmmm.

1 Velo Thruckies also came in blue frame with silver tank/gold pinstriping; at least 2 in original livery of that colour are still in NZ.

2. Yup, named after Thruxton Circuit. First Velo Thruxton endurance race win in 1965, at Castle Combe for the Thruxton meeting.

3. Yes, held world record 24hr for 500s, but just one machine. At Montlhery. 100.24 mph???

4. Which explains your confusion. Triumph took Thunderbirds to Montlhery when they were new, a team of 3, aiming to have all 3 achieve 100mph average as part of a Maudes Trophy attempt.

AFAIK.

[Motu]

And so we have the new Triumph Thruxton....it gets the name how?

[FJRider]

And so we have the new Triumph Thruxton....it gets the name how?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_Thruxton_900

[Motu]

Uh,oh right - named after Edward Turners 650 twin which has nothing to do with the modern bike. I like the bit about the original bike having a top speed of 230kph.the modern one 190kph. The old Triumph and the Velo earned their Thruxton tag...this new Triumph just paid for a name tag.

[Edbear]

Uh,oh right - named after Edward Turners 650 twin which has nothing to do with the modern bike. I like the bit about the original bike having a top speed of 230kph.thee modern one 190kph.

Is that sorta like, "a rose by any other name" in reverse..?

[Voltaire]

Uh,oh right - named after Edward Turners 650 twin which has nothing to do with the modern bike. I like the bit about the original bike having a top speed of 230kph.the modern one 190kph. The old Triumph and the Velo earned their Thruxton tag...this new Triumph just paid for a name tag.

Yes, that is correct, its just a jap bike twin made in England pretending to be a 60's cafe racer.
Incidently Triumph was started by a German, went bust and was bought up by BSA....so they are not really British or Triumphs....:shit:....Kraut BSA's :lol:
Your welcome to take it for a spin Mr Motu.....

[Motu]

I bet my bike could do 190kph too...

Got any R80 motors lying around?...

No,that wouldn't do. How about,ah...

[Voltaire]

I bet my bike could do 190kph too...

Got any R80 motors lying around?...

No,that wouldn't do. How about,ah...

you could bung in an R100 and call it a Nurbergringer......or TT replica....or Daytona.....BMW moved bike production from Munich to Berlin and put plastic guards on them.....not really BMW anymore as the B now stands for Berlin not Bayern...:laugh:

[Paul in NZ]

To be fair - 'Thruxton' is one name modern Triumph has got kinda right in that it was the uber performance version of the bonnie. (the fact that the new bonnie is not uber anything other than ugly matters not)

I did a fair bit of reading about Thruxton triumphs once and one thing was clear - they did exist... Everything else was myth and exaggeration designed to sell some weeping wreck with funny handlebars.

It was an official model and (in theory) be ordered through any dealer. In practise of course it would only appear at your dealer if your last name was Hailwood or Duke or somesuch. Apparently one year they made 100+ and other years less than 5 and fuck all genuine bikes survive.

In NZ they were mythical - if someone had a very fast Triumph (ie 15% louder than anyone elses) it would be rumoured to have 'Thruxton cams' or pistons or whatever despite the fact that we didnt even really know what a Thruxton was - but it sounded cool...

In short - Mr Ed wouldnt let triumph go road racing BUT he would provide limited support for production racing (hence it was an official model). Thruxton was a production endurance race on an old airfield that was so dire today it would be considered too rough for motocross so the bikes were tough and fast.

Everyone was almost unique and all were handbuilt and rebuilt and modified to heck - I doubt any two were the same...

[Dodgyiti]

Was that the mate who said this :laugh:

So the only answer is that the modern classic bike owner is a soft cock.


Yep:yes:

Ol' Softie, we call him now. He brought me beers so I let it slide that the atrocity was parked in my drive...


The other thing about the new Twuckston and the new Boringville is the Twuckston has 3 way adjustable forks- as in 3 settings of not firm enough.

[Mental Trousers]

If I was in the market for a road bike I'd get myself a modern Thruxton. I know they're rather piss weak power-wise, but like the bikes of old they're a perfect piece of kit for modifying.

[Voltaire]

If I was in the market for a road bike I'd get myself a modern Thruxton. I know they're rather piss weak power-wise, but like the bikes of old they're a perfect piece of kit for modifying.

I'll have to be careful I don't go down that track too much at the expense of the old bikes in the shed.....tempting though.
Shocks, emulators/springs, ditch the airbox and that might be about it.....:shifty:

[Ixion]

My impression was that the Meriden Thruxton was a specification, mot a model. Ie there was not a different model code issued for it (T120T ?) , but a dealer could, maybe, if he had the right connections getba Bonnie from the factory kitted out to Thruxton spec. WHich mainly meant a blueprinted engine and some cycle parts. Like the ISDT models.

I was dubious about the 230kph too, until I saw it had a "chequer stripe" everyone knows that ordinary stickers add 20kph to top speed and a checker sticker must be good for n extra 40kph. And the pistons are "increased by 90mm". Either the standard model has very very tiny bores or the Thruxton is massively over square

And I'm sure the Meriden Thruxton could do 140mph, cos my Thunderbird could do 125mph. Honest, saw it myself on the speedo, or good as , anyway. So with the advantages of an extra 200cc , DOHC and fuel injection (even if it does pretend to be carbs) , AND a chequer stripe AND those massive pistons the Hinckley should easily be good for 230kph. Probably a lot more, shouldn't be surprised if some people were able to report 300kph.

[Mental Trousers]

Given the value of the dollar at the moment a 988 big bore/stroker kit looks like excellent value .... :facepalm:

http://www.newthruxton.com/html/wiseco_big_bore_kit.html

[Voltaire]

Given the value of the dollar at the moment a 988 big bore/stroker kit looks like excellent value .... :facepalm:

http://www.newthruxton.com/html/wiseco_big_bore_kit.html


This kit requires boring of the cylinders and pressing in the sleeves as well as additional engine work. Check with Wiseco for specifics.
as in offset grinding the crank.....resizing the rods....rebalancing.......bigger carbs......
Apparently the head really benefits from gas flowing and the stock carbs are probably too small....
Tempting to just throw a set of 40mm Dellortos on and bin the CV junk. My BMW had CV carbs.....horrible things.

[Dodgyiti]

I think the whole bike is a decent sum of it's parts and mess with one thing and you may as well go the whole way.
Hot up the motor and the single disc will seem weak.. twin discs and now the forks seem weak, high speeds and maybe a steering damper and suddenly the money just flies out of your wallet:laugh:

[Voltaire]

I think the whole bike is a decent sum of it's parts and mess with one thing and you may as well go the whole way.
Hot up the motor and the single disc will seem weak.. twin discs and now the forks seem weak, high speeds and maybe a steering damper and suddenly the money just flies out of your wallet:laugh:

I tend to agree, I've only got 55 HP of riding ability.....If I wanted to go fast I'd have kept the Ducati.....:laugh:

[AllanB]

Next time I'm in the hunt for a new bike (or more likely low km preloved one) it may well be a late model Bonnie.

Quickly followed by boxes of parts and empty boxes to strip off stock parts and store them :laugh:

Fatbars, suspension mods, exhaust etc etc

Ah what a project. A rowdy one too as all bonnies should be.

[Indiana_Jones]

Interesting, as I prefer my Bonnie for it's more upright position lol. Tried some lower bars on her, but were a bit much on my elbows so stuck the stock ones back on.

-Indy

[pritch]

My impression was that the Meriden Thruxton was a specification, mot a model. Ie there was not a different model code issued for it (T120T ?) ,

Way back when these things were current I came across a Bonneville with some unique bits and factory markings which read "T120C".

C for competition?

[Paul in NZ]

Way back when these things were current I came across a Bonneville with some unique bits and factory markings which read "T120C".

C for competition?

Yup - like the TR6C - the T120C was a rarer varient. There were (from memory) east and west coast varieties in the USA which varied slightly. I have some guff someplace if you want to know about them...