Dean’s Triumph T140 Bonneville

If I had a favourite bike to rewire it would be a 1960s/70s Triumph, or its BSA equivalent. They are just so easy to improve. All you do it use good connectors and insulate everything and you’ve made it 300% better already.

Dean has been restoring this one for a very long time. Besides a slick new loom he wanted a Tri–Spark ignition fitting. My mate Jim, who builds Brit twins all the time, reckons Tri-Spark is the best you can get. It’s certainly very easy to fit and set up. It also has the advantage of not using an igniter box (like a Dyna S system on Japanese fours, it’s just the pickups and the coils). There’s not a whole lot of room on an oil-in-frame twin, so it helps.

Dean’s original handlebar switches were slightly damaged. I can sort that out, but he found some restored ones on eBay and posted them on. In fact, the ‘restoration’ had caused its own problem. With the soldered wires wriggling out at a jaunty angle they jammed the indicator switch when the whole thing was tightened up on the handlebar. Worth bearing in mind if you encounter the same thing. The cure is to think a bit more carefully about how the wires run, and solder them that way.

I tried to make the new loom much slimmer and more tucked in. In truth it was a dummy run for my own BSA A65, which uses the same frame and airbox. I should have made a replica but I was too busy trying to get on with the next bike.

Dean is almost at the end of his labours with his T140. Just a few parts to bolt on, and one or two adjustments, and it’ll be ready for a shakedown.