1966 Triumph T120TT Bonneville TT Special Walk Around and Cold Start

To be offered exclusively on Bring a Trailer at no reserve.
Vintique Motors is thrilled to present this 1966 Triumph T120TT Bonneville TT Special!
Triumph made its first trip to the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1956 and had success with a 649cc twin-powered streamliner that achieved 214mph! It was a few years later the Bonneville moniker would adorn a Triumph and go on to become a classic icon in motorcycling. In 1962, another 649cc twin-powered streamliner would officially log a run at just over 224mph. Just a few months after that the T120TT Special, powered 649cc twin-cylinder, would begin to appear in the U.S. on a 5-year production run from 1963 to 1967 as a factory offered race bike.
Triumph had two established distributors in the U.S: the Triumph Corporation ("TriCor") on the East Coast and Johnson Motors ("JoMo") on the West. These two distributorships understood the demand for TT steeplechase race bikes, which were races that took place all over the U.S. on an irregularly shaped dirt track with at least one right hand turn and a jump. The West Coast scene also had a large appetite for desert racing motorcycles. Enter the T120TT Bonneville TT Special in 1963 to meet the demand.
This 1966 T120TT Bonneville TT Special is finished in Alaskan White with Grenadier Red stripes on the tank with aluminum fenders. Per the documentation from the Triumph Owner Motor Cycle Club, this TT Special was assembled on 12/15/1965 as a 1966 model and was delivered to Triumph Corporation (TriCor) on 12/21/1965 for East Coast distribution.
Per records accompanying the bike it was believed to have been sold new at Gibbons Cycle in Battle Creek, MI in 1966 where it remained with the original owner for the next 22 years. In 1988 it was acquired by its believed 2nd owner from San Rafael, CA and then acquired by its believed 3rd owner from Bakersfield, CA on 2/7/1990 who went on to have the bike restored in 1992 for $7,588. On 6/14/1993 it was acquired by its believed 4th owner from Kalamazoo, MI and would remain with this owner for the next 16 years. On 11/11/2009 it was acquired by its believed 5th owner from Los Angeles, CA. This owner would commission Bill's Restoration in Martin, MI to refresh the bike before shipping it to Los Angeles. On 6/23/2016 it was reacquired by the 3rd owner from Bakersfield, CA who had previously owned it from 2/7/1990 to 6/14/1993 becoming the believed 6th owner. We acquired it from this owner on 9/15/2022. In summation, per the documentation, it has had 6 owners, one of which was twice, having been owned only in Michigan and California.
It is powered by a 649cc twin-cylinder with a single Amal carburetor mated to a 4-speed manual transmission. Per Triumph production records, it is commonly accepted that Triumph built 3,920 Bonneville TT Specials from 1963 to 1967 which 1,310 are 1966 models in which 652 of these were distributed through TriCor. This TT Special is in excellent running and operation condition and benefits from a full restoration in 1992 along with a refresh in 2009 in which it has been well maintained and preserved since.
This chassis, T120TTDU31493, is a numbers-matching bike and included in the sale is a litany of documentation including the Triumph Owners Motor Cycle Club factory records, copies of previous titles and bills of sale documenting its ownership chain, correspondence letters documenting its history, an appraisal for $16,000 from 2009, restoration receipts from 1992, and a service manual for the Amal carburetor.
Do not miss this opportunity to acquire one of the rarest and most iconic Triumph factory race bikes ever produced complete with a documented history.