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I considered starting with a 60′s Triumph or BSA as the donor bike but after much deliberation I ended up with a 2001 model Triumph Bonneville. I clearly remember the day that I traded my Aprillia RS125 for the stock standard Bonne, I think the salesman at the Triumph dealership though I had lost my mind, especially when I told him that I was intending start some reasonably serious modifications immediately. In fact many people gave me a long list of reasons why I shouldn’t do what I was planning but to be honest comments like that only strengthened my resolve to push on with the project.
I rode the bike straight home from the dealership and parked it in the shed, it would be almost 18 months later before the bike turned a wheel in anger again. I must admit the original plan was to have the bike finished in about 3-4months but one thing led to another and eventually the mods ended up being a little more extensive than I first thought.
With the bike stripped back to the bare frame/motor and a rough sketch stuck on the wall I started to experiment with tank and seat shapes using sections of foam board taped to the bike. With the proportions roughly set I started to fabricate the plugs for the seat and tank moulds. I used a combination of balsa wood, foam, fibreglass and body filler to build the plugs. Many hours were spent cutting sanding and tweaking the shape until it was symmetrical. With a pair of clean plugs the tank and seat moulds and parts were made. In amongst the composite fabrication I had been hard at work stripping the frame of all un-needed lugs and brackets, the stripped frame was sent away for paint and returned in a beautiful high gloss black finish a few weeks later.
I got to work on designing a set of rearsets using CAD, and had those machined out of 6061-T6 aerospace grade alloy. The next challenge was the electrical system. I deliberated for ages as to the best way to deal with the wiring and in the end I chose to completely discard the existing loom and designed and manufactured a new one from scratch. I relocated most of the electrical system components, drew up a clean new wring diagram and rewired the entire bike. The end result was a much simplified loom with almost all the wiring hidden. I must admit I was pretty nervous the first time i turned the key but luckily everything worked as expected with the exception of the indicators. I took a bit of head scratching but eventually the error was located and we were ready for the first engine start. It was a pretty exciting day, I jerry rigged up a fuel can and fired it on open headers – the sound was incredible!
With the wiring complete and the sound of the engine ringing in my ears I had more motivation than ever to get the bike finished up and on the road. I painted the tank and seat unit flat black, chopped about a foot off the stock headers and mounted a set of short reverse cone mega’s. I moulded a seat pan directly onto the tail unit and padded it with closed cell foam, a local motorcycle seat upholsterer then did a great job of covering it in black vinyl. A visit to Triumph Performance USA whilst on a holiday in the states left my wallet significantly lighter, I grabbed a set of Ohlins rear shocks, a 6 pot Berringer front caliper and a pair of Keihin FCR39′s. All these parts were designed specifically for the Bonneville and bolted straight up with no problems at all. A set of woodcraft clipons from ebay and a Nissin radial master cylinder (and matching clutch lever) took care of the controls.
The final touches included a set of mini indicators from Hein Gericke, a LED taillight from eBay, a chain guard that I fabricated from brass tube and 6061-T6 aluminium plate and a heap of other small details. The finishing details seemed to drag on forever but eventually the bike was ready for a test ride. I must admit I was pretty damn excited the first time I rolled down the driveway, after a quick spin around the block and it was clear that I had a bit of work to do on the setup of the FCR’s but everything else felt great. I dialled the Carb’s in as best I could by feel but had a feeling that things still weren’t 100% right. A visit to the guys down at Redline Motorcycles, a few runs on the dyno and a couple of jetting changes later and we were good to go.
THE RIDE: The bike has turned out to be everything I wanted it to be, it has an incredible exhaust note, is surprisingly comfortable and is an absolute blast to ride. The FCR’s are sensational and worth every cent. I had read lots of reports about how difficult they are to setup and how temperamental starting can be but I would have to say that I have had none of those problems. The throttle response is super sharp and the motor pulls hard right through the rev range. The Berringer front calliper is a monster and has never left me wanting more in the braking department, equally impressive are the ohlins rear shocks which have sharpened up the handling dramatically. I have clocked up heaps of K’s on the bike over the last 12 months and have loved every minute of it! Now for the next project….
Hi Ross, Nice website. Bike is looking great. My Thruxton is undergoing a re-birth at the moment consisting of a chromed tank with black panels and gold logo with some gold pinstriping. Exhausts have been chopped a bit radically and are being fitted up with Gold Star silencers (I use the word loosely!) that will run nearly parallel with the headers and just kick up slightly like my own Goldstar. I have removed the engine covers and have had them stripped of the protective goo covering them and am having them polished just like in the old days. More work I know, but its part of ownership in my opinion. I’m going as retro as I can and am in the process of fitting a Manx Norton “flyscreen” fairing with a hold cut in it for the headlight-I think it looks awesome even though it’s a long way from being finished yet. Will send some pics when it’s up and running. I figure the bikes never going to be a “classic” in my lifetime, so I’m going to modify it just like I want it. I can only blame it on some hormonal or mental imbalance that effects old motorcyclists who try riding old bikes and new bikes. You just gotta make the new look old! This bike when finished would fit in at the Ace without any problems. Keep you posted.
Regards, Peter Hesman
Ross, beautiful bike. I love how clean and minimalist it is. A very tasteful, gorgeous build
Hi Ross. Love your bike. It looks superb. The wiring job is very clever. Can you tell us where you hid the battery? Also, is the front guard cut down from the original or is it a Thruxton guard?
Hamish, the wiring was a big job but well worth the effort. The battery is hidden inside the tail unit – I replaced the original battery with a smaller sealed battery (expensive but the only thing that would fit!). The front guard is the original bonneville guard cut down.
Cheers Ross.
Ross, can ask where you brought your pipes? Did they come with the clamp/bracket or did you get it from somewhere else?
cheers,
Hamish
Hamish, The pipes are universal shorty reverse cone megaphones. I picked them up from a local shop here in Melbourne (Modak Motorcycles). I can’t remember exactly how much they cost but they were less than $100AUD each. The pipes come with the clamps, sleeves to step the pipe down to a range of diameter headers and some universal brackets. I shortened the supplied brackets and bolted them into the existing mounts for the factory headers. The headers are the original ones cut down significantly. The bike sounds great and develops good power with this system.
Ross, I absolutely love your build. Your bike is everythign I want mine to become some day. I especially love the clean wiring job and the shortened headers with those megaphones. Fantastic!!
I did a short review and posted some of your photos on my blog, http://thebullitt.blogspot.com/
Keep up the great work. Can’t wait to see what you come up with next!
Cheers!
Hey Bullitt, Thanks for the cool write up on your blog. Your project looks great – love the flat paint! Brings back lots of memories for me seeing the stripped down Bonne…
Cheers
Ross.
Ross, I too loved the finished bike, especially like the tank. From the article text, it sounds like it’s a fibreglass tank, is that correct? How much does it hold & why the cut oout on the underside? I’d love to copy it in alloy.
The pipes are very good also, nice and neat, well tucked in. I bet nothing touches down when the bikes lent over in a bend. Nice modern take on the cafe racer.
Hi Brian,
Yes the tank is fibreglass, I think it holds about 18L. The cutout on the underside is to clear the rocker covers – and I liked the look of it! I’d love to see someone make one in alloy, only wish I had the skills to do that…
I wanted a tidy look with the pipes and yes it has lots of clearance, so far I have never bottomed it out.
Ross.
Well Ross, if you can e-mail me some plans & dimensions of the tank, I know an old boy that would do it, be he won’t be hurried
Thanks for the offer Brian, I’ll be sure to let you know if I decide to go down that path. At the moment I like that fact that its a one off – no chance of seeing someone else with the same tank!
Hi Ross,
Love your work on the Triumph cafe racer rebuild!
I’m in Queensland and was wondering about roadworthy and registration requirements for a rebuild such as this one. Did you need to declare the modifications and or do any research on what’s required for roadworthynessicity? It’s good to finally find the cafe conversion that looks like what I’ve been picturing in my head.
I noticed that there isn’t a brake light, but are the indicators combined with the brake light system as indicator lights? Also, do you know if the number plate position has any hard and fast rules?
Last question I can think of, do you have any videos of your bike? Would love to hear the sound and see the rider fitting.
Keep on rocking!
Hey Aaron,
I’m not sure what the regulations are in QLD for roadworthy, my bike is registered ok here in victoria. As long as you don’t make major structural changes you shouldn’t have to much trouble. The bike does have a stop tail light fitted – its near the rear sprocket.
I don’t actually have any videos of the bike in action but i’d like to put something together soon – watch this space!
Are you building your own bike? I’d love to see some pictures if you are.
Cheers
Ross.
Hi Ross,
My heart’s definitely set on café racers but there’s obviously a bit of work involved for someone starting off.
So for starters, I thought of having a go at doing a bobber conversion for a smaller cruiser. I bought myself a ’94 XV535 with only 13k on the clock. I’ll send you a photo. This project from 77 Bobbers Portugal is my inspiration for the Virago, but I want to give it my own finish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CyIZ_RmLKg
Do you have any suggestions for getting rid of surface corrosion and rust?
Thanks for the feedback!
Aaron,
Good luck with your build, I am sure you’ll be able to come up with something pretty cool from the XV – have you seen the classified moto XV’s (http://johnryland.posterous.com/tag/yamaha), very cool bikes – a bit more cafe than bobber, maybe some more inspiration for you.
As for the rust and corrosion removal – if is only light a bit of fine steel wool followed by a good polish (Austosol or Purple) will usually do the trick. I was lucky with the Triumph as it was in mint condition before I modified it – no corrosion to deal with!
Keep us updated on your build as it progresses.
Cheers
Ross.
Ross, I’m absolutely besotted with the work you’ve done on your bike. I’m getting all different ideas together for doing a custom cafe project myself. What I’m really excited about is that you are located in Vic. I live in the Eltham area – would you be up for me buying you a drink and picking your brains and of course to look at the bike. If you ever ride out the Yarra Valley way I could meet up with you. I currently ride a Speed Triple.
I look forward to hearing from you.
All the best Anthony
Hey Anthony, be more than happy to catch up sometime – sent you an email…
Cheers
Ross
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Hi Ross,
Love the look of your bike. You’re bike’s gone viral and has fellow bonnie owners drooling all over the world. Big congrats.
i was wondering about the relationship between the kicks stand and the mufflers. i like how you cut off a foot of the headers and screwed in the slip ons…i want the predators though. does the little foot peg on the kick stand hit the muffler? did you cut it off and if so how do you get the kickstand down? I effing love your bike man!
Hey Devin, well spotted – I did have to cut the peg off the side stand to get it to clear the mufflers. Once I did that the side stand tucks neatly up under the muffler, it extends a bit past the end of the muffler and is quite easy to catch the end of the stand with your foot to put it down. Cheers Ross.
Was this the bike I saw at mods vs rockers last year. If so it looks better in real life and your a top bloke too.
Cheers Robert, yes you would have seen it at Mods and Rockers – I have ridden it on that run for the last 2 years. Always a great day out, maybe I’ll see you there again this year.
hello,
can you tell me what is the best approach to making a set of rearsets for my bonnie?
thank you
Pablo, it really depends on the type of tools / machinery you have available – if you happen to have access to a CNC machining centre and a few CAD skills then its pretty easy, if you don’t have that stuff then it may be a little harder. I measured mine up and set the peg position so that I could use the factory gear lever reversed, this simplifies the gear side quite a bit as you only need a rear set bracket and a peg, for the brake side I matched the peg position to the gear side and incorporated a mastercylinder from a ducati into the rearset bracket. With the design sorted I modelled everything in CAD – checked it over quite a few times and then had it machined up. I am lucky enough to have a few mates that are pretty skilled CNC machinists so that really helped. If you don’t have the CAD and CNC skills you could have a go at making some more basic brackets by hand but I think it may be easier to just buy some. There are a few options available for the Bonnie.
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I’ve seen this bike twice at the mods Vs rockers in Melbourne and love it. I’m in a club called Brit Iron Rebels, (Brit Iron Rockers here in Aus) and the photo got a lot of positive feedback, and there are some great bikes in the club. Very cool.
Hi Robert, you definitely would have seen this bike at the past couple of mods and rockers runs, one of my favourite events every year. Make sure you say hi next time! Cheers Ross
Hi Ross,
Amazing bike. One of the best builds I’ve seen by far.
I’m customizing my Bonneville now, my starting bike is actually identical to yours, same year and same color
I love the look of your tires. I can tell those are the BT45′s. Are they the stock sizes or did you go larger? Your reply on this will be hugely appreciated. Your bike looks so well balanced and I’m now deciding on tires and would love to have a similarly balanced setup.
Thank you very much and congratulations on your amazing work.
Marcelo
Hi Marcelo,
I am just about to replace the tyres that are currently on the bike with some Dunlop GT501′s. I am going for a 100/90 on the front and a 150/70 on the rear. For reference the current tyres on the bike are; Front – Dunlop Arrowmax 100/90, Rear – BT45 130/70.
I am looking forward to seeing how the slightly wider rear tyre will look on the bike – stay tuned for some more pictures soon.
Cheers
Ross.