– my Uncle Dave found this ‘toon strip and sent it over to be included in today’s blog post. The red & black striped jersey; unruly black hair; and the viscous dog Gnasher of protagonist Dennis have been the mainstay of the Beano comic for 70 years. This panel has The Menace’s Ma fettling the barrels of a ‘70 Bonnie with a kitchen whisk.
When a picture says a thousand words it feels good to immerse your sen in the imagery.
Skiing, Sweaters and a Scooter
– Alpine scenery under a bright mountain sun and the promise of schnapps. The black and red offset printing is evocative of a fifties lifestyle.
– black ‘n’ white doodle of the lump of a vee twin engine that powers The Vincent. Engineering prowess.
– Robin Wilfred Woods (1936-2020) was a noted ornithologist and botanist who made his career based in Port Stanley on the Falkland Islands. From extensive field work netting and ringing the birds much was learned of the avians of the South Atlantic. His narrow focused Birds of the Falkland Islands is a classic of its genre. With few finished roads across the bleak British outpost a motorcycle is a usual form of transport. Here’s Robin on a 50’s BSA roughing it over the moors near Goose Green.
More patina that a rusty nail. I was filling up at a gas station in Des Plaines and spied this beat-up Chevrolet. It sounded like heck when it started up. Unless the owner didn’t want to wake the dead by revving too much…
– trench coat, Homburg cap and lip-clenched pipe. Oui c’est Jacques Tati. Here the gauche and somewhat inept character on his trusty Solex motorscooter with nephew perched over the rear pannier rack. Today is Tati’s birthday. “Joyeux Anniversaire Jacques!”
– the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. This publication has been in circulation for nearly 150 years so undoubtedly there has been various suggestions for the improvement of motorcycles. The tracked adventure bike looks particularly intriguing.
A delightful photograph from past days with a happy couple enjoying a cuppa along some quiet country road. The Triumph ‘Twenty One’ carried them there in competent fashion and a post war bucolic England let’s them relax trouble-free.
An early 350cc Triumph model incorporated enclosed ‘bathtub’ fairings which promoted a clean line offering a hint of aerodynamic styling. The Twenty One was the first Unit Construction engine – where the engine casing included both the piston/crankshaft and gearbox.
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.
The Complete Book of Classic and Modern Triumph Motorcycles 1937-Today https://www.amazon.com/dp/0760366012/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_EIw8EbMGGRAH3
Two of Us
– we recreated the classic photo of designers Charles and Ray Eames a while back. All I needed was a pipe to complete the look.
– old photo of an AA patrolman maneuvering their recovery combination through some snow drifts. Heavy insulated overalls to keep the cold at bay. My grandfather George Lawrie would have been clad as such whilst plying the roads of North Northumberland.
Portable Forge
The blacksmith was history’s mechanic and tire shop. They shod horses, fabricated machinery and repaired tools. With the advent of the internal combustion engine they had to adapt to newer technologies. This blackie has utilized a motorcycle combination to haul around a portable forge with anvil. You can hear the ring of the heavy ball peen hammer.
… back in the fifties Mr G G Evans rode his Triumph Thunderbird through Europe and on through North Africa, along the Suez and down into South Africa. I wonder if this journey was inspiration for Ted Simon fifteen years later as Jupiter?
