1978 Triumph Bonneville T140V

use a straight 40 oil not 20/50 i use morriss golden film sae 40 ...

where is that road? looks like England but you're riding on the right hand side. France maybe?

Great to see a T140 so appreciated as they were so maligned at one time. The last year for right foot shift was 1975 and was due to Ronald Regan's attempt to slow imports that competed with the domestic market. Bit pointless really as the British imports were massively reduced by then. I have a 1974 T140 with over 97000 miles which I think is a record. Motor has been apart twice for reno in that time. It now has twin mikuni VM34 and a megacycle half race exhaust cam- it is surprisingly smooth and thrifty for a T140 and very quick- I can embarrass people on big Jap multis and new hinckley twins at the lights. It is the 4th and the best T140 I have owned. I've done some huge trips on it in n.america and it has never let me down even in searing temperatures. Just recently I traced a rattle at idle to a loose engine sprocket as the crank splines are worn and so bought a new and fantastic Royal enfield twin to continue my road trips on until I fix the bonny but that old T140 is my true love even it is now semi-retired.

Let that bike warm and get a steady oil flow going after starting or restarting it, you want that Triumph to last.

Awesome - reminds me of my ill spent youth.

Great video man,i had a t140 as soon as I passed my test I got my brothers Bonneville £500.00

j'ai acheté la mienne en 1980 chez Podevyn a Alost , belle vidéo et je vois que vous ete en Belgique

had one loved it and want another ... have 2 royal enfied bullets at the moment which are GREAT daily drivers ,,, would love a more powerful t140 for longer weekends etc ,,, oh and I was bought up on left hand brake ... spent my working life on Japanese bikes and even now still have to think a little before braking ! ,,, all good ! btw invest in a key cutter, spare keys and keyrings ,,, ;)

Best bonnie ever!

What make of speedometer and tachometer are you using? Need a set for my just restored '78 T140V. Tks!

hi geoff got the frontend sorted ut new tyre etc now the new amals, i still get a buzz watching this longer video, my 650 trophy will get attention when the 750 doesnt need anymore! hope your winter fiddling is going smooth with your bike ,Alan

Nice video - are you running standard silencers ? the engine sounds really less stressed for being silenced decently

A rare transition model. Has the nice splayed head and individual clocks yet has the left shift. Pity it didn't have the conical drum brake which is much better than the rear disc but you cant have everything!

I've a 73 T140. Love it and all it's temperamental hissy fits. The Lockheed floating disk works well. I've been trying to find a right hand disk conversion fork slider for a while to convert it to twin disk, but they're like hens teeth. I nearly bought another one just for the fork slider😂

Hey mate howz it , i got a bonny750 75 great motor bike . This bike did try to kill me once but im still here , And so is my Triumph .

Nice and appreciated. Just one suggestion: Take the ignition key off the ring (of others) when riding... You may save wear on the key and ignition barrel (also avoid 'pebble-dashing' the fork shroud). Perhaps more importantly, reduce risk of a 'turn-off out of the blue' (and maybe you'll also not lose what's flapping-about in the breeze'). Ride safe and enjoy.

Sell a Beemer 5 Series and buy a T140V Export Model with big bars and tiny tank. Now that is a PROPER mid-life crisis!!! 😂👌✌🤟👍

While obviously Dunstall pipes would be good have you considered any of Norman Hyde's offerings? One of my mates had a '79 T140E and he had straight-through Goldstar pattern (Goldies) on his.

Great video, i have 78 one too.
You need to get more vids on here, you said some maintenance ones coming, get them on mate, good stuff

The sound is good, The video not so much. I just purchased the same year and model Triumph here in Colorado. it's set up in the cafe style, but at 72 I will be changing the bars from clip on to something more like yours. Hope it brings you many years of joy. Mike

ebc fao16hh pads r best for cast iron discs

For Christ's sake don't paint over the original paint. Buy another tank if you must

Cracking bike. I also lost my Triumph-loving Dad recently, so can understand and empathise. Don't want to preach, but I'd be tempted to keep the original paint as 1. it's original and beautiful and 2. in homage to the original owner, but that's just me.

A T140V should tick over at around 1000 rpm. I used Mini Cooper S brake pads in my T140E in the early 1980's, a pair of pads from my local Triumph dealership were £15.00 in those days, a pair of Mini Cooper S pads from a local auto factors were £5.00, the only difference was that the Triumph pads came supplied with new split pins and the Mini pads didn't, but a pair of split pins only cost pennies from the auto factor. Almost a £10.00 saving on a pair of pads was great for me in those days when my weekly wage was around £110.00 before tax and NI.

Sounds beautiful. It makes my heart go flutter

Fantastic video. wish I could get mine running like that 👍

Perfect. I am happy for you.

lad in our town had the same bike but red/black, i covetted that bike, he came past us one day on the bypass approaching the ton, stood on the seat, he put it in for a 1340 harley which i though was a shame

Phenomenalousley……….haha

Very sad that Triumph went out of business.

great colour combo , id leave it

I had new 1977 Bonny. 1978 my oldest daughter was born and I had three close calls while riding. Kept it two years and then sold it. Those two years were fantastic riding times and I regret selling it but I wanted to be with my baby girl. Never know what might have happened. Really brought back great memories of riding pleasure. Great video. Thanks.

Dont mess with the original paint. It is only original ONCE. If you must change the colour, get another tank and panels to re-spray.

try a 45t rear sprocket

you may need to buy a shorter chain or get yourself a link extractor i think u would want 107 link but check b4 u buy assuming u have a 20t front that is but you may have an 18t front if yours is a t140v i know 20t front was standered on the t140e

removing one link should do the job make sure its in gear b4 u dissconnect chain otherwise it may spin off the front sprocket hth,keep the the faith gruff uk

I had a 1979 T140 V.
I sold it to a friend for £1600 14 years years ago. Which was what I had paid for it in 1985.
It was Black and Candy Apple red.
I was some twitchy times on country bends, keeping up with mate with a Ducati.

Memories of riding my old mate's Bonnie 36 years ago. I was a Harley guy, but the Bonnie on song would always put a smile on my dial.

Love your style, Geoffrey...first time viewing your channel. I'm a 67 yr old Aussie living in Armenia and love the T140V. There's an original '73 model for sale in our region, that was a Triumph factory showroom bike for most of its life. Current owner has it in his lounge and it has less than 3000 miles on the clock. Asking US $13,000. Not sure if I should go ahead and make an offer of $10k...oh why not...nothing ventured, nothing gained they say.🤔
Thank you for your brilliant commentary of the riding experience. I imagine if I bought the '73 I'd need to do a full recommisioning of the bike myself, as there are no Triumph experts in this part of the world.
Haven't even looked at your other videos yet, but will be sure to do so after this one.
Stay upright brother and God bless🙏

Once you have it running on point the only thing left to say is

Ride it for what it is rather than what you think it should be!

Just about to purchase a 78 import from the States..Beautiful bikes

My dad and i built a 750 pre unit for his 51 t bird,T140 crank rods barrels and Bonnie head with around 76 cams,Put a set of 30mm Ei carbs on it He started on that bike before I was born in the mid 70s.Goes well 👍👍

What country are you riding in?

Always wanted one since i first saw one in a carpark in the 70s in Australia ,never managed to get one

YES SIR!!!! YOUR 78 BONNIE RUNS GREAT AND LOOKS ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR!!! AND YES GLAD YOU ARE RELIVING YOUR TIMES RIDING WITH YOUR FATHER!!!!! I LOVE THE SCENERY IN THE VILLAGES AND COUNTRYSIDE!!!! I HAVE OWNED LOTS OF MOTORCYCLES BUT NOT A TRIUMPH !!!! BUT HAVE HAD FRIENDS THAT DID AND SOME STILL DO!!!! BACK IN THE MID 1990s a friend had a 1972 TRIUMPH TRIDENT 750!!! I RODE IT FOR A HOUR AND HAD A BLAST ON THE PURPLE AND WHITE ALL FACTORY ORIGINAL!!!! THE TOURGUE WAS GOOD!!!! REALLY ENJOYED THE VIDEO!!!! I'LL SUBSCRIBE!!!! THANKS TEXAS SCOTT!!!!

Really enjoyed this. I have a 1977 T140v which I recently acquired and have done a bunch of work to it. It has the lower bars so the riding position isn't as good IMHO so am going to install some similar to the US spec ones that you have. I also have an issue finding neutral and this, combined with the fact the bike does not have a neutral light, makes trying to find neutral at a stop light a definite challenge. Neutral roulette. I've stalled the bike a couple of times now, and that really sucks in traffic. That said, I am hoping that as I get more used to the bike, I'll get better at it. Curious if there is any way to fit a neutral light to the bike as that would be a big help. I've subscribed and going to watching more of your videos. Cheers.

My search for a lightweight indefinitely maintainable “forever motorcycle” led me here.

I made the mistake of buying a brand new 1976 Bonneville. After two yrs it had pretty much vibrated itself apart. Lots of electrical problems, carb problems, etc. The vibrations are high frequency and destroy everything. If you keep the revs low you may not have all the issues I had. That, of course, means you can't use the bike as intended. Best of luck with it.

i luv those narrow back roads

Nice video, thanks for posting. I got my licence in 1970 and have had a few 750 Bonnevilles and Tridents. These days I run a 1974 T150V amongst other makes. 
Regarding the change of gear-lever position from right to left; I remember in the mid 70s the American government decided to make left gear levers mandatory for all motorcycles. Since the USA market was Triumphs biggest buyer, bigger than all other importers and the UK put together, Triumph had no choice but to comply with the change. This ruling even affected Harley Davidson, who were forced to change gear side on their Sportster models.
Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy the bike and I look forward to seeing more of your videos.