Greatest Ever Motorcycles - Triumph Bonneville

" At number 5 is a British's bike that became an icon on both sides of the Atlantic. It's the Triumph Bonneville. "

" The Triumph was the quintessential British motorcycle and in the '50s, the company was made the coolest thing on the earth when Marlon Brando rode a Triumph in "The Wild One." He didn't ride a Harley. He rode a Triumph."

" For this British export, Brando was key to selling it successfully in the USA."

" When Marlon Brando rode in "The Wild One" riding a Triumph, it set a new standard for being a bad boy."

" They were the coolest bikes in America."

" It was kind of like barenaked sex on a rough and rumbled American way."

" The Bonneville was the kind of bike that every young, thrusting male wanted because it was performance personified."

" And that's what gave the bike its name. When they modified and streamlined, Triumph set a land speed record of 214 miles per hour at Bonneville, Utah."

" It was the fastest bike in the best range of bikes that were on the market."

" The Bonneville 650cc twin-cylinder engine provides loads of power, but with 2 large pistons moving up and down at the same time, it has a major downside--vibration. This is my 1970 Triumph Bonneville. I'm gonna start it up so you could see the vibration. "

" What you could see here is the front wheel is dancing. That's due to vibration. Also, look at instruments, they're all wiggling and as is everything on the whole motorcycle is vibrating. It gives you the feeling of power. You know that there's real horsepower there as you're accelerating and the vibration, of course, continues as you accelerate."

" They did vibrate and women seemed to enjoy them. They all will say, "Oh, we have a Triumph. Yes, I'll ride on the back of that." "Sure, sure.""

" As much as power was at the heart of the Bonneville, it was its sheer beauty that sold it."

" It was a motorcycle that created desire. You desired one."

" It's sexy. It's cool. It's fast. It's just the perfect balance of what a motorbike should be."

" This bike as you see and I think, was the most perfect 'cause it got nothing on the bike that doesn't have to be there with the exception of the, used to call this the cash tray, this lovely luggage tray here and you have the [unk]. A certain part of you would hook onto this and get these things and then you're back to riding Vespas after that."

" The Bonneville defined high performance on 2 wheels for 10 years, but without any investments, in 1969, Honda stole its crown and Triumph was forced into bankruptcy, so it only gets 5th place."