Working from an old barn in Idaho, Union Motorcycle Classics produce some of the nicest restomods and classic customs we’ve seen. But the shop has a softer side, too. Two years ago, they built and raffled a stunning Ducati Scrambler 250 to help ReActs—a charity that helps poor and distressed children in Southeast Asia.
Now Union are back at it, with a gorgeous 1966 Triumph Bonneville T120. And if you love it as much as we do, you could win it, all for the price of a $25 raffle ticket.
Union founder Mike Watanabe started working on the Triumph as a runaround for him and his wife, but then decided to switch his focus. “The youth ministries and homes that Reacts are running low on funds,” he explains. “And COVID has made it difficult to raise money with traditional methods.”
“I felt like one more custom bike in my garage wasn’t as important as doing something to help. I was constructing a 1950 pre-unit for the cause, but I couldn’t get that it finished fast enough to help. So I am offering this really nice ‘66 unit bike in its place.”
Mike and his business partner Luke Ransom have a knack for striking a balance between classic and custom, turning out bikes that feel like they could be forgotten factory specials. This Bonneville is no different.
“Have you ever thought about a bike in your mind,” asks Mike, “and when you see it in real life it isn’t exactly what you see in your mind’s eye? That is always the case with Triumph twins in my mind. They are awesome stock… but not what my mind has turned them into.”
“I decided to build a bike that looks like what I see in my mind. I would describe this as a subtle custom or a gentleman’s custom. A custom that you can comfortably take your significant other out on.”
This Bonnie is a ‘death by a thousand paper cuts’ scenario, with nothing radical or zany going on. Mike wanted the rear proportions to shrink in relation to the tank, so the guys reworked the subframe to all but disappear under the seat. The seat was shortened and reshaped to exaggerate the tail, and then recovered in leather by Interior Revolutions.
Further back, the Bonneville wears a short aluminum fender, with a one-off cast aluminum taillight that vaguely mimics the original, but is more compact overall. A pair of license plate brackets finishes off the rear section.
There’s a wider tank from a 1964 T120 up front, complete with a luggage rack, and another aluminum fender. The rearsets are one-offs, inspired by the Triumph Thruxton, and the exhaust mufflers are Tricor units. They’re sitting on modified exhaust hangars that share space with the passenger peg mounts.
“I attempted to do all of this in a manner that disappeared into the design,” explains Mike. “It is easy to do a custom where all the mods are in your face. It is more difficult to be custom and invisible to the casual observer. Hopefully it would make even a T120 fan stop and think for a second.”
Overall, the bike wears a lot more new parts than it lets on. The wheels have been relaced with Excel rims and Heidenau tires, and there’s a twin leading shoe front brake from a 1969 Triumph up front.
The engine’s practically new, as is the wiring, and Mike also installed an electronic ignition and a pair of Amal Premier carbs. There’s new paint and chrome all round too, along with a full complement of chrome fasteners.
“I spent more money on chrome on this thing than some complete bikes I bought in my early days,” says Mike. “In fact, the chrome cost more than what I originally paid for this numbers matching rolling basket in 2004.”
Mike’s been working with ReActs for fifteen years now, having traveled to Southeast Asia many times over those years. This is the first time he’s not able to be there in person, which makes this Triumph just that much more special to him.
For us, the chance to make a difference is just the cherry on the cake, for what is, on its own merit, a cracking vintage Triumph.