• The Roadster Factory Recovery Fund - Friends, as you may have heard, The Roadster Factory, a respected British Car Parts business in PA, suffered a total loss in a fire on Christmas Day. Read about it, discuss or ask questions >> HERE. The Triumph Register of America is sponsoring a fund raiser to help TRF get back on their feet. If you can help, vist >> their GoFundMe page.
  • Hey there Guest!
    If you enjoy BCF and find our forum a useful resource, if you appreciate not having ads pop up all over the place and you want to ensure we can stay online - Please consider supporting with an "optional" low-cost annual subscription.
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this UGLY banner)
Tips
Tips

My Bonnie Story

simpzimmer

Senior Member
Offline
O.K. for whoever is interested...
As a kid I remember riding my Dad's Triumph chopper...vaguely...I remember sitting on the gas tank and holding on to Z bars. That's about it. My Dad almost wrecked with me on the tank and my mom sitting behind him when I was around 4 or so. A gust of wind hit him from the front and the front end bounced several times to the left and right. Somehow he managed to keep control.
He drove the bike home that day and parked it in a barn, and there it stayed for 18 years.
The barn was on some property that we rented when I was a kid. My Dad was close friends with the old man and woman that owned it. They told him the bike would stay there as long as he wanted it there.
Three years ago, my Dad passed away. About a month later my Mom was approached by the younger man on the property, where the bike was still parked in the same barn. The old man and woman had passed away a few years ago and their son had taken over the farm. He told my mother that before my Dad had passed that he had sold him the Bonneville.
Knowing this was completely false, Dad would have let it rust to dust before he would have sold it, and not to mention tell us about it, we decided to go and get the motorcycle. My mother and I and two uncles piled into a truck toting 2 shotguns, a 9mm, and a 357 to go and get the bike. The incident was very anti-climatic. No one came out and we brought the bike home.
I knew nothing about motorcycles but was lucky to find some in-laws that did. It turns out that dad's chopper was really "old school." Back when "chopped" just meant putting 39" forks on the factory frame.
I've put the front end back original. Surprisingly, I had it running 1 hour after getting it from the barn. Just some cleaning and it was going. The bike still looks rough. I haven't had the money to do a lot of detailing to it but it runs, quite well. Getting new tires last summer it was nicknamed "the beast". I've still got the old scorpion seat and forked sissy bar as well as crossover pipes and z-bars. Although a lot needs to be rechromed, repainted, and just plain scrubbed.
 

drooartz

Moderator
Staff member
Gold
Country flag
Offline
Excellent story! Glad you were able to rescue it--that's the sort of thing worth keeping in the family. Should be an interesting project to bring back to life. We do expect pictures, too! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 

DrEntropy

Great Pumpkin
Platinum
Country flag
Offline
Must agree.
 

tony barnhill

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P
Offline
PHO-TO Doc PHO-TO

I already showed you mine.....
 

AngliaGT

Great Pumpkin
Country flag
Offline
A friend of mine had a similar story.
I went by his house,& among his collection was a 441 Victor.
I asked him about it.He told me that his Dad sold it to a neighbor kid back in the early 70's,telling him to "pay me when you get around to it".
Seem he never got around to it,& it was forgotton about.
About 30 years later,it somehow reappeared,& back in the family.
I like to hear things like that.

- Doug
 

Basil

Administrator
Staff member
Boss
Offline
[ QUOTE ]
Excellent story! Glad you were able to rescue it--that's the sort of thing worth keeping in the family. Should be an interesting project to bring back to life. We do expect pictures, too! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/iagree.gif
 

DrEntropy

Great Pumpkin
Platinum
Country flag
Offline
[ QUOTE ]
PHO-TO Doc PHO-TO

I already showed you mine.....

[/ QUOTE ]

I ain't got no motorbike, Tony. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif "Disallowed!"

Doc don't ride two-wheelers nomore: one of "Newton's Unwritten Laws."

I ~DO~ have a photo of me on my first bike around someplace... but I ain't postin' THAT: Honda 90. EEwwww. Y'all would laugh me off th' forum.
 
Offline
I think my Kawasaki 75 minibike (my first bike) would probably be funnier looking - especially with those little knobby tires /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jester.gif
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
T Trade 59 Triumph Bonnie for Healey? Austin Healey Classifieds 0
drooartz Bonnie is gone to a new home British Motorbikes 11
TRMark 77 Triumph Bonnie British Motorbikes 7
R Has this ever happened to you? Any odd Sprite story... Spridgets 8
JPSmit Interesting back story Other British Cars 0
D General TR The RT story video. Triumph 19
R 2003 Discovery restoration story Rover / Land Rover 11
CLEAH My Healey Story, 40 Years On Austin Healey 13
cpbol Sharing story - Solving issue of starving for fuel after running for 10 minutes Austin Healey 67
AngliaGT TR2/3/3A Cool TR3 Baja Racer Story Triumph 5
HealeyRick Sad Story Austin Healey 21
R Healey Marque Brake Servo story Austin Healey 6
HealeyRick Another Owner's Story Austin Healey 4
CJD General Tech The Story of New Drivers Triumph 12
HealeyRick A Great Healey Reunion Story Austin Healey 8
S Sprite Story Spridgets 11
HealeyRick A Healey STORY [pun intended] Austin Healey 1
3798j 1957 Series 1 [A Love Story] Rover / Land Rover 2
HealeyRick Another 100M Story Austin Healey 23
catfood Restoration Story - BN1/225574 Austin Healey 22
HealeyRick Original Owner Story Austin Healey 1
germanmichel Horror story what I found below the battery... Austin Healey 9
M Off Topic Great TR3 story in Moss Motoring Triumph 12
J Cool story on a Healey Austin Healey 1
oxford the story so far Austin Healey 5
HealeyRick The BMC Story Spridgets 7
HealeyRick The BMC Story Austin Healey 29
Jer Spridget Detour - Wife's Dream Car Story Spridgets 14
tr6nitjulius Story & pic of Barn Find fate! Triumph 3
dougie Healey Racer on Bat - The Rest of the Story Austin Healey 5
5 British Motor Corporation Story Austin Healey 3
Tim Tucker "Triumph Story" video Triumph 2
RickB Saw this success story on BAT Spridgets 4
Simon TR4a Just a 100/4 story which may interest you. Austin Healey 3
John Turney September Healey Marque - The Wife's Story Austin Healey 6
A TR2/3/3A Hilarious TR-3A headlight rim story Triumph 2
R Long story. Garage find 73 midget MG 0
R Long story. Garage find 73 midget Spridgets 50
JPSmit Sweet BAT Sprite story Spridgets 6
pkmh A Small Interesting Healey Story in the Naked City Austin Healey 11
S Truth or story? Austin Healey 47
G TR2/3/3A Rest of the story on stolen TR3 Triumph 4
E Saab story Other Cars 16
pipercollins Spitfire Spitfire Ignition Wiring - Story with followup ?'s Triumph 14
N BJ8 Oil consumption story Austin Healey 6
C The Story of a Very Special Jaguar Racecar Jaguar 2
V Great '69 Norton Story British Motorbikes 9
John_Mc Everyone has a story.... Triumph 20
DART SAAB story Other Cars 7
aeronca65t Nice Sprite Story Spridgets 5

Similar threads

Top