My project has been in building and development for over a year now and she just came out of the primary build shop and is now at the Engine Shop for some much needed British Engine Love. She is a 1968 Bonnie Front Loop w/a after market bolt on hard tail with a 24" DNA Springer Front End and the heart is the 1965 T120R 650cc, 40ci dual carb Unit with the 4speed that in time I want to do the 5 speed conversion to(you can take the entire 5spd gear set out of an old Speed Triple and it all slips right into place). Solo rider and when all finalized with be a beauty. I bought this originally as the Frame set up and Engine Only so the numbers are not matching and this fabrication came out of my own head, through my fabricators hard work and experience to the bike you see here. Nothing but love for this ole girl. She will not be for sale so putting her right and tight is not a problem when it comes to the money. She is my third love next to God and Christ Jesus and my Wife. Any questions just ask.
The Engine Shop Well the news is we are in the Engine Shop for a complete rebuild. That is the best way to make sure this T120R Unit is going to be as solid as it can be. Engine Top End has been tore down and there are some issues with the Head and the Jugs but the Mechanic assured me that they can all potentially be fixed and made right. The other issue was the Bottom End is one of the Connecting Rods was to tight onto the Crank Journal so we decided we are into it this far we might as well just go all the way into it and pull the Crank, check EVERYTHING inside and do the job correctly. This includes a brand new set of AMAL Concentrics as well. So what I will have when all is said and done is a brand new and fresh professionally built T120R Unit I know I can rely on. Oh I forgot to mention it has been bored out .80 over. The Engine Builder said we might have to take the Cylinders out just a tiny bit more but he assured me there is plenty to work with. I think he is like a kid in a candy store getting to work on my bike. The man is very cool and very straight forward. Until the next update. Keep the rubber to the road, please respect all who ride and MLH&R.
Thank you. There are so many wonderful things going on in my head. This is just one of them. I am blessed to be able to bring the Unit back to life, return her to the wind she was made for and be able to enjoy her.
Dropped in at the shop to check on the Engine Rebuilding Process and we are right on track. Made another $500.00 deposit on the job so John has the money to buy my parts that are required. The Engine should start going back together next week after all of the cases and all parts that need to be get polished and buffed out to look like brand new. The entire Engine will look like new when completed. I attached the new rear registration tag to the License Plate and put the new Registration Copy Paper in the Front Tool Bag. It felt great. The Crank came back from the people who do the turning down part and it is ready to go. More parts are still coming in. We are going to order the chain roller for this build and John said he could mount that up with no problems. It welds to the hard tail section of the frame under the bottom of the chain, it is spring loaded and will stop ANY chain slap or chain slack from occurring as the new chain breaks in. I informed John I was ordering up my forward controls this coming week 11-4 to 11-7 and would bring them up in December so he could mount those too and he said that was just fine. Best news is the head is saveable and we do not have to replace it. Thank you Lords for small miracles.The new Jugs look really sweet too and are totally virgin with never as Piston Ring touching their sweet smooth and stock walls. Oh how nice it is. John went through and explained the warm up and cool down re-torque process that he does on all rebuilds that come out of his shop and he does a 3 cycle process that gets the proper torque's on all of the parts. Then he told me when he releases it to me I can take it for about a 100 mile run then another re-torquing and I told him sure I will just run up to Sacramento and back and drop it off at the shop again so it can cool down over night and he can give it one really long final over which he was quite happy about. I think John is one of the nicest mechanics I have met and his customer service skills are just awesome. If your Triumph or Brit Bike needs work I highly recommend "Performance Cycles" in Diamond Springs California if you live up in our region of the country. One big treat we had yesterday and I am kicking myself in the butt over is not getting pictures of one of the most lovely 1951 Triumph Speed Twin that John had done the FULL restoration on for an older gentleman in his 80's who loves to see it sitting in his garage to remind him of his younger days. This bike is so lovely. I am so kicking myself in the butt for not getting pictures and I had my camera there too in the car. Until the next update keep the rubber to the road, please respect all who ride no matter what they ride, if you ride year round dress in the proper manner and watch out for the idiots and MLH&R.
