Triumph's T100 Bonneville is a fine motorcycle in it's own right but unfortunately the cheap suit wearing chaps in Brussels insist on fun-choking regulations that blur the sporting edge of modern, mass produced vehicles, especially motorcycles. Combined with the requirement to suit the masses and maintain strong sales figures Triumph have had to broaden the appeal of some models in their range, resulting in excitement lurking low down on Maslow's heir achy of motorcycling needs. Luckily, Spirit Of The Seventies have form when it comes to injecting excitement back into modern metal. This low mileage 2013 model arrived at the Kent HQ with the customer requesting said injection of excitement to properly enjoy blasting around Sussex lanes in classical style. Spirit duo Tim and Kev set about the T100 with the aim of shedding visual weight and mass, centralising what remained around the tank and engine; giving a more compact and beefy look. The front end is lightened with a smaller headlight, slim and unobtrusive brackets and billet indicators. The clocks are drawn in and down to meet the more svelte set up, leaving the eye to wander over the the rest of the bike. Stock bars sit 1" lower bolted to modified clamps, not a huge drop but small geometry tweaks like this make all the difference. The Spirit parts department continues to grow as components are honed and perfected over the many builds to date, allowing customers with more meagre budgets the chance to experience bespoke engineering without the full R&D price tag. SOTS bobbed mudguards require a simple lick of paint before fitting, tidying up the front and rear. Wider 17" rims look the business and allow fitment of proper modern rubber, Pirelli Diablos in this case. Another component developed over the last few years is the SOTS range of exhausts; this free flowing header and twin muffler stainless steel set up is half the weight of standard and requires a just simple air box mod and removal of the EU-friendly air injection system. With a basic remap the engine is released of its shackles and is given its proper British Twin voice back. There is also a high-level Scrambler version available. Orders being taken over on their website. To keep the sticky side down and momentum in the forward direction Ikon progressive springs are fitted up front and Fox Podium shocks at the rear. British manufacturing rules supreme despite what folk say, Renthal supplying the lightweight chain and sprocket set. The subframe has been trimmed 6" shorter at the back with LED indicators sunk into the holes in the rails, topped off with a SOTS "Shortie" solo seat in leather-look vinyl. Keen attention to detail and slick execution is what keeps the customers returning Spirit; and probably frustrates the designers at Triumph as this is how they would want the bikes to look and feel in the first place. Kevin Taggart - Creative Director at SOTS had this to say about the latest project; "We have done a few Triumphs now and they are great to work on. You don't have to go crazy to make them shine, and there is some performance hidden away that can be liberated. And the work can be done relatively inexpensively. This build was more meant to be a "standard" Spirit custom rather than a revolutionary one-off design, and the budget reflected that. We've spent the last couple of years honing the style and making it work as well as we can. We weren't trying to make a game-changer here, just a ruddy good bike". Contact Kev or Tim to discuss builds, light modifications or ordering upgraded parts www.spiritoftheseventies.com