– found pencil study of a Norton 750 engine. I’ve been warming up my HB’s & ink pens for a more dedicated sketching programme that I will be undertaking over the winter.
November 21, 2020
Family Tree
DNA
– For over six decades there has been a Tiger model in the Triumph line-up. Each generation epitomized the riding needs of its time.
October 18, 2020
Only 50p
– I was spoaching through some boxes in our basement when I happened upon my collection of early 2000ad comic. In orbit every Monday. A couple of back to back advertising pages caught my eye. One for a kids sport comic called Tiger, mostly about football, but it had a snippet about Barry Sheene who was at the time at the top of his popularity. The other page was for the statistical card game Aces (like the other Top Trumps game) also promoting the prowess of the GP rider.
October 14, 2020
Do you feel lucky punk?
– I just caught the tail end of this 1973 Clint Eastwood film and saw that the “Death Squad” cops were riding ‘67 Triumph T100R Daytona 500cc bikes. Earlier in the movie they rode Moto Guzzi’s Eldorado’s, also in police livery, however the stunt riders preferred the nimble characteristics of the smaller Triumph for haring across the decks of the decrepit aircraft carriers for a final showdown.
October 7, 2020
Red Adair
– whilst driving around the West Suburbs earlier this week I heard a throaty growl behind me. Coming up alongside was this tomato-red Stingray. The ‘74 model probably houses a 454 V5 Big Block engine. Looking a little rough around the edges, the owner, sporting a sturdy mustache, looked like he drove straight out of the mid-seventies.
September 21, 2020
Repair 101
– Moon River fender fix. The fine dust kicks up under spirited acceleration as the Apollo 17 astronauts venture up the slope of Taurus-Littrow valley in search of geological samples. Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmidt were the last people to venture past low earth orbit nearly 48 years ago. A damaged fender was repaired by taping moon maps together and clamping them across the mesh tires.
September 20, 2020
How much is that doggy in the window?
– on our return drive from a weekend away we stopped at the hipster town of Three Oaks MI. In one of the dusty window displays at an old hardware store stands a couple of vintage bikes. A 750cc Triumph Bonneville and a Norton Commando. I’ll have a 1/2lb bag of 6d nails please!
September 12, 2020
Baz
swim out and meet the bloody thing!” Barry Sheene (1950-2003) He would have been 70 yesterday.
September 1, 2020
Lord of the Rings
– on this day in 1979 a NASA probe became the first to encounter Saturn and its impressive rings. A gold anodized aluminum plaque designed by Carl Sagan, was attached to the robots body in case in some distant future should it be intercepted by some alien intelligence its graphics may explain its origins. We’ll be long gone by then… but at least in some far flung corner a little hint of our existence will be drifting about.
August 4, 2020
Raspberry Beret
Early seventies chopper with hard tailed chassis supporting a banana seat and bent rebar sissy.
August 2, 2020
The Boss
A young Bruce Springsteen captures the hearts of a disillusioned working class America with his music in the seventies. Lyrics that resonated and a beat that was alive. He rode motorcycles to escape the familiar and explore a country seemingly on the brink.
July 20, 2020
Hippie Ride
– Tonka Motorcycles in British Columbia used this period image for their catalogue of custom parts.
July 16, 2020
We’re gonna need a bigger bike…
– Actor Robert Shaw taking a spin around the fishing village of Meneshma on Martha’s Vineyard which stood in for the salty fictional island location. He’s probably got a couple of bottles of scotch in the handlebar basket for an evening booze session with the locals.
July 1, 2020
Technical Lines
– 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.
June 27, 2020
GS Hunter
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.
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