1977 Triumph Bonneville

1977 Triumph Bonneville Background & History

As the model year opened for the 1977 Triumph Bonneville, the Meriden Co-op was struggling on a shoestring budget and so had to set priorities. The Triumph T160 Trident had been killed off in 1975, now they dropped the 650cc T120 and TR6 TR6 series, focusing all their energies on a single engine, the 750cc twin, in T140 Bonneville form and also as the TR7 Tiger. The 1977 Triumph Bonneville lineup included two bikes: The standard Triumph T140V Bonneville, and a special, limited-edition factory custom, the Triumph Bonneville T140VJ Silver Jubilee. The Jubilee was meant to commemorate the Silver (25th) Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign as Queen of England. The model year started with Engine #GP75000, with the standard Triumph Bonneville 750 model designation being T140V (the “V” signifying a 5-speed gearbox, which all of them had). The Jubilees simply added a “J” suffix after the “V” (ie: T140VJ).

Very few mechanical changes were made to the 1977. Funds were short and the Meriden Co-op had to make do with what they had, wherever possible. The 1977 Triumph T140 Bonneville was pretty much a straight carry-over from 1976, which was itself a carry-over from 1975 , which was a carry-over from 1974. So, the basic Bonneville, other than the US-mandated switch to lefthand-shift, had gone unchanged, unimproved for 4 model years, an eternity in the fast-paced motorcycle biz of the day.

ABOVE & BELOW: Few, if any, changes were made to the 1977 Triumph Bonneville engine, everything carried over from the 1974-76 models.

1977 Triumph Bonneville Silver Jubilee

The standard 1977 Triumph Bonneville T140 then remained relatively unchanged from prior years. The only real changes were made to the Jubilee, and they were purely cosmetic. The outer engine covers (primary, timing & gearbox covers) were chromed. A special Silver over Blue with Red pinstriping paint scheme was specific to the 1977 Silver Jubilee. The seat was even blue vinyl with red piping, the colors of the British Union Jack (their flag), along with the silver to tie into the 25th anniversary event.

The Jubilee got special ‘upside-down’ Girling rear shocks with exposed springs, and lots more chrome than the standard Bonnie. The seat was a stepped affair that, apart from the loud colors, would set the pattern for every Bonneville seat from them on. Despite the wild paintjobs, US bikes continued to get US-spec slimline tanks, and UK bikes got the larger-capacity, boxy British-spec tanks. New side covers were added with special Silver Jubilee emblems on them, with the year “1977” and the red, white & blue Union Jack. The original plan was to produce 1,000 of them for the home market to honor the Queen, but they sold so easily that Meriden quickly put together another 1,000-unit run for the US market, then another 400 (+/-) run for general export. The first batch had side cover emblems which read “One of a Thousand”. But once they exceeded that, all subsequent bikes were wisely labeled “Limited Edition”.

In the final analysis, if the 1977 Triumph Bonneville Silver Jubilee had any significance or relevance at all, it wasn’t because of the volume of its sales. While 2,400 extra sales was better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, it wasn’t enough to change the fortunes of Triumph Motorcycles. And it wasn’t because it was faster or technologically superior, after all, it was just an appearance package. And it wasn’t because it was such a gorgeous bike. Because it wasn’t. Many people were put off by the looks, in fact, finding it too flamboyant or garish.

No, the Silver Jubilee was significant because it was the first in a series of special, limited edition factory customs that Triumph would produce over the next few years. Again, it wasn’t enough to save the company, but perhaps it prolonged the inevitable just a little while longer, and the strategy brought us some very cool Classic British Motorcycles.

1977 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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