Triumph Bonneville gets the Stealthy Look.

Here we are again

Where does time go? I try and type up a blog as quick as I can, but, being a 2 fingered key Board picker, I cant get as much down on the website as I would like, but none the less I try and seem to get a following for the Motorcycles that I see on the net etc and tend to grab my beady eye and then I will do a quick Blog on it.

It brings me to this Twinline Triumph Bonneville, Another Australian Motorcycle but, before this transformation came about, the owner had had a bit of a to do with the tarmac. the exhaust was knackered, Gas tank had more Damage than a Boxer who just wet a round with Tyson, and the Bonny had seen better days, so- Time to revamp this Meridian style 2 Cylinder and this time the Owner by the name of “Mixy” decided to give a Sydney Based “Gasoline” Shop a go.

Founder of this little shop in Sydney “Jason Leppa”

The Bonneville was riddled with other issues too. Mixy had made some mild modifications himself, but after meeting Jason and the Gasoline team, he decided to leave it to the experts. Plans for the rebuild expanded, and ‘Blak’ began to take shape.

The front end was binned, and USD forks from a Suzuki GSX-R grafted on. A custom axle and spacers ensure that wheel specs remain the same, and the sportbike forks are held in place by a CNC’d triple clamp. This was by no easy task but, Jason managed to massage the GSX smoothly onto the frame using a set of TT wheels made in california and shodding them with a sticky set of  Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tires.

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The triple clamp was designed to house a Motogadget Classic speedo—in black of course. An m.lock keyless ignition system keeps the wiring simple, and the Purpose Built Moto switch blocks are sleek and contemporary.

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Adding to the racing vibe is a shift from mid to rear sets, this made the motorcycle was more comfortable and a far Racier look, going back to the Days of the North Circular back home in the UK in the 60’s.

But the rear tire is wider than Burt Reynolds old shirt collar with a whopping 190 shoe horned onto the Aluminum rim, this sticks to the road like Gum on a sweater.

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The biggest visual change is the new tank, which eschews the somewhat bulbous proportions of the Triumph original.

It’s Gasoline’s take on the classic Yamaha SR tank, fabricated in aluminum and shot with deep satin black paint. Running across the top is a subtle gloss black racing stripe.

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The subframe has been reworked in-house too, and now supports a new fiberglass seat pan hand molded by Gasoline’s head tech. The local artisans at the Bad Arse Trim Co. made up a new seat to match, using a dark shade of suede.

There’s an integrated LED tail and indicator light strip flushed into the tail, and tiny indicators up front from Kellermann. “They are some of the smallest LEDs you’ll ever find,” says Jason, “but still bright enough to cut through the darkness.”

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The headlight has the old style Fog lens that gives the impression of a Foundry’s  Cauldron when ignited, plenty of brightness from that and letting people know that this Stealthy Middleweight is coming through.

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Petrol tank was hand fabbed in Aluminum then plastered in Black Semi Gloss paint and it has a bulbous shoulder to exaggerated the lines a little and something that really works well.

This is a pretty well sorted machine now and its a shame I wasn’t still a Posty in St Leonards,  as I often went into Sydney and would of been great to check this Bonny out.

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Great job to “Jason Leppa” you did a fantastic Custom look in a short amount of time, something that is not easy to do and get right.

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Steve Carpenter

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