1975 Triumph Bonneville

1975 Triumph Bonneville Background & History

The 1975 Triumph Bonneville is practically non-existent. So few were produced that it hardly counts as a model year. The Meriden factory workers’ revolt/shutdown of Triumph’s Meriden plant in October 1973 lasted until early 1975. Virtually no development work had been done on the 1975 Triumph Bonneville for nearly a year-and-a-half. The solution to the shutdown was for the workers to form their own Meriden Co-operative and do an employee buy-out of the company, similar to what Harley-Davidson did in the 1980s. By the time work resumed, it was April 1975 and only two months were left of the model year before it was time to switch over to 1976 models (which would require some big changes to accommodate the requirement for left-side shift). As the result, very few 1975 Triumph Bonnevilles were built.

Note the high handlebars that Triumph was putting on the US-market bikes.  Compare this to the low bars on the UK-spec bike at the bottom of this section.

Big Trouble in Meriden

For some quick background on what led up to the Meriden Co-op, the 1960s started with BSA leading the world in motorcycle sales, and finished with BSA on the ropes. Incredibly bad management (ie: Jack Sangster) and changing times (ie: the Japanese industrial onslaught) combined with a strong pound-to-dollar (ie: higher prices on British products in America) drove BSA off of a cliff. BSA built their last motorcycle in 1972, and BSA owned Triumph. As a last-ditch move, BSA attempted a merger with the only other British motorcycle company still in existence, Norton-Villiers. BSA collapsed and Norton ended up owning longtime rival Triumph. Their first move was to close Triumph’s legendary Meriden plant and move all Triumph production to Norton’s own factories, to hopefully achieve some economies of scale.

This 1975 Triumph Bonneville has been mildly customized.  The rear engine plate and the swing arm are both chromed.  In stock form they would have been painted black.

1975 Triumph Bonneville is Exceedingly Rare

In October 1973, just as production was switching over from the 1973 to 1974 model years, the Triumph workers revolted and shut the doors to the factory, letting nothing in or out. Just a few 1974 models squeaked out before the shutdown, but very few. 1974 Bonnevilles and TR7s are exceedingly rare. However, the strike wasn’t settled until April of 1975, just two months before the switchover to the 1976 models. And 1976 was going to be a big change, since new US laws required them to move the shifter from the right side (as God intended) to the left. So precious few 1975 Triumph Bonnevilles were built either.

This is a 1975 Triumph Bonneville engine.  Note the older-style side covers instead of the slab-sided plastic ones that came stock.

Meriden Co-Op Struggles

The workers formed the Meriden Co-Op and Norton agreed to sell them the brand, the factory and all the tooling and finance the sale, in a workers’ buy out. However, the Co-Op started out undercapitalized and remained in a constant state of near-insolvency throughout their remaining years. Despite the odds, they accomplished a lot that was worth admiring. However, they were hopelessly behind the curve, both in their product and in their production methods, especially when compared to the Japanese. By 1968, Honda alone was building more motorcycles in a month than the entire British motorcycle industry combined in an entire year! The scrappy Meriden Co-Op struggled along, building fewer and fewer Bonnevilles each year (soon its only product) until they finally gave up the ghost in 1983.

The 1975 Triumph Bonneville looked identical to the 1974 model.  This one has 1960s-style side covers instead of stock.

Reflecting the limited means of the new Meriden Co-op, when production resumed at the Meriden plant, the main product by far was the 750cc 1975 Triumph Bonneville T140. While some single-carb TR7s continued to be produced in low volume for export markets, police work and the short lived TR7 Trail, it was mostly T140 Bonnevilles that would remain in production, albeit in low numbers. The 650cc T120 Bonneville technically remained in production but only 38 were produced. The 500cc Triumph Daytona series was gone. And since the Triumph Trident was being produced (in its final year) at BSA's Small Heath factory, it was relatively unaffected by the workers’ strike at Meriden. Little good it did, the Trident died that same year.

This is a UK home market 1975 Triumph Bonneville.  Note the low handlebars and that handsome, squarish 'Euro' tank (we used to call them 'Bulldog' tanks).

1975 Triumph Bonneville Color Combos

What few 1975 Triumph Bonneville s there are, are virtually identical to 1974 models, distinguished only by their engine numbers. So, color combos were Cherokee Red over Cold White for the T140; and Purple over Cold White for the T120, just like the 1974s.

1975 Triumph Bonneville Specifications

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Triumph Bonneville Books

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More Triumph Bonneville Pages

1959 T120 Bonneville

1960 T120 Bonneville

1961 T120 Bonneville

1962 T120 Bonneville

1963 T120 Bonneville

1964 T120 Bonneville

1965 T120 Bonneville

1966 T120 Bonneville

1967 T120 Bonneville

1968 T120 Bonneville

1969 T120 Bonneville

1970 T120 Bonneville

1971 T120 Bonneville

1972 T120 Bonneville

1973 T140 Bonneville

1974 T140 Bonneville

1975 T140 Bonneville

1976 T140 Bonneville

1977 T140 Bonneville

1977 T140J Silver Jubilee

1978 T140 Bonneville

1979 T140 Bonneville

1980 T140 Bonneville

1981 T140 Bonneville

1982 T140 Bonneville

1983 T140 Bonneville

1983 TSS Bonneville

1983 TSX Bonneville

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