The term "bootlegging" has been around for a long time and has many applications. The word "bootleg" is said to have it's origin in colonial America, and it is believed to have been used in reference to those entrepreneurial colonists that sold alcohol to Native Americans. Some colonists tried to prevent this practice (no doubt...early roots of the Democrat party), but those that were more determined attempted to trade "spirits" for material goods (yep, you guessed it...early Republicans). These colonists supposedly concealed bottles of whiskey in the top of their boots and covered the bottles with their pants leg; hence the term "bootlegger." Sounds like a good story to me. :-)

What's all this got to do with a new MoonShine Steel chopper project? A little...the terminology had it's origins in England and crossed the water like a Bonneville on a big boat today. It's about working by the light of the moon to cultivate the number of projects in my small shop. It's about taking a new and closer look at an old and trusted name in motorcycle history and having such a cravin' flung on ya to do not only one but TWO Trumpet chopper projects. It's about old and historical as well as new and being innovative...and a lot in between. But mostly...it's about a name. The Bonneville name.

She starts out as a 2002 Triumph Bonneville...forest green/silver and bone stock. This model Bonnie is powered by an 790cc air-cooled DOHC parallel twin with a 360? firing interval; dual carbs with TPS (throttle position sensor) making around 61 bhp @ 7400 rpm in it's stock form. I will be installing a Wiseco 904 cc big-bore kit shortly as well as looking into some custom intake options along with carbs.

Every single person that threw his or her leg over her saddle had a comment about the surprising amount of "get up and go" that comes from the vertical twin. With the factory "silencers"...she sounded more like Mom's Singer sewing machine than an internal combustion engine. We're gonna fix that though. :-) And the handling...agile...effortless and just plain fun to ride.

Coming shortly, (so many projects!), I will begin edits and posts to this section to include a chronological history of this chopper build which will include images (and possibly some video) of "BOOTLEG BONNIE".

It is my intent to try to capture the progression of the build and what all such a project involves...good or bad...right or wrong....from tear down of the bike you see here to the build up of the one-of-a-kind custom rigid frame that's being prepared as I type.

It was my idea that the Triumph Bonneville engine mounting locations would support a frame that appeared to have no downtubes. I say "appeared" because there are actually supports coming from the steering neck to the top front of the engine/head area in stock form. The design was juggled around a lot before I decided this was going to make a great addition to the project.

The frame is also going to have some nasty rake in the steering neck which is a different direction than most "Trumpet" projects that I've witnessed to this date. She will have some 45? in the neck and will probably use another 6 or 7 in the trees once I get it closer to rolling. Oh yeah...this'll get me blacklisted from the backyard bobber crowd for sure...I will be applying lotsa rubber on the project with a 300 Avon Venom on a 10.5" wheel.

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