1966 Triumph Bonneville

GGRaysonTT416150

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BAST Magneto Conversion c.1966 Triumph Flat Track Special Exclusively an American model, the TT Special was a pet project of Triumph's West Coast distributor Bill Johnson, who saw many of the streetbikes he sold being stripped for competition use in flat-track, scrambles and desert racing. They featured uprated internals and larger-diameter exhaust pipes tucked under the frame without mufflers – what came to be known universally as TT pipes. Cycle World magazine was quite rightly impressed with their TT Special's turn of speed back in 1963, recording a top-end run of 123.5 mph with nothing more than jetting changes, and scorching the quarter-mile dragstrip in 13.34 seconds at 100 mph, hinting with that kind of performance not all TTs would be taken off road. "The performance-oriented rider, whether he intends to race or just likes a lot of power on tap, will be hard put to find more sheer flashing speed than is provided by the Bonneville TT Special," they wrote. The bike offered is a racing machine built in the same vein as the Johnson Motors offerings of the time. Built by or for a race by the name of G. Grayson, according to the stamping on the engine case, the bike was reportedly raced up to the early ‘70s and was then parked. It features a really trick BAST Magneto conversion, a Sonic Weld oil tank, and modified swingarm. Once purchased by the present owner, a full re-commissioning was undertaken with new carbs and a sympathetic mechanical overhaul, including relining the plastic tank. He reports that it is terrifyingly fast…”raped ape” were the words used. Sold on a Bill of Sale.