Here's my latest buy...I decided to replace my HD Sportster and the TRW with one bike in the cause of simplicity and more space in the workshop....

This one is a 1987 'Harris' Bonneville with the Paoli forks and shocks and Brembo discs and calipers front and rear..Some would say an improvement, others, sacrilege...

This one is number 31 of the 1250 or so produced by L.F.Harris in their Devon factory...Sold through a local dealer I used to work for, this one has just 5048 miles on it from new and all but 126 miles of that was completed in the first three years according to old MOTs and service record etc....

It has the Norman Hyde oil cooler fitted which is sensible for the oil in frame models and the 'peashooter' Norton silencers which most Bonnevilles seem to have fitted at some point...
Also fitted the earlier export tank which to my eye is an improvement over the original 'Euro' home market tank along with the earlier chrome indicators that replace the 'orrible black plastic originals as featured on Jawas and BMWs...

I also have all the original parts...The motor sounds very sweet so hopefully it'll give me good service as a 'runaround' bike.....Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

That is a beautiful bike. I love the different fork and brakes. Having owned several Guzzis and BMW's, I'm familiar with Brembo brakes and they are extremely well made and easy to work on. Just got to watch those bleeder screws. They snap off like twigs.

Sadly, we never got the Harris bikes in the States. I would assume they are very well built as each was hand made, is that true, Ian?

Hi Kevin...They sold quite a few through the shop I mentioned in my initial post...A friend of mine bought one at the time and, like the one I've just got, that also had a very quiet engine..

Generally they seem to have been reliable and the suspension/brake upgrades did make a positive difference...

I bought a Meriden Bonneville (T140V export) new in 1979 and that one had some mechanical issues within the warranty period, specifically a quality control problem that lead to the failure of a component that didn't usually give any trouble in Triumph engines...

Saying that, once fixed the bike gave pretty much trouble free service during my ownership..I think the T140 design was quite well sorted later on and was a good usable bike ...

Anyway..It will make an interesting contrast to the 1970 T120R special I'm currently building when that is finished...One thing is for sure though...the '87 bike will be heavier!...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com