Getting it right on a ’69 Bonneville

One of our customers whose bike is featured here on our website wanted to find out whether his paint job was correct for his particular machine.

In 1969, Triumph featured three different paint schemes on the Bonneville during it’s production run from August of 1968 through July of 1969.  The first featured of an Olympic Flame tank with a 3-inch Silver Sheen stripe down the top-center, much like that of the 1968 Bonneville.  Soon thereafter, the factory moved to a scheme which featured a swept-back scallop coming off the top of the tank badge.  Finally, in later 1969, the factory added a lower wing off the bottom of the tank badge.

Our customer’s bike has both the top scallop and the lower wing as featured on late-1969 Bonnevilles.

We examined two 1969 Bonneville cores in our warehouse (either of which, incidentally, we’d be happy to restore for you) and noted that each bike features the single scallop paint scheme. We then took note of the serial numbers on each bike.

The first VIN begins with “AC” which denotes that it was produced in January of 1969.  The second begins with “GC” which denotes a production date of June of 1969.  As our customer’s bike has a serial number which begins with “AC” and falls between those on our two bikes, we believe the bike came from the factory with only the single top-center scallop.

So, we’re looking forward to getting it right on this bike by furnishing it with a brand new, and factory-correct, Don Hutchinson paint job.

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