Actually the Tiger 650 single carb was faster 0 - 60 than the twin carb Bonneville - more torquey as you said. But the Bonnie would take over from there.......many loved the Tiger because of the simlicity of dealing with one carb and not two.
Rode one friend’s ‘64 Bonnie all through college and loved it, but rode another’s ‘67 Tiger 650 all over So. Cal in ‘68/69 and loved it just as much........best bikes on the planet in the ‘60’s hands down. Was ‘70 when the Honda CB-750 came in and took over the world with 4 cylinders.......oh, those days were fun. And to think, I’m still riding the same bikes some 40+ years later and enjoying the more.....
I was ignorant of the electrics and how they rigged up lights, but it had them. The just stuffed some chicken wire home made baffles in the TT pipes to quiet it down. Don't think they bothered to re-jet the carbs.
That bike had the most perfect ergonomics and feel of any bike before or since. And since covers everything I owned from several Honda CB750s, a CB500, a Yamaha RD350, a Norton Commando, a Suzuki GS1100ES, a Yamaha FJ1100 and finally a FZR1100. None had that perfect bike balance and feel of the Bonneville TT.
That had to be the most soul satisfying bike of all I have ever ridden, and that has been a few.
Whew, that took me back a ways on memory lane.......
Forgot in my litany of old bikes: an ancient Honda 305, and a Harley 1000 Sportster. Sportster might not have been but for oil leaks that the several Japanese bikes had made me intolerant of, and the cheesy front drum brake that disc brakes had also spoiled me for.