30-Year Arcs / Heritage / Triumph Bonneville Lineage
Triumph United Kingdom

Triumph Bonneville. 30 years on.

The Bonneville name died in 1988 with Meriden Triumph. The Hinckley revival arrived in 2001 — so the 1996 column is a 5-year gap before Triumph brought the badge back. Three Hinckley generations + that gap.

1996
No Bonneville
2006
Bonneville T100
2016
T120 Bonneville
2026
T120 Bonneville
Continual audits are underway to verify local pricing for every bike in every market. Apologies for any gaps you see while this is in progress.
1996 30 yrs ago · Gap
No bike for this era

No Bonneville on sale

Bonneville name died with Meriden 1988
Hinckley revival not until 2001

STATUS · NONE
NONE
used Meriden
2006 Hinckley T100

Bonneville T100

865cc air-cooled twin
Early Hinckley revival

865cc air-cooled twin
67 bhp
68
205
775
ABSFuel injectionTraction controlRide modesTFT dash865cc air-cooledRound headlight,
Known issues
  • Bonneville T100 (carb) — carb sync drift — 2001-07
  • Reg/rec failure — 2001-07
  • Cam chain rattle on cold start — all years
$8,199
$13,258
$3.5–5.5k
2016 New T120

T120 Bonneville

1200cc liquid-cooled
First "modern" Bonneville

1200cc liquid-cooled
79 bhp
105
224
790
ABSFuel injectionTraction control2 rideTFT1200cc liquid-cooledHidden radiator
Known issues
  • T120 Bonneville (HT) — clutch master cylinder seals weep — 2016-on
  • Throttle position sensor drift on early HT — 2016-18
  • Some reports of cam chain tensioner rattle — 2016-18
$11,500
$15,621
$7–9k
2026 Current · 2026

T120 Bonneville

1200cc twin (refined)
Same bike, refined since 2016

1200cc twin (refined)
79 bhp
105
236
790
ABSFuel injectionTraction control2 rideTFT1200cc liquid-cooledHeated grips
Known issues
  • HT engine platform mature; 2024-on revisions cleaned up earlier issues
$13,995Verified MSRP
$13,995
$12.5–14k
// 30-Year Delta

What actually changed.

1996 → 2026 · 30 years of "progress"
Power change Static for 10 years The T120 launched in 2016 with 79bhp. The 2026 T120 makes... 79bhp. Triumph deliberately froze the spec because the bike is meant to feel timeless, not progressive.
Torque change Identical 105Nm in 2016, 105Nm in 2026. The Bonneville is sold on its torque curve, and Triumph have not touched it in a decade.
Real cost change −$0.8k $13,230 in 2016 ≈ $17,212 today. The 2026 T120 is $16,463 — about 4% cheaper in real terms. Triumph have absorbed most of inflation into the price rather than passing it on.
Rider aids count 0 → 5 2006 T100: nothing (literally carburettors). 2026 T120: ABS, traction, ride modes, ride-by-wire, heated grips. The rider aids quietly modernised — the styling did not.
What "heritage" means here No TFT The 2026 T120 still has an LCD dash, twin clocks, round headlight, no winglets. Triumph could fit a colour TFT and 6 ride modes — they choose not to. The bike is sold to riders who do not want progress.
Engine size doubled 865 → 1200cc The 2008 Hinckley Bonneville was 865cc air-cooled. The current T120 is 1200cc liquid-cooled. Same architectural heritage (parallel twin, 270° crank), almost no shared parts.
Cheapest way in $4.7k An early Hinckley T100 from 2006-2010. Carb-fed 865cc air-cooled twin. The classic Triumph experience without classic Triumph reliability problems.
// Sources

Where these numbers come from

Prices are real US MSRPs from Triumph North America press releases / Motorcycle.com archives. Used-market ranges from Cycle Trader / KBB / Classic.com, May 2026. Inflation calculated using US BLS CPI-U.

1996 No Bonneville on sale Manufacturer specs · Cycle World · Motorcycle.com
2006 Bonneville T100 Manufacturer press · Cycle World · autoevolution
2016 T120 Bonneville Manufacturer US specs · Motorcycle.com · Total Motorcycle
2026 T120 Bonneville Manufacturer US · Cycle World · RevZilla Common Tread