Hi guys! My name is Myrthe , a girl from the Netherlands and I'm 26 years old. As the title says it, I'm currently looking for a bike that has been stolen over 30 years ago from my father in Amsterdam. Since my father is a bit older, i'm helping him with this. So the bike I'm looking for is a Triumph Bonneville T120, the licenseplate is: VL-91-09, chassis number is: T120 AD 38157 and the original color is black and yellow (skai). I know it's a small chance, so that's why i'm reaching out to anyone and anything I can think off. Fingers crossed..
Good luck with your quest and welcome in! I dare say that the colour has been altered pretty much straight away i'd have thought but fingers crossed!
Hello Myrthe and welcome to the forum I don’t think anyone would admit to owning a stolen bike even if they thought it was a legitimate purchase and then risk loosing the bike. But best of luck.
Thanks everyone! I'm not quite sure how to reply in person, but according to my dad it looks like the picture indeed! I know it is not likely somebody's going to be like 'Yeah, that's my bike, here you gooo!' But my father really only wants to know what happend to it and if it's still alive, so nobody needs to loose his bike
Welcome to the forum, Myrthe. Thirty years is a long time to locate a stolen bike but it's not going to turn up on its own so even a slim chance is better than none. Have you explored what you can find out from the information you have now, like the chassis number? If the bike is still out there, or at least some of it, there may a record on a database somewhere (police, dealers) with the details. Perhaps you can pick up the trail. Good luck!
I'm no expert on old Triumphs but according to our friends over at Wikipedia the T120 was in production from 1959 - 1975. The number plate indicates registration between 1951 and 1965, so Myrthe's bike would likely have been built between 1959 and 1965. As far as I can tell the bike above should be a good likeness!
From the engine number given (assuming engine and chassis numbers matched) it was, I think, built in January 1970 ...... as per the data below 1969 onwards Note: The engine number is located on the left side of the engine immediately below the cylinder barrel flange. The number is stamped onto the raised pad. The frame number is stamped on the left side of the frame, on the front engine mounting lug. The first letter indicates the month of manufacture as follows:- A – January B – February C – March D – April E – May G – June H – July J – August K – September N – October P – November X – December The second letter indicates the season year of manufacture as follows :- C – 1969 D – 1970 E – 1971 G – 1972 H – 1973 J – 1974 K – 1975 N – 1976 P – 1977 X – 1978 A – 1979 B – 1980 The third section is a numerical block of five figures which commence with engine number 00100. The fourth section indicates the model. Example: NC00100T120R – N=Month C=Year, Number, T120R=Model. Myrthe - the Triumph Owners Motor Cycle Club (TOMCC) might be willing to do a search on their database to see if they have that machine registered to a club member. For data protection and privacy reasons I suspect that they wouldn't give you any details but, who knows, perhaps they'd allow some kind of "arranged contact" if feasible, practical and appropriate? Alternatively, you could, perhaps, write to the magazine and ask if they would publish your dad's story - after all, the current owner, if there is one, is likely to have bought the machine in good faith. If you need TOMCC address details, let me know. Good luck with your search - hope it all works out well.
Myrthe Welcome to the family. I do sincerely wish you every success in locating the bike. But as said on here it's not going to be an easy search. If the bike even still exists. Why not try to find a similar machine and you and Dad can restore or fettle it to make it as the lost bike. Joe.
Welcome to the forum, Myrthe. Don't give up hope just yet, I am also a member of the Triumph Owners Motor Cycle Club (TOMCC) amongst others and have contacts with a number of people. If you message me the frame and engine numbers that will be the starting point. At this point I am unclear as to the registration procedure in the Netherlands if the machine was re registered there. My guess is the bike was not stolen randomly but selected to sell on either intact or broken up for spares, a number of Eastern European gangs operated in the 80s and 90s (as well as now), contrary to popular belief if a person buys any stolen item i.e. car/motorcycle/plant/machinery etc in certain Eastern countries and the item is found to be stolen, provided the person states they did not know it to be stolen they get to keep it (crazy I know) but that's were a lot ended up. Once you let me have the information I can get things moving, the only difficulty will be if your fathers motorcycle was broken up to sell on for parts, however if the engine or frame was sold and subsequently built into a non matching numbers machine, its possible to trace them. I can reach out to the Netherlands guys to assist.
Welcome to the forum, Myrthe. As you can see there are lots of knowledgable and helpful members on here. Good luck with your search! One of my mottos as of the past ten years of so is "Never say never!" Please let us know if you do manage to find it and post a photo or two.