– Welsh singer actor Lee Evans promoting a thirties vibe in sheepskin lined belted leather coat, tall engineer boots, and over the shoulder napsack. The Vincent Comet is a suitable motorcycle prop for the magazine shoot. The vintage backdrop adds a perfect foil.
– a fun rear camera shot of the two of us on the harbor front. Lake Michigan stirring in a light odorous chop with a cooling air drifted over the freshwater to us.
– wonderful imagined future of the mischievous Calvin and his sardonic pet tiger Hobbes on an adventurous escapade. The flights of fancy Calvins imagination drew the pair of them into are legendary in Bill Watterson’s strip published in worldwide newspapers between 1985 and 1995.
– some nice old engineering elevations and plans of a few of the cars built by Triumph in the seventies. I can envision the rows of draughting tables with sheets of vellum and tall stools.
Nice summer ride up along the Lake into Wisconsin and a stop off at Kenosha Harbor. A still water stirred by the occasional fishing boat or pleasure craft. New (to me) Aerostich jacket worked admirably in the upper 70’s temperatures.
At about the same time BMW was introducing the Gelände/Straße GS range Triumph was grasping a straws during its business death throes. One model that hinted of what was to come was a slightly modified 750 Tiger named the Trail. 21” front wheel, single seat, high pipe, off road gearing. You can nearly see the looks of latter model Tigers in its DNA. Growing up I always loved the look of the dirt oriented front fender.
Another motorcycle blogger is Vanessa Ruck who enjoys extolling the virtues of two-wheel travel. Particularly with an adventure bike such as the impeccable Tiger.
News yesterday was that the Olympus Corporation are getting out of the camera business. With the advent of ever increasing resolution and features on smart phones standalone digital photography can’t compete. So, like the advancement from film to digital, we’re starting to see the progression away from traditional photographic equipment. I still have a fridge drawer full of Ilford HP5, Fujichrome, Kodak Ektachrome… perhaps I should pick up a trusty OM-1 for old tunes sake.
Robocop actor Peter Weller celebrates his 73rd birthday today. Here he is riding pillion with Sam Elliott in another law and crime movie. Weller portrays an idealistic lawyer who teams with a veteran cop to find out the truth in a possible police corruption scandal.
Picked up this great reference book of Triumph motorcycles from the last eighty odd years. All models and variations discussed in depth from the legendary Meriden examples to the current Hinckley offerings. Lots of photos and masses of written information.
Early memories are being shown by my father how to accomplish dexterous tasks such as repairing a flat, wiring a plug, hammering a nail or drilling a hole. It gave me the confident enthusiasm to take on tasks needing a mechanical ken or practical gumption.