2016 | Triumph Bonneville T100 FCR

"Bike Exif"

IF YOU’RE ANYTHING like us, you probably spend the odd moment fantasizing about your ideal garage. But after seeing the latest project from the French workshop FCR Original, we think the problem has been solved: it’s a custom Bonneville T100 and a classic Porsche 911.

Led by founder Sébastien Guillemot, the crew from Chauvigny have created this very stylish T100, which is the latest in their ‘Legend’ series—a line of Triumphs subtly upgraded with immaculate Gallic style.

‘Classic Legend’ is based on a 2016 Triumph Bonneville T100, and was built for a vintage Triumph enthusiast in Bordeaux—around three hours south of the FCR workshop.

“Our customer has a Triumph TR5C and wanted a more modern bike,” says Sébastien. “He wanted a reliable bike with a vintage look, one that has brakes and can go far…”

It’s a testimony to Triumph’s design continuity that a modern Bonneville shares noticeable traits with its 60-year-old TR5 ancestor—but thankfully not the Lucas electrics, or the tendency to leak oil.

FCR amped up the vintage vibe by rounding off the back of the frame, taking cues from 1970s motocross bikes. Once the welding was complete, they tidied up the rest of the frame, stripped it back to bare metal and polished it before applying copper and nickel plating.

It’s a signature look for FCR, and instantly makes their builds stand out—but it also means dismantling the entire bike so that the frame can be refinished properly. “We are used to it,” Sébastien shrugs. “We like this very ‘old’ finish.”

There’s elegant metal elsewhere too, with custom aluminum fenders at both ends, supported by a handmade arched support at the front.

The wheels are chromed steel and the 19-inch at the front is shod with Heindenau rubber, while the 17-inch at the back uses a Continental tire. The twin shocks have been upgraded to new units from Shock Factory, which are 20mm longer than stock. FCR have kept the stock forks and triples, but installed an EBC front brake disc.

The metal treatments continue on the parallel twin engine, with brushed aluminum for the cases, drillium on the gearbox case, and a protective bash guard bolted to the frame downtubes. The scrambler-style exhaust is made in-house, and although the straight pipes have baffles side them, you can bet they’re pretty raspy.

The rest of the upgrades are from FCR’s own accessory catalog, including the MX-style handlebars, which are sporting much-simplified buttons and controls.

The turn signals and taillight are from the catalog too, along with the yellow-lensed Bates-style headlight in brushed aluminum, and the bracket that secures it to the bottom yoke.

The new seat, flush-fitted onto the new subframe, is just about long enough for a pillion and is upholstered with a worn-effect leather, held together by subtle brown stitching. New LSL footrests are attached to the stock mounts.

The exquisite paint on the tank was handled in-house, and it’s as classic as it gets—a two-tone green and ivory, topped off with a classy aluminum fuel cap from Motone.

It’s a bike we’d happily park in the EXIF garage, especially if there was a 911 Carrera 2.7 RS alongside, like the one above restored by Atelier Gobin. But FCR have now branched out into a new direction, and have refurbished an older 911T in identical colors to the Bonneville. “Some customers like to have a car with the same spirit as their FCR Original bike,” Sébastien explains.

Wouldn’t we all?