1964 Triumph 649cc Bonneville T120C TT Special

1964 Triumph 649cc Bonneville T120C TT Special
Registration no. not UK registered
Frame no. T120CDU12638
Engine no. T120C DU12638
• Rare West Coast, USA Bonneville variant
• Restored by John Otto of Louisville, Kentucky
• Unused since restoration
• Present ownership since 2014

The USA had long been Triumph's most important export market, and to cater for local tastes a 'TT Special' (also known as the 'Competition Sports') Bonneville was introduced in 1964. The Triumph twin was already a formidable force in American flat-track racing, and the TT Special's stripped-down look, smaller fuel tank and short, open exhaust pipes echoed the style of the racers. By this time a maximum output of 52bhp was claimed for the Bonneville, while the TT Special engine produced 54bhp courtesy of 11.2:1 pistons (up from the T120 roadster's 9.0:1). A crankcase under-shield, tachometer-only instrumentation, larger-section front tyre, and an absence of lighting further distinguished the TT, which came with lowered overall gearing reflecting its intended role as primarily a dirt bike.

Sold originally by Triumph Corporation (TriCor) – Triumph's East Coast USA distributor - this beautiful, matching-numbers TT Special has been correctly restored to 'Eastern' specification, that is, without lights and silencers. However, the machine has 'West Coast' specification polished aluminium mudguards as sometimes installed on examples from the east. The pre-1965 models, of which as few as 300 or 400 were made in 1964, are instantly recognisable on account of their two high-level pipes, one each side.

'12638' was restored for its then owner by the highly reputable Triumph specialist, John Otto of Louisville, Kentucky. John Otto found the bike several years ago, disassembled and in several boxes, and with little evidence that it had ever been raced. He painstakingly refurbished it part by part over a period of 18 months, and then reassembled it using new bearings and bushings throughout, blueprinted motor and transmission, new chrome, new cadmium plating, new-old-stock energy transfer (ET) ignition, and a rebuilt Smiths tachometer (no speedometer was ever installed). The Triumph had been started and run once, with less than a half a mile under its wheels, when it was purchased by the current vendor at Bonhams' Las Vegas sale in January 2014 (Lot 325). The machine has been kept on display, unused, ever since. There are no documents with this Lot.