2012 Triumph Bonneville T100 - Graphite on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Triumph Reveals Thruxton Ace Café Special Edition for US Market – Video

This past weekend at the Barber Vintage Festival, Triumph took the wraps off a special edition Thruxton that was created with the famed Ace Café London. Harkening back to one of the lynchpins of the British café racer movement of the 1960s, the Thruxton Ace Café Special Edition molds the profile of the classic Triumph racer of the era to the thoroughly modern Thruxton. The Triumph Thruxton Ace Café Special Edition at the Barber Vintage Festival.

Get your suspension set up, do it now!

Things are coming along nicely in the Speed Triple camp. I’ve finally removed my gaffa tapped heated jacket controls from the tank, and fitted a pair of Bridgestones sticky but durable BT-16’s. Last week a huge box full of R&G crash protection stuff arrived so that will be fitted at the weekend for peace of mind, just as well really because the Triumph now feels like a finely tuned scratcher thanks to a recent new discovery.

Filling a void with an RD350LC

Last winter I managed to fill a void in my life when I stumbled on a very reasonably priced Yamaha RD350LC.  It was a tad scruffy, had the wrong exhausts but most importantly it was blue and white with all numbers matching.  I had the usual euphoria when the deal was done but I underestimated how much pleasure this particular purchase would continue to deliver another eight months down the line. The difference with this old bike is, instead of just taking it for the occasional ride I was talked into doing a full nut and bolt restoration.  Having never taking a bike apart completely before, initially it was quite daunting but I soon found the RD is easy to work on so it turned into a truly satisfying experience.  I’ve had some help from LC enthusiasts with the rebuild, however, the stripping, sourcing and organising was a total labour of love.  And call me sad but it has made me bond with this bike like no other which only adds to the feel good factor.  The bike cost £1800 and I’ve spent around £1000 but I reckon my mint Elsie is now worth a fair bit more.   I fancy rejuvenating a Fizzy  next time but there’s lots of other cheap 70’s and 80’s winter projects  out there so why not have a go yourself?