1968 Triumph Bonneville

1968 Triumph Bonneville Background & History

The 1968 Triumph Bonneville was considered by many to be the best Bonneville yet. With its 2.5-gallon tank painted Hi-Fi Scarlet and the black seat trimmed with chrome, there was no mistaking it for any of the Japanese bikes beginning to flood the streets.

The 1969 Triumph Bonneville received a number on significant improvements, the biggest being the new Amal Concentric carbs and that 8-inch TLS front brake.

Thanks to the booming popularity of motorcycles, those responsible for selling Triumphs in the United States expected to sell 35,000 units if only production could keep pace. And for all the problems at Triumph’s factory in the English Midlands, the 1968 Triumph Bonneville spoke for itself as one of the best motorcycle money could buy.

The 1968 Triumph Bonneville got a frame made of thicker steel tubing for added strength.

1968 Triumph Bonneville Improvements

Changes on the 1968 Triumph Bonneville from the previous year were subtle but effective. The air-cooled 649cc parallel-twin engine received new Hepolite pistons, modified outer valve springs, and improved oil supply to the camshafts. Twin Amal Concentric carburetors replaced the Amal Monobloc carbs across all of Triumph’s offerings. Subtle changes were also made to the ignition system and four-speed gearbox. The 1968 Triumph Bonneville received a thicker frame, a new front fork offering improved damping, and the swing arm’s pivot lug was strengthened, allowing for introduction of a longer swing arm.

ABOVE & BELOW: The 1968 Triumph Bonneville engine.  Note the new Amal Concentric carburetors.

1968 Triumph Bonneville gets the TLS Brake

But most significant of all on the 1968 Triumph Bonneville was the incorporation of the 8-inch twin-leading shoe (TLS) front brake that had made its pre-production debut the previous year when Triumph riders won a 500-mile race at Brands Hatch. The brake housing was ventilated front and rear, suggesting the increased capability and adding a racy look to the street bike. How well did it work? Message boards still abound with debates on the merits of disc versus drum brakes in vintage applications. In 1968, front disc brakes were just beginning to make an appearance, mostly on Japanese bikes, and so the best front drum brakes were still considered state-of-the-art. And the 8-inch TLS front brake was one of the best in its day. It remained in service on all Triumph and BSA 650 twins and their two 750 triples, the Triumph Trident and the BSA Rocket 3, both heavier and more powerful than the 650s. The TLS was that good.

The new 8-inch twin leading-shoe (TLS) front brake featured an air inlet scoop on its front leading edge to enhance brake cooling.

Big Trouble Brewing

Unfortunately, the worm had turned on the British. By 1968, the Japanese motorcycle industry had refined its game and its products and began releasing bigger, faster and better looking bikes all the time. In 1968 Honda alone was producing more motorcycles in a month than the entire British motorcycle industry built in an entire year! 1967 was Triumph’s best-selling year ever with 46,000 motorcycles produced. The die was cast and the British were hopelessly outgunned. And it wasn’t just their motorcycles. The Japanese government, anxious to build up its industries and economy after the devastation of World War 2, was subsidizing their motorcycle makers (and car makers) to bolster their exports. Japanese banks were also making funds available to their industries to modernize and expand. By contrast, the British Socialist Party, in power at the time, hated industry and was totally unwilling to help their struggling companies, including those building cars and motorcycles. The entire British car industry collapsed in the period from the late 1960s and through the 1970s. The same thing happened to the motorcycle industry there. At this same time, a very unfavorable exchange rate between the British pound and the US dollar made British products more expensive in America, while at the same time the Japanese yen exchange rate was the exact opposite, it caused their products to be cheaper in America. It was just too much for the beleaguered Brits.

This view of the TLS shows the brake cable and linkage that actuates both brake cams equally for superior braking power over the single leading-show (SLS) that it replaced.

What they really needed was to modernize their entire product lines as well as their means of production, that is to say their factories. The Meriden factor where most Triumphs were built was hopelessly primitive and backwards by modern standards. Bikes were still being built largely by hand by skilled craftsmen. In contrast, the Japanese believed in anything that would allow them to build things better, cheaper and faster. And that meant automation. They adapted quite quickly to new emerging technologies while the Old World thinking of the Brits kept them from changing as they needed to.

This view of the TLS shows that the cooling air that went in the front scoop exited out the back.  It not only worked great, it looked totally cool.

If they were to survive in this new era, the new British bikes would need to be OHC (overhead cam) or DOHC (dual overhead cam) with all aluminum engines, 5-speed gearboxes, electric starters, front disc brakes, total reliability, with no oil leaks and electrical systems that actually worked. In other words, they needed to start building bikes like the Japanese, but they simply didn’t have the money to do it, even if they had the will. And they didn’t have the will. By 1968 AMC (Associated Motorcycles, not American Motors), who owned Norton, Matchless, AJS, James and Francis Barnett was out of business, only Norton survived. Ariel was gone by 1965, and Velocette was on life support (they closed in 1970). Only BSA and Norton remained, and BSA owned Triumph. After their peak in 1967, production and sales began to slip and never recovered. In 1969 Honda introduced the game-changing CB750 Four and Kawasaki released its crazy 500 Mach III 2-stroke triple and it was game over for the scrappy Brits. By 1972 BSA
was done. Norton built it's last Commando (by then, the only bike they built), leaving only Triumph which struggled along until 1983.

1968 Triumph Bonneville Specifications

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Triumph Bonneville Books

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