Triumph T100 Bonneville wheel upgrade

One of the problems with the Triumph Bonneville T100s is the poor quality of some of the ancillary components. It's fairly clear that the bikes were built down to a price, and some parts are a disappointment to find on a bike of their price.

First are the wheels, these have very cheap chromed steel rims that flake and rust fairly quickly. Mine were a bit rusty when I bought my bike, and despite cleaning and treating with corrosion protection, they were getting worse. So I decided to have a set of wheels rebuilt with alloy rims.

Rather than have the bike off the road while the wheels were rebuilt, I managed to get a second hand pair on Ebay. Triumph changed the design of the hubs in about 2010, the front having different disc mounting holes, and the rear using straight spokes rather than hooked ones. The ones I bought were the later post-2010 ones, but they are interchangeable with the pair my 2003 bike has.

I arranged to have hubs powder coated silver and the wheels rebuilt with alloy rims and stainless spokes by Re-spoke & Be-spoke Wheel Building. .

I bought new EBC discs, rear standard and front floating, and some stainless bolts to fit them.

Front disc,  rear disc.

The wheel building took a lot longer than planned, but the quality of work is extremely high. I had the new wheels fitted with a pair of Avon RoadRider Mk 2s, and new tubes and rim tapes. I've used Avon RoadRiders on previous bikes and they are a good mix of grip and tyre life, and suit my style of riding.

Once fitted they look a lot better then the old, rusty rims. Took the opportunity to fit new Brembo brake pads. I've used lots of different brands of brake pads over the years, and have found Brembo to be the best for feel, wear and build quality. (Personal view).

In addition to the floating disc, you'll see that my bike has been fitted with a 3 piston caliper. More about that modification in a future post.

Took the bike for a ride to bed in the new pads and scuff the tyres. New tyres always make a bike feel better due to being 'rounder' than the flattened ones you replace, and the bike felt very stable and 'grounded' on the road.