The Anne Bonnie is my personal bike… People will often see me on a number of different bikes.  I have access to the best of the best of all things Two Wheels, and can take home a different bike every night.  But the Anne Bonnie is my bike.  And there is nothing else out there like her. When I first saw her, she was literally nothing more than just a frame.  A frame sitting abandoned in a pile a scrap.   But I knew there was something to it… So I adopted it.  After about six months, and buying parts and it was able to be rolled into the Service Bay where things could start coming together.

I love the classic look of the Bonneville.  But something was missing here.  Let’s put in an engine!  Wait, let’s get rid of that heavy old jacked up airbox too.  Might as well take more out of the frame.  So, I did the British Custom’s Airbox Deletion Kit.  And I got a Thruxton 900 engine to go in there.  Because, why the hell not?

So, with the engine in, I needed some pipes.  I’ve got some High Headers for her, but I’ve not installed those yet.  That’s down the road.  I need some things Fabricated to make those work… First Priority is to make the Bike work.  

With the engine in, getting different engine covers and valve covers… I wanted a two-tone engine, and that’s exactly what I got… I dig that.  I was thinking of a BC Slammer Seat (Still might do that) but I found a great deal on a Cafe Seat in brown like I wanted, so I snagged that… I think it’s looking good…

Put on some reverse cones that I got with the High Headers.  And here I was thinking “Hey, I got me a Bike!”  I mean, look at her!  She’s looking good!  Right?

Well… I was wrong.  I was very wrong.  I thought the issue was the Carbs…. Just needed to be run, you know.  Blow out the gunk, right?

This became the all too common view.  I could get the bike running, ride it home… and then have to Trailer it back to the shop.  To make a long story short, it was the Carbs…. sure.  But it was also the CDI Module.  Triumph wanted 600 bucks for a new one.  ProComp had a super high tech programmable unit for under 300.    That seems to have fixed it.

There were many times that I was ready to just throw in the towel on this bike.  But much like the US Marines and the V-22 Osprey, we’ve just come too far to give up… we have to go all the way with it.
I’ve been riding it for a couple weeks now with no problems.  And just today I had run it enough to completely empty the tank and dang near all the Reserve as well.  Topped it off with Ethanol Free gasoline, and it’s feeling like she’s actually happy.  Happy as I am with her now.

Riding her is fun.  She has character, that’s for sure.  She’s snarly and angry.  Her engine feels, and I kid you not, at least twice as strong as a new 2018 T100 Bonneville.  She can HAUL.  And she’s loud.  Oh, she’s breaking hearts and kicking ass, and saving a lot of Lives with her loud pipes.  Judas Priest is she loud!  I’m not particularly pleased with that part.  I don’t like loud.  So something is going to have to change there.
In the end, the Anne Bonnie is going to be a Scrambler.  So the High Headers will go on eventually.  I’ve got an EvoTech skid plate to go on her, and rectifier guard.   And the Side Covers had been stolen, so I’m going to replace those with something more custom… BC Number Plate covers perhaps.  But a ship like her… she’s never going to be “finished”.