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| Wayne on my wedding day keeping it classy. |
First a little background on my friendship with Wayne. We met sometime in 1986 when we both worked for different companies in the same building. He was a large man with a deep voice and I was doing a security check in the middle of the night so he kinda startled me. A few weeks later I ran into him in the neighborhood where I lived. We quickly became friends as we both had a love for motorcycles and anything with a motor. Wayne at that time had three bikes in his garage along with a 1949 Plymouth Business coupe. I peeked in the windows a few times and somehow not only didn't get shot but actually got him to talk to me about them a little. (Wayne was a private man and very few people ever knew what was in his garage. ) Those three bikes are a 1969 BSA Thunderbolt, a 1974 Triumph Bonneville, and a 1973 Triumph X75 Hurricane. In the late 80's Wayne added a 1977 Triumph Bonneville to what we called "The Museum". The BSA needed a head gasket, the Hurricane needed a kick start arm, and I'm not sure what the 74 Bonnie needed cause when I asked what was wrong he just said "the owner". The 77 Bonnie was put into the garage for the final time in 1992 after he wrecked it. Some idiot made an illegal u turn in front of him and he hit them. Wayne was pretty banged up but survived, however this kept him off bikes for the rest of his life. Our friendship was filled with us mostly giving each other endless amounts of shit. I could go on and on but I want this to be more about the bikes. Suffice it to say he was the best man at my wedding because he was the best man I have ever known.
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| The home for the last 40 odd years. X-75 was on the left, 74 T140 behind it. The 77 T140 and the 69 A65 are on the right. |
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| Under the tarps and equipment was the 1977 T140 |
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| In back on the left sat this 1969 BSA A65 |
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| In the back sat this 1974 T140 |
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| The X-75, right where he parked it in 1982 |
Wayne died in the spring of 2016 and in his will he left me the four motorcycles in his possession. This got a little sticky due to Wayne's bills but the kind people in Wayne's family and circle of friends made sure that his wishes were carried out at all costs. Three of them were in his name but the DMV had no record of the X75. I asked how to get a title and got several different answers. I settled on what seemed like a good bet. The Oregon DMV could tell it had never been stolen in the US or registered in the state. I got letters from Washington, California, and Idaho stating they had also never heard of this bike before and sent all my info along with a bill of sale from the estate to the DMV and they gave me an Oregon title. This was important to me as I didn't want to start on them till I had ownership of them.
Along with the bikes I received a motorcycle trailer from Wayne's back yard and one at a time brought them out of his garage and into mine. This was the first time they had even been moved for over 25 years in the case of the 77, and more for the other three. It was very exciting and sad at the same time for me as on one hand I had been asking to work on these bikes for Wayne as long as I had known him, but it also meant he was gone. I brought them home and did a quick assessment of all four along with a quick wash for them all.
True to his word the only problem with the X75 was a broken kicker, the top of the engine was off the BSA indicating the blown head gasket, the 77 had front end damage from the wreck, and the 74 had the transmission and primary covers off indicating a tranny or clutch problem. Of course due to the length of their slumber they also have rotten rubber, rust everywhere, and dried up gaskets/seals.
I decided to start with the 1977 T140 first as it was the one that had run most recently, if 24 years counts as recent. I had been bugging Wayne all that time to just take the front end off his other Bonnie and use it so that's where I started. The swap went fairly smooth and it moved much easier. I decided the 74 was too far gone to refresh anyway so after taking the front off I also took off any parts I might need or want. I sold the frame and engine to a friend as it did have a clear title. I later met the man who bought the 74 when it new as he was Wayne's ex brother in law and I gave him the tank badges and gauges that came off his old bike. He said he would give them to his daughter.
While getting the carb kits I found a tank painted the correct colors but with no rust inside at a local shop. Good thing it was near my birthday so I bought it. I tried to talk him down on the price but I had to have it. I paid what he was asking pretty quickly. Next I rebuilt the carbs. New points, plugs and plug wires were put on. I got a battery and after a few weeks of slow progress I was ready to try and start her up.
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| "Art picture" of me starting the old girl. |
Next I'm going to tackle the X-75. A friend bent a kicker arm to clear the pipes and I put a battery in it last week. The electrics are all working but I will need to move slowly as it is very rare and lots of it is made out of unobtanium. Still can't wait to show off Wayne's bikes.
