Revving a 650

I was watching youtube and came across a
1965 Bonneville
I talks to me since I was close to fall off a 1968 as a passenger


This is how I remember it -- look at going out of the roundabout at 1.26
It does not look as he goes full throttle in the immediate Exit 80 % ??? ... which is smart .. but more so after shifting.
It looks fast and I also remember it to be fast.
IS / WAS the Bonneville Quicker than Yamaha XS 650 or is it just memory that is the difference.

Had a few late 60's Bonnies. My memory is that they were pretty even power-wise and the Bonnie handled better. I'd say it mostly comes down to the tuner and the rider.... but all that's lookin' back over 40 yrs.

Just watched the video. If I were that bad at shifting, the last thing I'd do is put up a video for the world to see.

Jim said:

Just watched the video. If I were that bad at shifting, the last thing I'd do is put up a video for the world to see.

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Yeahh I saw that also I believed he was taking his time getting the gears in.
Perhaps careful Not trashing the gearbox The quality was not as the Japanese bikes.
Almost Truck driver shifting first neutral and then into gear. If the gear box is a bit worn slow shifting can help for some bikes
Dont know about Bonneville's
I once was a passenger on a Bonneville when some gear was trashed .. High rev --- Low gear -- and Clutch out attempting to ride on the back wheel.
With success a couple of times. But eventually it broke . Cant remember what part. But the bike was not old when it happened.


.

Makes me long for summer

I think a Bonneville is over 100 lbs lighter than a XS650. That would make it faster.

Yep, the late '60s Bonneville was over 50 lbs. lighter than the XS1, and Yamaha kept porking on more and more weight as the years passed. The XS650 is a bit top heavy, due to the heavy overhead camshaft and straight-up-and-down motor (the Honda 450 and 750 of the period were even worse). This resulted in oversteer at deep heel. Steering on the Bonnie was dead linear. Shocks on the Bonneville were far superior to anything the Japanese were producing at the time. Back then you could buy Brit, get fine handling and performance, and spend a lot of time and money on maintenance and repair, or buy a Japanese bike with a weight problem, lousy handling, and a well designed motor that would take incredible abuse and keep running.

I was visiting a neighbor this past weekend and wound up buying a hitch mount bike carrier off him for my p/u truck. Check out his 67 "T.T. Special" Bonney setup for racing. He built it up and is currently a 750. He was interested in one of my XS'. I just couldn't understand why he laughed when I offered to trade even up.

The TT Specials weighed only 350 lbs, 30 lbs lighter than a normal T120 at the time. Also came stock with 12:1 compression ratio.

The TT Special was set up for racing right out of the crate--American TT racing, that is, which is basically a dirt race on a track with a jump and at least one right turn and an open class at the Sportsman level. The tail light in that pic is an add-on; as delivered there were no lights or mufflers on the bike. A good friend of mine had a '66 TT Special set up for the street. Don't know what CR Triumph set them up with that year, but he ran the beast on premium pump gas with no trouble and didn't detune the motor.

One of my brothers had a Bonneville in the mid-60's. I thought it was the sexiest motorcycle ever and I lusted after one mightily. Performance and dependability-wise, I'd still go for the XS tho.

Still don't know why I bought my XS. But I guess in some way it's sort of a replacement for the Triumph TR6 I ran two or three years back. That video, and another one it links to, put me right back on the Triumph. A truly lovely bike to ride. There is less weight and it's lower down. Very good neutral handling, melodious soundtrack, nothing sounds quite like a Triumph 650. The charismatic engine has a kind of loose feeling. Four speeds, easy gear change.

Mine was right-hand side gear lever, which is good for keeping the brain in gear too. You try to avoid - and mostly succeed - changing gear with the brake pedal. And with only four ratios and easy torque, you seem to change gear far less often. Most roads only need one gear, most of the time.

Mine had the tls drum brake, which I learned to trust. Said to be the best brake ever fitted to the 650s. Needed more lever pull to slow down, but you learned that if you really heaved like you meant it, the bike would really lose speed. Kind of 'fear assistance'?

Is the Triumph a nicer bike to ride than the Yamaha? Yes. When everything is working.

Would I swap back to the Triumph? No. Because the Yamaha is a more robust bike and keeps on doing what it ought to.

The Yamaha has it's own charisma. It vibrates but that's the engine talking to you. Handles well enough. You can use the bike harder. Maybe more of a hooligan than the Triumph gentleman's motorcycle. But you still have the nice feeling of being on an old fashioned, traditional motorbike.

Is the Yamaha faster than the Triumph? Well, to me it sure seems it is, but that's probably because you can use it harder.

And.

The Triumph always had oil leaks. Even after I fully rebuilt the engine and gearbox. Some people claim they have an old Triumph that doesn't leak oil but well, I don't think it will stay that way long. Then there's the sulks. Like when the oil floods down into the engine and you can't kick it over.

I had a ‘76 T-140V , 750, 5 speed with a first year left hand shift and first year for the rear disc brake. It was a great bike, easy to start, idled perfectly. The Amal carbs were so simple to work on. I never had any of the notorious Lucas electrical problems, but then again I replaced the switchgear on both sides with new. It is the one that got away for me. The one I wish I had back.

Got the same bike..... and have vids of it... with has the same tasty sounds..... (try'n to post them here is a PIA).... photo is the grandson.. on his 4th birth..sitting on his birthday present.. which he gets when he's 18.... March 2021. I rode it up till a couple years ago... Pickled it.... March 2021 he'll get the keys.. new battery " NEG Ground ! ".... also.... don't call me when it stops....

motormike said:

sitting on his birthday present.. which he gets when he's 18.

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Well aren’t you a cool grandpa! All I got was a fishin pole!

I don’t own a Bonneville, but I have had a 66 Trophy some years ago and I still have a 68 Trophy. When it comes to pushing them around, after the XS the Triumph is like a push bike.
As far as power goes it’s deceptive, the Triumph is very torquey and pulls like a train on a whiff of throttle, whereas the XS doesn’t feel that powerful, you have to use the throttle to make it go.
I can understand the XS guys getting out their Xmas present angle grinder and shedding some bulk.
The pleasure for me these days is riding the torque curve, get it in top and Zip up to 60. Feel the breeze.

Never had any serious electrical grief with my '68 Bonnie, but it still gave me plenty of grief. About halfway across Kansas on a run from central Illinois to Colorado, two things happened at about the same time: the odometer rolled past the warranty mileage and a puddle of oil started to form on top of the tranny case. Triumph had changed the composition of the pushrod tower O-rings, and they couldn't take the heat on the intake side (out of the breeze). The leak was slow enough that I could finish the round trip by stopping every 50 miles or so to top up the oil.Triumph acknowledged the defect, but there were no recalls back then; all you got was one free set of corrected O-rings. Trashed 2 sets before I figured out how to install the damn things without cutting at least one. The fun part was that I couldn't tell if I'd cut an O-ring until the motor was back together and running.

Those bloody push rod tube O-rings! Triumph had several re-designs and NEVER got them right.

Thought I might take this chance to put a few pictures of Fanny:





An earlier model than Bob's, Fanny was a 1970 bike, one of the very last of the pre-Oil In Frame. Unusual in being a UK model - most that you might see now have bee re-imported from the US. Bigger tank and Euro bars.

Second picture taken on a cold morning - Mrs looks frozen.

I’m lucky to have both when I jump on the bonnie I think wow this is so much better than the xs then when I get back on the xs I think no this is better than the bonnie so the jury is out for me.

londoncabby said:

I’m lucky to have both when I jump on the bonnie I think wow this is so much better than the xs then when I get back on the xs I think no this is better than the bonnie so the jury is out for me.

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They're different, and you like them both for what they are.