How well did the 1968 Bonneville we bought meet our evaluation criteria?
Note: You can check out this bike in our photo album under 1968 Triumph Bonneville pre-restoration.
Regarding criterion number 1, we found that the engine and numbers match. A check of Gaylin’s book shows the 1968 650s were produced from number DU66246 through DU85903. Ours is DU80559 so it was in the final 25% of the production of that model year.
A close check of the engine and gearbox show that all fins are intact and that there is no damage to the casings. Unfortunately, the engine bolts are Allen. Allen bolts were frequently used to replace worn or stripped Phillips head screws that came originally from the factory. Therefore, we can surmise that the engine has been apart more than once in its lifetime. It will be rebuilt anyway so this is of no real concern. What is important is that due to the excellent condition of the external engine, the bike easily passes evaluation criterion number 2.
Criterion number 3 concerns whether there are any critically missing or damaged parts. All of the major parts are there and in decent condition. Nothing that is missing is of critical importance. So we find that the ’68 does pretty well in exceeding our requirements on this area … yet there are still some minor problems that we should be concerned about.
1. We find that the side reflectors and housings are missing from under the tank. This used to be a big problem because the housings weren’t easily available on the market but they are now. The yellow Lucas reflectors show up frequently on EBay but we have two NOS in our stock that we will be using.
2. The tail light lens is aftermarket as are the tail light reflectors. We frequently find aftermarket tail lens but usually not reflectors. Since both lens and reflectors are fairly hard to find and expensive, this may have been an issue, but we fortunately have a brand new NOS tail light assembly that we have been saving for a project just like this.
3. The fenders are the correct stainless but probably have too many issues to save. We’ll need new ones. They are pricey.
4. The clutch lever assembly is correct and will be reused after rechroming. However, the brake lever assembly is incorrect. It looks to have come off a 1970 model (mirror mounting hole) so will need to be replaced.
5. The headlamp bucket is pristine and we could actually reuse it, but the rim is in poor condition. The headlight reflector is Lucas but not the correct version. The ammeter is usable but the green warning light next to it is incorrect. We have a complete NOS headlamp we will use that on this restoration, so we’ll just disassemble this one for parts.
6. The front rim is not Dunlop … it is actually a Jones rim. So it will have to be replaced with a straight WM-2 19 inch Dunlop rim. We’ll be searching EBay for the correct rim to buy and have chromed. It will take time and luck to find a good one. The rear rim is the correct Dunlop and has nice deep trademark stampings on it that will still be bold after the rim is chromed.
7. Much of the hardware on the bike is incorrect. All of the fender bolts and much of the other connecting hardware are wrong. The fork pinch bolts look like they came from a hardware store. We should be able to easily source new hardware from our suppliers but this will be another relevant cost to consider.
8. The tires are new, but they are Avons with a ribbed version on the front. As the later 1968 Bonnevilles came from the factory with Dunlop K70s, we will switch to those for the restoration and keep the Avons for a future project.
9. The tank was repainted in lacquer several years ago. When we first saw the bike from a distance, we thought the paintjob was much better than it than it turned out to be once we got closer. In the photo album pictures, small bubbles can be seen on the left frontal area. We think these didn’t show up until well after the tank was originally painted. They attest to the fact that the tank was not prepared properly before being painted. We will have Dave Wedlake completely strip, pressure test and repaint this tank in any case.
10. The exhaust and silencers are in very nice condition and we will have our chromer give us a quote on them. If the quote is too high we will replace them with aftermarket or NOS.
11. There is a Boyer ignition installed with most probably 6 volt coils. We will convert back to 12 volt coils with points to make it original.
12. Rear shocks are new and will be reused.
The significant new parts we will need to purchase include:
1. a cloth wrapped wiring harness from British Wiring http://www.britishwiring.com/
2. new spokes, seat, handlebars, air cleaners, “cheese grater” hubcap, cables, plug wires
3. all new rubber – gaiters, foot and passenger rubbers, and tire tubes
Criterion number 4 concerns if we paid a reasonable amount for the bike.
Our purchase price was $3500 which wasn’t a bargain, but was nevertheless a reasonable price for a complete 1968 T120R in good condition. The bike passes criterion 4.
From all of the information above, we can now calculate our budget:
1. powder coating = $400
2. painting = $800 ( no fender painting required for this model)
3. chroming = $500
4. cadmium plating = $200
5. engine/gearbox, carb rebuilding = $2000 – 2500
6. gauge rebuilding = $400
7. parts acquisition = $2000, not including the initial cost of the NOS tail lamp and head lamp which was about $500 ( a bargain when we bought them). Adding them in gives us $2500 in total for parts.
8. disassembly labor = $300
9. reassembly labor = $2100
We will take the high estimates for each category to determine our budget, giving us a total restoration budget of $9,700.
Since our acquisition cost was $3500, the total estimated expense to buy and restore this 1968 T120R is $13,200.
Note: Since this bike was local, we didn’t need to pay for transportation. This is a significant savings of $500-600.
What will the restored Bonneville be worth?
From past experience and validation through the sales results of comparable machines at auction, we think that a couple of years ago the fully restored bike would have been worth between $14,000 and $15,500. With the current economy, it may not bring that price today, but since we don’t plan to sell this Bonneville in the near future, so we aren’t too concerned.
The total restoration price is close enough to the restored value to make the project worthwhile so we will move ahead on it.
Our next posting on this bike will be about the disassembly process.
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